Canadian Poultry Magazine

A greener world tops chart for high-welfare eggs

By Canadian Poultry magazine   

News Animal Welfare Business/Policy Cage free Canada Egg production Market news Poultry Production Producer tools Production United States


A Greener World (AGW) the independent, nonprofit certifier and home of North America’s farm certifications–Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW, Certified Grassfed by AGW and Certified Non-GMO by AGW–is recognized as an industry leader in a recent higher animal welfare comparison chart released by Compassion In World Farming, a global farm animal welfare nonprofit.

Compassion In World Farming (CIWF) compared 34 initiatives across 10 countries to assess which certifications meet CIWF’s higher animal welfare criteria. CIWF analyzed each certification program on 15 metrics and animal welfare criteria–including access to pasture, spacing requirements for housing, animal breeds, ability for animals to exhibit natural behaviors, health and animal welfare monitoring programs, and more. The Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW label was the only program that met all of CIWF’s higher animal welfare criteria–including recommendations and requirements–for laying hens.

Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW is the only food label in North America that ensures high-welfare on pasture from birth through slaughter for all species certified.

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The label is free to farmers, ensuring certification is impartial, independent and accessible to all farms. Along with AGW’s ISO/IEC Guide 17065 accreditation demonstrating excellence in auditing and certifying, AGW offers integrity and transparency in a market dominated by unverified claims. Demand for verified sustainability is growing globally: Currently available in the U.S. and Canada, AGW’s certifications will soon launch in the UK and South Africa, with other countries following.

AGW executive director Andrew Gunther says, “We’re honored to be recognized by Compassion in World Farming as an international leader in the field. While there is an ongoing industrial effort to rebrand conventional practices as high-welfare or sustainable, it’s vital that organizations like CIWF evaluate labels from an objective, science-based perspective, and report back on which ones are really doing what they say. We’re proud to lead the pack on that front–and with our certified farmers, demonstrate our commitment to transparency and verified, high-welfare, farming practices.

There are a lot of misleading labels out there, but there are also some very good ones. CIWF’s charts help consumers, buyers, advocates and policymakers distinguish between meaningful labels–like those from A Greener World and our high-scoring peers–and meaningless greenwashing. If we’re ever to achieve truly sustainable agriculture, we have to ensure the label on the package matches the practices on the farm. We’re proud to be a label that delivers on its promise, and thank CIWF for keeping the market honest.”

For more information about AGW’s nonprofit work, including farm certification, educational resources, membership and volunteer opportunities, technical papers and a directory of certified products, visit agreenerworld.org.


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