Your meat from farm to fridge

QUESTION: What happens on organic farms?
Animals must have free access to fields, comfortable bedding, straw and plenty of space inside. To be classed as organic, animals must have been born and raised on an organic holding, where the pastures are not treated with pesticides or herbicides and where between 70-90 per cent of the feed is organic. The farm is monitored by the Soil Association.

STAGE 2: drugs… the root of all evil? Or the way forward for modern farming?
Antibiotics, parasite killers and certain growth-promoting drugs have been legally given to animals since 1953 – and their use now is at record levels. The drugs can keep the animals healthy in conditions where disease can spread rapidly. Pigs, for example, are routinely prescribed up to 10 antibiotics in their water or feed, to promote growth and prevent disease. As fewer animals die, or lose weight, costs are kept down for the farmer.

But it’s not all good news. Earlier this year, it was revealed that some chickens are being fed veterinary medicines linked with birth defects, cancer and heart attacks in human beings. According to a Soil Association report, some chicken meat and eggs have been found to contain residues of drugs deemed too dangerous for use in human medicine.