Day 101 - 10 Mar 95 - Page 59
1 A. No, certainly not, because there are other advantages
2 that by far outweigh any -- the disadvantage from that side
3 of things, if that were the case. You have to look at the
4 whole picture.
5
6 Q. It would be far more extensive to rear them in our ways?
7 A. What other ways are you suggesting?
8
9 Q. There are lots of other systems, are there not?
10 Presumably, you have looked into it, if you are very
11 concerned about animal welfare?
12 A. I have visited percheries and I have visited free range
13 farms, yes.
14
15 Q. The battery chickens are cheaper, battery eggs are cheaper?
16 A. They are, yes, and healthier.
17
18 Q. When you visited free range farms -- perhaps you could just
19 clarify what you mean by that because it is a very loose
20 term, free range farms?
21 A. Well, farms that produce eggs that are legally termed
22 "free range".
23
24 Q. So you are not talking about chickens in a farmyard; you
25 are talking about also big sheds of birds but have access
26 through pot holes to outdoors?
27 A. They have access to outdoors and there is a minimum
28 area of space out of doors for each bird.
29
30 Q. You are talking about a typical large scale commercial free
31 range unit?
32 A. Yes.
33
34 Q. Of course, you could not rely on small scale units because
35 of the large volume of eggs that you use in your business?
36 A. There is a distinct limit currently to the number of
37 and the consistent quality of eggs that can be obtained by
38 free range farms. That is true. Whether or not that limit
39 is above McDonald's requirements, I do not know.
40
41 Q. That is not quite what I asked. Could you turn to pink
42 volume IX, please? Turn to tab 5, the final page in that
43 tab.
44 A. Yes.
45
46 Q. What were you discussing with Mr. Pawson of Roach foods in
47 February 1992?
48 A. I think prior to the publication of the McDonald's
49 Facts Booklet, I wanted to make sure that we had on record
50 all the suppliers' positions on animal welfare. That,
51 I believe, was what I was discussing with Mr. Pawson.
52
53 Q. So you were writing to him, or were you speaking to him, to
54 check on the conditions that the pigs were slaughtered
55 under?
56 A. Well, I was actually asking him for an official company
57 statement which is not actually what he has supplied here.
58 I think he had to, in fact, write again with his official
59 statement, so there was a bit of miscommunication, I
60 believe.
