It was but a tiny little note in our daily. But it is a huge note for all livestock breeding.

Finally, one of the biggest German discounters decides, to stopp selling the cheapest meat available. Consequently produced with the lowest standards of animal welfare, of course. Using the term “welfare” in this context is an insult, really. Animal cruelty is the appropriate term.

This industry has forced me to stop buying such meat all together. And I am from a rural area, am accustomed to slaughtering living beings for my food. And love meat, too. But the point is: you raise living beings. So it is your f….. responsibility to treat them properly, look after all their needs and if you kill them, do so in a quick manner. Causing as little stress as possible and no pain, if at all possible. That’s how it should be, as long as we eat meat. (A question I ponder – but this is for another post). What the industry and trade is doing these days, and we consumers sanction by buying such meat, however, is downright criminal. There have been more literate people than me, to shout out about this (Please read Jonathan Safran Foers book on the topic: Eating Animals – it turned my personal world upside down). And finally, it seems to pay off:

ALDI (comparable to WALMART), decided, to only sell meat, that keeps higher standards of humane husbandry. Such as adequate animal housing with contact to fresh air, being raised on a bio-certificated farm until 2030. Ok, ok, too slow, too little, I scream. But it puts pressure on all the industry to follow suit. According to the note, the other two big players on the food market in Germany, REWE-Group and market leader EDEKA, promised even quicker measures such as stopping sales of minimal standards products on short call. All it took, was one of the three big players to come forward and make the first step.

I think I will return to shop with ALDI because of it. I have long since stopped to set foot into ALDI, exactly because of their strategy to sell cheap. And cheap only – not minding any consequences.

Btw, this little note, published a few days ago, made the evening news and dominates part of the public discussion already, building pressure. Good news, all together. It would be great, if Europe would follow suit, and then the world.