Defining Free Range
Free range pigs should be able to fulfil their basic behavioural and physiological needs by having the freedom to forage on the land. Their general movements are not to be hindered by cages, sow stalls, or farrowing crates.
Each free range pork producer is also a steward of the land and will put in place management practices that promote health and well being for both animals and the environment.
Our pigs shall be:
- free to graze pasture during the day
- free to experience sunshine, wind and rain
- have access to clean fresh water and good feed
- free to express instinctive behaviour
- free of pain, discomfort and disease
- free from fear and distress
- protected from predators
- able to nurture their young
- free from hormones, growth promoters and antibiotics
What is Bred Free Range?
Bred Free Range means that whilst the pig may have been conceived outside the sow's piglets are not raised free range. Once they are removed from their mothers, they are raised either in eco shelters or penned in sheds. The term bred free range tends to be misunderstood by consumers. The actual pork product that is produced from this system is not free range, only the sow (or mother) was. Bred free range is not free to range.
The delicious flavours of true free range pork can only come from pigs that are allowed to forage plants and grasses and the earth they grow in.
RSPCA accredited Approved Farming Scheme Pork, is it Free Range?
The RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme accredits indoor systems as well as outdoor, but not free range. There is no way of telling which is which. The RSPCA Approved Farming Free Range Standard only calls for the same outdoor area as that inside the pig's shed and there are no requirements for pasture. Is that free range?
