Korean 'animal welfare farm' provides pigs with creature comforts

'스트레스 없는' 돼지고기 맛은 어떨까요? Pork products grown on so-called animal welfare farms in Korea have become the latest to receive "animal welfare" certification. These farms provide cool, stress-free environments for pigs, as part of broader efforts to ensure farmyard animals are treated well. Lee Min-young reports. This is a pig farm in Gyeongsangnam-do province. The ground is cushioned with rice husks and is unseasonably cool. There is even classical music playing. "The pigs stay active and eat less feed, improving meat quality and promoting more efficient growth." A farm this size can normally raise over four-thousand pigs, but this one chose to limit its animal population to 25-hundred and give its pigs more space instead. The farm was certified as an "animal welfare farm" in June, and produces what the Bugyeong Pig Farming Association is calling Animal Welfare Certified pork. "We see this as an opportunity to provide consumers with safer food, while allowing farmers to reap higher profits." Certifications have been given for other kinds of meat, but this is the first in the country for pork. In order for the final product to be sold with an animal welfare-certification mark, slaughterhouses must also minimize injuries and pain during transport and slaughter. The president of the farming association believes this will give the local livestock industry a more competitive edge, especially in a market of increasing meat imports. Lee Min-young, Arirang News. Visit ‘Arirang News’ Official Pages Facebook(NEWS): http://www.facebook.com/newsarirang Homepage: http://www.arirang.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/arirangtv Twitter: http://twitter.com/arirangworld Instagram: http://instagram.com/arirangworld