Free range pork ‘intensive way’ to produce but quality is ‘chalk and cheese’

Well, as Australia's shoppers prepare for their Easter feast this weekend, do we really know what we're buying? With changes to egg labelling laws and the majority of beef being industrially farmed, Australian farmers are now calling for transparency and tougher regulations on labelling. Joining me live is our Cow Co-Founder, Bianca Tarrant. Bianca, when we purchase eggs, we're met with a range of choices these days from organic to free range. But what are these changes to egg labelling laws? I think it's important for the egg labelling laws, you know, it's been a really important shift for consumers to be able to make an educated choice about the food that they are buying and bringing that same amount of education and that same amount of knowledge to the meat and livestock industry would be really great for consumers so they can make more educated decisions about the food that they are feeding their families. So what will these labelling laws entail? What are you looking for in the labels? I think it's just a bit more transparency for consumers so that they can understand how the meat is raised, the animal welfare quality of the livestock and how it's been raised, the food it's been fed, the living conditions that it's had and then they can, you know, obviously organic and free range isn't going to be for everybody but having the information in front of them they can make that educated decision about the food that they do choose to purchase. Now something you've mentioned is that few shoppers would know that 80% of beef sold in Australian supermarkets is actually industrially farmed. So what does this actually mean? It's just a way that the industry is able to consistently produce the same quality of an animal and the same meat quality at a lower price I guess, like I said, not everybody can afford to have, to afford to choose organic and free range produce but we still need to be able to produce food and the farming, that side of the farming industry and the agriculture industry is really important to Australia but I guess it's just about having a little bit more transparency in that and I guess that's why, you know, we started our business, that's why we started our cafe so we could bring that level of transparency to consumers, we can show them what we do on the farm every day, we can show them the difference between industrially farmed and free range produce and the taste difference as well and really give consumers the opportunity to support farmers through their food choices and, you know, the food that they are choosing to feed their family. Now another concern that's been raised is that only 5% of Australia's pigs are free range and almost half of them are imported, where does this leave the rest of them? Yeah so that's right, like we do import a lot of pork into Australia and there is only a really, really small percentage of pork that's produced in Australia is free range so at Our Cow, you know, we only work with free range pork producers and it is quite an intensive way to produce pork is by doing it free range but the animal welfare and the taste and the quality of the meat that you eat at the end is just, it's chalk and cheese, it's worlds apart so, you know, when you are choosing to buy, you know, your ham and your bacon and your different pork products, have a look on the back of the label and check the percentage of Australian ingredients and always look for the little pink sign on your pork products to say that it is Australian pork. Now obviously we've got a big Easter long weekend ahead, how can Australians better equip themselves when they are shopping for meat and eggs as there isn't much information on the labels as you've mentioned? Yeah I mean just ask the question, have a look at the labelling if you are buying from a supermarket, talk to your local butcher or choose to shop in places, you know, that's exactly why we created Our Cow, to have transparency, to bring that level of transparency to our consumers, to give them the option to buy, you know, free range organic grass fed produce and to know that the money that they're spending on their groceries is actually going directly back to a farming family so just take that little bit of time when you are choosing to buy your groceries, where you're getting them from, how's it raised, what sort of quality of life did it have and you know, you might pay a couple of bucks extra but the taste, the texture, the quality, the fact that the kids are going to eat their dinner over night time, it's worth it in my eyes.