The holiday season is a good time to reflect on and give thanks for all that we have, including the food that graces our tables. The holidays are filled with many food-related traditions. As we prepare for these festivities, we also need to consider steps we can take to support humane farming.

During these coming weeks remember that all animals deserve care and respect. Farm animals in particular should be free from hunger, thirst, discomfort, pain, disease, fear and distress. They should also be able to express their own natural behaviors, such as dust-bathing for hens or nest- building for sows.

Unfortunately, life for most farm animals is not humane. In order to maximize profits, turkeys and chickens have been bred to grow huge and fast. There are better options in which farm animals are not forced to live in crowded barns and pumped full of antibiotics to hasten their growth. They do not have to be denied adequate space or natural light.

Express your appreciation for these animals this season by supporting farmers who use humane methods and by making humane choices at the grocery store. For example, consider purchasing a free-range turkey - look for brands such Bell & Evans and Eberly's at your local store. You can also visit Eat Wild, a website dedicated to grass-based farming, Local Harvest, or the Eat Well Guide to locate sustainable options. For more information about humane choices please contact Larissa McKenna.

Do you have a holiday receipt that highlights humanely grown or organic ingredients? What better time of year to share dishes that not only taste great and are good for your health, but help protect animal welfare too. Please send your holiday recipes to Jacki Rossi, Public Education Coordinator, P.O. Box 14599, Chicago, IL 60614 or email them to Jacki Rossi. FACT will happily post the recipes on our website for everyone to share. We look forward to hearing from you.

In January, a new Administration will take over in our nation's capitol. With change comes a renewed opportunity to move forward on the issues FACT addresses. While it is still unclear who President- Elect Obama will appoint to key positions in the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration, FACT is hopeful we can make sustainable progress toward achieving our two principal goals: improving farm animal welfare and protecting public health.

The new administration needs to refocus the efforts of regulatory agencies on protecting consumers. Specifically, FACT will work to attain:

• An FDA ban on the use of poultry litter as cattle feed. Using animal waste as animal feed threatens animal health and welfare and human health. The known dangers include the spread of Mad Cow disease, the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria, and the potential for exposure to toxic substances. FACT has been working to make farms better places for animals through our Consumers Against Litter in Feed (CALF) campaign.
• An FDA commitment to phasing out the routine, nontherapeutic use of drugs given farm animals. It is estimated that 70 percent of all antibiotics used in the United States are fed to chickens, hogs, and beef cattle - not to treat disease but rather to promote growth and to compensate for the crowded, stressful, and unsanitary conditions on factory farms. This practice creates resistant bacteria that make it more difficult to treat both human and animal illnesses.
• A final FDA rule requiring egg producers to take steps to reduce and monitor for Salmonella Enteritidis (SE), a leading cause of foodborne illness. FACT created the model for controlling SE on its Nest Eggs farms, demonstrating that a clean living environment for hens results in healthy food for consumers. This model helped to shape the proposed FDA rule, but it has been languishing within the Administration since it was first proposed four years ago.
• Improved USDA standards for animal production label claims.

What better time to connect with your food, community and land than the holiday season? Whether you want to liven up your holiday spread with fresh and nutritious ingredients or you are looking for that one-of- a-kind gift that supports local, family-run businesses, you can do all this and more at the FamilyFarmed EXPO.

The EXPO is a three-day gathering of farmers, producers, trade buyers and fans of locally grown and responsibly-produced products. FACT looks forward to meeting and educating consumers and FACT supporters! We will have information on local humane food choices and ways you can help make all farms humane and healthy places to raise food animals. You can also enter a raffle for a chance to win an online gift certificate for Tallgrass Beef.

The FamilyFarmed EXPO runs November 21 through 23 at the Chicago Cultural Center (77 East Randolph Street and 78 East Washington Street). Times vary each day. Look for FACT's booth on Saturday and Sunday. For more information about the EXPO please visit www.familyfarmedexpo.com. We hope to see you there!

Last month FACT's Public Health Program Director, Steve Roach, represented consumers at the 2nd meeting of the Codex Alimentarius Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance in Seoul, Korea. The Task Force is a consortium of governments and international organizations focused on reducing the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Its goal is to provide guidance to countries on how they can control the problem of antibiotic resistance arising from the use of antibiotics in agriculture.

As a consumer advocate organization, FACT's recommendations sometimes go against the grain at these meetings. Governments often take positions that safeguard domestic industries such as factory farms and drug manufacturers at the expense of protecting public and animal health. Steve called on the Task Force to consider additional problems that can be attributed to antibiotic resistance, including the fact that resistance causes an increased number of infections. Resistance also makes antibiotics less effective for treating illnesses, forcing patients to switch between multiple types of drugs. There are many health problems related to this practice that need to be accounted for in policy decisions. When factors such as these are considered, the threat posed by antibiotic resistant is greater, underscoring the need for strict governmental policies that reduce antibiotic use on farms. FACT's challenge is convincing others that producing strong guidance that protects public health is the Task Force's primary objective.

FACT will continue to be a part of these Task Force meetings. We will not only push for greater action to improve the health of farm animals by reducing the need for antibiotics but also for inclusion of policies that reduce resistant bacteria in animal waste and animal feed.