RSPCA campaign to help customers
Nov 26 2010 by The Journal
MORE than half of people surveyed in the North East want eateries to provide information about the welfare credentials of the meat, fish, eggs, poultry and dairy ingredients they source.
The survey, carried out on behalf of the RSPCA, showed that 58% of respondents in the North East thought restaurants, pubs and cafes should volunteer the information.
However, 29% of those questioned in the region say they would be too embarrassed to quiz their waiter about the welfare standards of farms where products come from.
The RSPCA’s Freedom Food campaign has now launched postcards that customers can discreetly leave behind at the end of their meal.
It is the latest move by the charity to harness customer power to encourage restaurants, cafes and pubs to source from farms rearing livestock to higher welfare standards. They can be ordered free from www.freedomfood.co.uk/simplyask/getinvolved.
RSPCA North regional manager Mike Hogg said: “We want people to ‘simply ask’ when they eat out. The more that ask about the source of the food they order, the more restaurants, pubs and cafes are likely to consider switching to higher welfare ingredients.
“But we do appreciate that British reserve means that many may shy away from the direct approach. So this is an easy way to get the message across.
“The message on the postcards encourages restaurants to sign up to the Simply Ask campaign, as it’s a great way of providing customers with precisely the information they are seeking.”
Eligible restaurants, cafes or pubs are listed on the ‘Simply Ask’ restaurant finder where customers can search for restaurants serving higher-welfare ingredients before they reserve a table.
The Feathers Inn at Hedley on the Hill, near Stocksfield in Northumberland, has signed up to the Simply Ask campaign.
Co-owner Helen Greer said: “A good restaurant, cafe or pub should be happy to tell you where they get their eggs, meat, fish and poultry from – and how the animal it came from was reared.”
The RSPCA said that around two thirds of all eggs used in restaurants, pubs and cafes, whether whole, or in liquid form in products such as quiches and cakes, are still sourced from hens kept in battery cages.
This compares to less than half of whole eggs produced for boxes sold in supermarkets that come from caged hens.
