March 24, 2026
By Sarah Chandler, for the Animal Welfare Committee
The PSFC Animal Welfare Committee (AWC) is a small nine-member group committed to helping our membership access information about the animal welfare standards of the products carried at the Coop. For over a decade, we have been researching products for sale at the Coop and producing guides for the membership to aid in decision-making.
Our most recent one was the 2025 Turkey Guide—our annual guide to all of the turkeys for sale in the Coop during Thanksgiving, as well as all the alternatives available. This year we had 10 vendors selling turkeys to the Coop, plus five plant-based roast options available. We also include fun produce facts—my favorite is that the Coop sold 3,700 pounds of Brussels sprouts in the two weeks before Thanksgiving!
The Animal Welfare Committee also tries to keep the membership informed of any significant animal welfare news through our social media feeds. Recently, for example, we wrote about new regulations in Switzerland requiring labels that disclose whether practices like castration, dehorning, tail docking or teeth clipping were carried out without anesthesia. We also wrote about federal policy changes under the Trump administration that reduce industry oversight—allowing faster assembly line speeds in certain slaughterhouses and eliminating safety advisory panels—and potentially increase the risk that more animals will be processed while still alive.
Most recently, the committee has been looking at news about shrimp and prawns. As evidence that shrimp and prawns can feel pain increases, large grocery retailers in the UK are beginning to change their sourcing practices. Traditionally, shrimp and prawns are killed using an ice slurry—a mixture of ice and water that slows their movement but leaves them potentially conscious as they slowly freeze or asphyxiate. In response, some retailers now require suppliers to adopt electric stunning, a method designed to render shrimp and prawn unconscious before death. These commitments also include ending eyestalk ablation, a practice in which one eye of a breeding female shrimp is removed to increase egg production. In the US, there has not yet been retailer pressure to change these practices.
Our committee has guides to beef, chicken, dairy milk, plant-based milks, animal testing, eggs, egg alternatives, pork, butter and fish. We are working on guides for ice cream, pet food, cheese, yogurt, cheese alternatives, butter alternatives and more! If you have questions about the animal welfare of any product the Coop carries you might find your answer in these guides or we always welcome member questions and suggestions! Please contact the AWC by emailing psfcanimals@gmail.com. You can also find the AWC on X and IG at @psfcanimals or Facebook at fb.me/psfcanimals. The AWC blog (the best place to view our guides) is psfcanimals.blogspot.com.