AR-News: Va. pub's menu first to get animal-rights group OK

Fri May 14 21:42:20 EDT 2004

 http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-humane14.html 
Va. pub's menu first to get animal-rights group OK 

May 14, 2004 

BY MATTHEW BARAKAT 

UPPERVILLE, Va. -- At the Hunter's Head Tavern, ''guilt-free dining'' has nothing to do with calories or carb counts. 

The English pub in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains this week became the first restaurant in the nation to get an animal welfare group's stamp of approval for the humane treatment of the animals on its menu -- from the beef stew to the shepherd's pie. 

In other words, it's OK to order the veal as long as it hasn't been mistreated. 

''Consumers are increasingly concerned about where their food comes from,'' said Adele Douglass, executive director of Humane Farm Animal Care. The group's certification offers assurance that the meat or poultry was not raised in inhumane conditions, she said. 

At Hunter's Head, about 50 miles west of the nation's capital, nearly all meat and some produce comes from nearby Ayrshire Farms. 

The restaurant and the farm are owned by Sandy Lerner, who made a fortune as co-founder of Cisco Systems and now uses the restaurant to showcase the quality of organic and humanely raised fare from her farm. 

''We want to introduce people to looking at food in a new way,'' she said. 

Take veal, for example. 

''You can raise humane veal. There's no reason you have to keep them in a crate ... keep them anemic. God didn't create veal crates. We did,'' Lerner said. ''If we can make people feel good about veal again, that's a good thing.'' 

Humane Farm Animal Care is aligned with the Humane Society of the United States and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. AP 

the wild, cruel beast is not behind the bars of the cage. he is in front of it - axel munthe

"Never doubt that a small group of dedicated citizens can change the world. 
Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."      Margaret Mead
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