I was rather surprised to read that the meat for Boathouse Organic Farm shop sausages comes from pigs reared at Plumpton College and was described as organic and humanely reared.
While the former may be true, I would contest the latter. I recently attended Plumpton College's open day and was shocked to see pigs on concrete or perforated plastic flooring with areas devoid of straw or any environmental enrichment other than one piece of wood on a rope - the minimum legally allowed. When I asked a student why some piglets had no straw I was told it makes it easier for cleaning. I'm sure the piglets appreciate that.
Pigs are considered more intelligent than dogs and become easily bored. No doubt people reading the food and drink article (The Argus, July 27) imagined happy pigs foraging in fields and woodland. Nothing could be further from the truth at Plumpton, which seems to be happy to continue teaching agricultural students nothing more than a form of industrialised livestock farming.
- Sue Baumgardt, Stoneham Road, Hove
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