Animal Welfare
At PCC, we believe the way humans treat farm animals is integral to our own general well-being and the health of our planet. We believe we have a responsibility to see that livestock are raised humanely, free of pain, fear, and psychological stress, and that they’re able to express their natural behaviors.
As a retailer, PCC has a responsibility to provide the most humane choices for omnivorous shoppers. As a baseline standard, all fresh meat and poultry sold at PCC must be either certified organic or non-GMO. Depending on the animal species, we also set additional requirements and recommended best practices around the housing, handling, and treatment of livestock animals we sell.
Beef Cattle & Bison
PCC prioritizes pasture-raised and organic certified beef and bison, which has less impact on the environment and supports better welfare for the animals. We also set other requirements for producers of our fresh beef and bison products, including prohibiting antibiotics and hormones.
PCC Beef Cattle and Bison Standard >
Beef Cattle and Bison Standard FAQs >
Hogs & Pigs
PCC sets high standards for hog producers that supply our fresh pork products, such as prohibiting gestation crates and the use of all growth promoters, including non-hormonal substances like ionophores. PCC sets addition expectations for suppliers to ensure pigs have access to sunlight, mud, and other enrichment or environmental elements that improve their welfare.
Poultry
PCC’s poultry standard aims to ensure that the birds that supply our fresh poultry products aren’t kept in crowded barns, don’t undergo painful physical alterations, have access to fresh air and outdoors (ideally pasture), and have an environment in which they can express their natural behaviors.
Sheep & Goats
Similar to our other standards, PCC doesn’t allow the producers of our fresh lamb or goat products to keep their animals confined in cages or crates. We expect them to be raised with the highest level of animal welfare, including access to outdoors, ideally on pasture for long as weather permits, where they can express their natural behaviors. We also don’t allow any milk replacer that contains animal byproducts.
Sheep and Goat Standard FAQs >
Fresh Milk
All of PCC’s fresh milk is certified organic or from cows raised on non-GMO feed. All our dairy farmers raise their cows on pasture without ionophores or other antibiotics endemic in the dairy industry. Several brands are from cows bred to produce A2 beta-casein, which some believe makes dairy more digestible.
EGGS
The whole, fresh chicken eggs found on our shelves are laid by hens that spend at least six hours per day outside, soaking up sunshine and stretching their wings. This is just the minimum requirement — we believe that hens should truly roam green pastures. So in addition to our free-range options, PCC offers a variety of fresh eggs from pasture-raised hens. Our own PCC Organic Pastured Eggs come from Wilcox Family Farms in Roy, Washington, where hens are raised in mobile hen houses that are regularly moved to fresh pasture.