Large Food Vendors Pledge To Buy Chicken Raised Under "Humane" Standards

Josh Balk is vice president of animal welfare with the Humane Society of the U.S. - they've advocated for reform on animal welfare standards within the so-called broiler industry for years.

Balk says the commitment from Compass Group USA and Aramark to change their sourcing practices by 2024 signals a big shift.

"These are some of the biggest players that there are in terms of poultry purchasing," explains Balk. "Because of their announcement I fully expect the totality of food industry to eventually adopt similar reforms."

While Balk is cautiously optimistic about a domino effect on the poultry industry Tom Mattos with the California Poultry Federation takes a more pragmatic view.

"From our perspective you're going to see more chickens meeting the standards they're talking about," Mattos says. "But in a nationwide basis, I don't see it happening that quickly. 2024? That would be ambitious."

Mattos says the move by Aramark and Compass Group USA - which run dining operations at college and hospital cafeterias across the country - is unlikely to make much of a difference in California because they don't buy a significant amount of their poultry here.

So what would be a game changer in terms of animal welfare standards for the poultry industry? 

According to Mattos it would take a national grocery chain deciding it would only sell poultry from chickens raised within global animal welfare guidelines.