Food provider Aramark released its plan to request that their suppliers change the living conditions and butchering practices of broiler chickens to meet humane standards on Thursday, Nov. 3.

This plan, published in response to a national campaign by The Humane League, requests that its suppliers' operations be changed by 2024 at the latest.

Senior Marissa Costner was the face of The Humane League’s campaign on Elon University's campus. She had planned to deliver a petition signed by more than 90,000 individuals to Aramark’s headquarters later this month, but was happy to say that will no longer be necessary.

“This is the first time that something has been done really that’ll have huge implications for millions of animals and in the future billions of animals when everything changes to be this way,” Costner said.

The Humane League made three primary demands, according to Costner, all of which Aramark agreed to comply with.

“We wanted them to switch to a slower growing breed of birds,” said Costner, “and then to also reduce the stocking density, which would give each bird more space … and to give them natural lights and hay bails.

“The third thing is to phase away from the live-shackle slaughter method where their not render insensitive to pain … and to instead do something called Controlled Atmosphere Stunning.”

These new requirements will be added to Aramark's previously existing regulations. According the company’s statement, its animal welfare policy put into effect in 2015 required that suppliers provide animals with conditions in accordance to the “Five Freedoms” of animal welfare created by the Farm Animal Welfare Committee.

In addition to meeting The Humane League’s requests, Aramark announced it will continue to consult with animal welfare organizations over the course of the next year regarding “issues related to litter quality, lighting, air quality, and other environmental conditions.”

“Aramark also supports the formation of an animal welfare roundtable engaging foodservice/ restaurant companies and suppliers with animal welfare, health, environmental and agricultural organizations to address a groundbreaking shift in animal welfare,” said the statement.

“This is setting a precedent for how things will be in the future,” said Costner. “Others will soon follow and others, as far as I know, have already started to make these changes.”