Hmm, it's not a bad idea. If they do this with an effort towards keeping their livestocks happy, I'm all for it. However I don't feel effects from the meat quality will be seen. Most livestock swine live to up to a year tops or so from what I recall being mentioned at an UC Davis' slaughterhouse exhibition.
While it may seem beneficial to keep them happy, it just doesn't seem to provide tremendous benefits by turning on a light bulb and starting to get a six month old swine on an exercise regimen. It would probably be more likely be noticeable if they were exercised from the start, the moment they were a few weeks old. However, all in all I doubt the average (american) consumer has a skill in determining meat quality of the food, using our fast food joints and the meat as a sole example.
I did a quick look at peer reviewed resources,
one study in France concluded findings that associate muscle pH, ATP composition and muscle glycogen content as the main variables.
I do not know how much different stress hormones are from species to species.
But if stress hormones from animals have a similar effect on us, according to some psychologists, the body retains memories about situations. This seems spooky, but i can imagine if you are always in a stressful situation, that your body has elevated levels of stress hormones as well. If it can make a difference i do not know. There is organ meat and muscle meat. I would think organ meat might show elevated levels of stress but that is just my guess. It is just an idea. Not a proven theory.
Any kind of hormones, including stress hormones, serve similar functions in most if not all vertebrates. Just about anything with a nervous system would have hormones, I'd think. The sole function of hormones when distributed through the body are to enter cell plasma membranes and bind to the receptors, and while in this conformation, finally latch onto the targeted DNA that instruct for changes in response.
We and animals have different hormones for situations. Take for example when we are frightened (during stress), epinephrine (also commonly known as adrenaline) is released throughout the body and all receptor cites that can use it allow it to bind and latch on causing changes: in the eyes, the pupils may get larger, the lungs breath quicker, blood is pumped quicker, your liver (cells) utilize stored glycogen for the extra energy, and so on.
But these are all short term effects, when adrenaline hormones are regulated, your system returns to normal. Talk long term, like a pig being happy induced in high serotonin levels, and the (short) long term effects. The meat is going to be of better quality.
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