DawnWatch news service / Wall Street Journal on cage free eggs

[Guest guest]

There has been recent discussion about cage-free eggs, as well as leafleting

targeting Trader Joe's to encourage them to go cage-free. For those

interested, please see the article below.

For anyone who wants to stay current on veg & AR issues in the news, I would

highly recommend DawnWatch. You can find information on how to at

the bottom of this email.

 

This was also included in the topics at the recent letter writing party that

Ben organized in Palo Alto - writing Trader Joe's as well as thanking Bon

Appetit for their decision to use only eggs from cage-free hens. By the

way, it was Ben's first letter writing party but it was a good turnout,

about 8 people. The next one is Sat 11/19, at BayLeaf Café in Palo Alto.

 

Thanks,

Tammy

 

 

DawnWatch [news]

Tuesday, October 18, 2005 5:41 PM

t

DawnWatch: Wall Street Journal on cage-free eggs 10/18/05

 

 

Recently the Federal Trade Commission ruled that United Egg Producers must

remove the misleading " Animal Care Certified " label from its egg cartons

(see http://www.cok.net/feat/accwin.php ). Wholefoods and Wild Oats have

pledged to sell only cage-free eggs.

 

Today, Tuesday, October 18, we see a Wall Street Journal story headed, " The

Yolk of Oppression: Eggs Are Latest Front In Humane-Food Wars. " (Pg D1.)

 

Wall Street Journal rs can access the whole article at

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB112959666209171428.html

 

It tells us:

" In a move that signals the increasing importance of animal-welfare issues

to the food industry, a large food-service company is expected to announce

today that it will buy eggs only from hens that have not been confined in

cages. The action by Bon Appétit Management Co., which operates 200

cafeterias in colleges and corporate campuses, comes on the heels of similar

bird-liberating pledges by retailers and colleges around the country. "

 

Later we learn that Bon Appétit " buys about eight million shell eggs a year,

as well as an unknown quantity of liquid eggs, which are not currently

included in the cage-free pledge but may be in the future... "

 

The article notes large increases in sales in the cage-free egg market.

 

And we read about different types of eggs:

" There are three basic methods of raising laying hens: caged, cage-free and

free-range. The vast majority world-wide -- about 98% -- are caged.

Cage-free birds do not spend any time in cages; instead, they roam the floor

of a hen house. Free-rrange birds are those that are allowed to spend at

least some portion of their lives in the outdoors, though not necessarily on

grass, while hens that are set out on grass are known as pastured....The

only eggs with a nutritional difference are those that come from " pastured "

hens, says Michael Hamm, a professor of sustainable agriculture at Michigan

State University. Their unique diet yields eggs higher in omega-3 fatty

acids and vitamin E. Only a tiny percentage of eggs come from birds raised

this way, and are usually sold at farmer's markets. "

 

Unfortunately the article quotes the dean of agriculture and natural

resources at Michigan State University, who was asked by United Egg

Producers, to oversee a panel of scientists and recommend new animal-welfare

guidelines. He said " Cages are a humane way to raise hens, as long as some

changes are made. " A look at the website www.EggScam.com which shows the

living conditions of animals whose eggs were labeled by United Egg Producers

as " Animal Care Certified, " makes one suspicious of claims coming from that

industry about the comfort of caged hens.

 

And what the article fails to mention is that poultry is exempt from the

Federal Humane Slaughter Act, and " spent hens " (egg-laying hens who are no

longer profitable) are exempt from many state laws that offer even a little

protection to other birds. Spent hens are killed by the cheapest means

possible, which include being buried alive in mass graves, or even, at least

once, being fed alive into a woodchipper (see

www.DawnWatch.com/oped-december1-2003.htm). That means that with laws as

they are, unfortunately even the consumption of cage-free eggs supports

cruelty that most people would be unlikely to condone.

 

The Wall Street Journal article presents a great opportunity for letters in

this influential paper regarding the treatment of animals used for food. The

Journal takes letters at wsj.ltrs. Always include your full name,

address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor.

Shorter letters are more likely to be published.

 

You can read more about the on the Bon Appétit decision on the HSUS web site

at http://tinyurl.com/c7h7m.

 

Yours and the animals',

Karen Dawn

 

(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in

the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets.

You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at

http://www.DawnWatch.com. To , go to

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