- In recent years, there has been a veritable revolution in public attention to eggs and the chickens that produce them. In the past two years, nearly 200 U.S. companies – including every major grocery and fast-food chain – that together buy half of the 7 billion eggs laid monthly have pledged to use only cage-free eggs by 2025.
. . .
The fast shift toward uncaged hens is a sign of Americans’ increasing concern about animals, even ones known more for clucking than cuteness. But it also amounts to one of the animal advocacy movement’s biggest victories in decades – one brought about by ballot measures, campaigns against companies, foodie culture and, above all, the power of the Internet.
I found it tickling how on the one hand the logic on Gregory's side: there's a no reason to change production seeing as this isn't a consumer driven movement, yet the other side being the activists aren't a consumer group as a result of so many mal-practices (in their eyes). I'll be the first to admit I'm dense, but wouldn't lower mortality rates for chickens mean more time for the chickens to produce eggs, resulting in less money invested raising/buying other egg-layers? No real comment here, just thought this was an interesting quote. On the topic of the second article, loved it as a sequel. Thanks for both. Intriguing to see calling for cage-free eggs makes people default to an old way of thinking/operating. The second article outlines the differences more than well enough. While the industry has progressed to become, well, industrial, people's interest on what goes in their body now is the hindrance. Further, it reads like third parties can easily make a money game of the ability to "certify" cage-free eggs due to lack of (dare I say) federal regulation. On the whole, surprised going back to the old way is best solution thus far when it comes to eliminating cages.“We know [cage-free] is not better for hens,” said Chad Gregory, president of United Egg Producers, which represents most American egg farmers. And activists, many of whom espouse veganism, “want to take away consumer choices,” Gregory said. “Ultimately, they’re not going to eat our product anyway.”
“Well-educated, affluent Americans, that’s where we’re seeing these attitudinal changes most directly,” said Janet Davis, a University of Texas historian and author of “The Gospel of Kindness: Animal Welfare and the Making of Modern America.” But when mass-market companies such as Walmart swear off caged eggs, “it does indicate a wholesale shift,” she said.
Yeah. They're two very interesting portraits of the same issue. I think the next few years will be interesting, trying to figure out the logistics, finances, and best way to regulate all of this. I hear lab grown meat is just around the corner. I can imagine that too will provide its own challenges.
Why can't this mean that cage free eggs became more economic than caged ones? Nowadays they put a bunch of chickens in a too small area, shave their beaks off so they don't fight, and probably use automated systems to collect the eggs that don't need to be in a limited range. Now, without iron bars, you can fit more chickens in a smaller area, and the chickens are overall healthier and produce more thanks to being able to walk around.
I think in terms of space and efficiency, battery cages win out because you can squeeze significantly more chickens in a given area. Eggs from caged birds were probably cheapest just due to sheer volume of chickens in a given area. Cage free still isn't perfect though. The chickens are still pretty crowded and practices like beak trimming and forced molting are still used on some farms. At the same time, free roaming chickens can easily get sick or injured from fighting each other (chickens are dicks who love to fight) or spreading disease through feces. So trying to balance out health and efficiency is still an issue. I think we're taking a step in the right direction and while I'm not a fan of raising food prices, I think the majority of people can swallow an extra nickel or two per egg if it means they come from a better source. Wired has another good article about the transition to cage free, listing some of the difficulties the food industry is facing. Another shout out to kantos here, because the Wired article is also informative in a different way.
Absolutely. I thought you'd appreciate this article because it illustrates really well how we as consumers can try to make a positive change in the food industry as well as how issues aren't always easy to work solve. I look forward to what you have to say.