[freebird]

http://www.gazette.net/stories/10110...47_31946.shtml

i'm vegan, so i don't eat eggs, but i was very happy to see this article. takoma park is 5 minutes from my house, and it's where i do all my grocery shopping. did i mention i heart maryland?

eta: DANG...i spelled "farming" wrong, and don't know how to fix it. D'oh!

 

[karenlovessnow]

Hooray for Tacoma Park!

 

[sushi8kat]

That's awesome. It makes me so angry that more stores don't strictly sell cage-free eggs. I used to work at a grocery store and would get really upset when I'd see people buy eggs that weren't humane, especially when I knew that the exact same brand that they were buying made cage-free eggs. It's so encouraging to hear recent stories about companies using only cage-free eggs (Ben and Jerry's for example), as well as chain grocery stores, and now cities! We (the public) just have to keep demanding such changes.

 

[gas4]

I buy free range eggs at our supermarket and I've noticed that they're really popular. On busy days I often grab one of the last few cartons.

 

[peace]

We have cage free eggs sold in the health section of our stores, too. I rarely see people buying them, but then of course someone must because they still stock them.

Boy, the egg industry's arguments are getting lamer and lamer. Treating hens slightly better restricts "consumer choice"? Frankly, if someone does actually believe an animal should suffer as much as possible to bring food to his/her table, I don't think we have any responsibility to fill that consumer's desire.

 

[das_nut]

Good for them!

 

[troub]

This is the animal rights/welfare forum, so:

Quote:

Originally Posted by http://www.vegansociety.com/html/animals/exploitation/hens.php

Free Range Systems

"Free Range" often conjures up idyllic images of hens scratching in the farmyard. The reality is often very different. They are often kept in "Barn"-type houses in flocks of up to 16,000 in large sheds. They are often debeaked. The birds must have access to the outdoor range area, which can be stocked at a maximum of 2,500 birds per hectare of land available to the hens. However, in large-scale free range units, often less than 50% of the birds regularly go outside. As with all commercial laying hens, after usually a year of egg production they are slaughtered.

oh plus the males are still killed. hundreds just tossed into a dumpster to starve and get smothered to death after just emerging from their shells.

"free range" is a joke...

humane this is not.

But yeah thumbs-up for the battery egg ban. It's at least one step closer to eliminating animal slaughter.