Cage-free eggs have become a hot trend for American restaurant chains, as activist groups are successfully dragging major food retailers into the middle of the ethical food production debate. While both consumers and U.S. retail industry restauranteurs have declared their public support for the cage-free movement, both groups have yet to convincingly demonstrate real loyalty for the cause with deeply committed actions.
Red Robin is the latest U.S. casual dining chain to announce that it will be using cage-free eggs in its restaurants. The company made a public commitment to go cage-free with at least one-third of its eggs beginning this month. By the end of 2010 the company vows that none of its eggs will originate from foul fowl sources.
This is a move that is aligned with the social responsibility that Red Robin demonstrates regularly, and for all of its principle-motivated decisions the company deserves applause. The value of this particular decision to the farm animal welfare movement, however, is really more about hype than substantive impact.
If you scan the Red Robin gourmet burger menu, it's a where's-Waldo kind of exercise to find any of its offerings that use eggs. Beyond the fried egg which tops its signature Royal Red Robin Burger, and the hard-boiled egg on its Cobb salad, eggs do not seem to be a key ingredient in any of the 59 other menu choices. So, to put Red Robin's cage-free commitment into perspective, 30% of the eggs that are used in 3% of its menu selections are now produced by chickens that have at lest enough room to flap their wings.
Mother-may-I take half of a baby step towards the reformation of the horrifically offensive operating practices of farm factories in America? Yes, you may.
Red Robin's egg use is negligible compared to the restaurant industry as a whole, so its shift to cage-free consumption is not going to make a dramatic impact on the lives of many chickens. This is not a criticism of Red Robin, but more an illustration of the realities of the morally desirable, but logistically challenged cage-free movement.
Currently only 5% of the eggs available in the U.S. today are produced in cage-free operations. Why? Because it's more expensive and there aren't enough customers willing to pay the higher price. It's strictly economics. If every restaurant in America simultaneously decided to stop purchasing eggs that were obtained from sources that were deemed to be "cruel,"there simply would not be enough "humane" eggs to supply the demand.
Regardless of this supply and demand reality, organizations like the U.S. Humane Society (HSUS) and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are on the warpath with the cage-free issue, launching high profile campaigns targeted at some of the most popular publicly traded U.S. restaurant chains. McDonald's was a recent target. At the company's annual meeting in May, shareholders were asked to vote on a resolution which would compel the fast food chain to begin the transition to purchasing and serving only cage-free eggs. The resolution was initiated by HSUS and PETA, which reportedly own 101 and 79 shares of McDonald's stock, respectively.
Let's pause to enjoy the irony of this scenario. McDonald's sales and stock prices have been flourishing in this recession economy. So, with their stock ownership, both the Humane Society and PETA are both financially supporting and profiting from the very corporate practices that they label as unconscionable. Is anyone besides me amused by that?
In a statement made prior to that shareholder vote, Paul Shapiro, senior director of the HSUS factory farming campaign said, "It's time for the company [McDonald's] to realize that Americans are overwhelmingly opposed to this type of animal abuse and begin switching to cage-free eggs." Reality check, please. It's time for the animal rights advocates to realize that what Americans say and what Americans do are very often two different things.
While Americans may say in a survey that they are morally opposed to battery-cage conditions, if their behaviors matched their beliefs, they would simply stop visiting the McDonald's drive-thru at breakfast time. But they haven't stopped, by the millions. So, in reality, Americans want to have their cage-free chickens and eat their buy-one-get-one-free Egg McMuffins too.
So, everybody is verbally supporting the cage-free outcome, but nobody is proving that they are willing to sacrifice anything to obtain it. McDonald's same store sales continue to grow, so we can conclude that fast food diners are not as morally outraged as they are hungry and broke. And after 95% of the McDonald's shareholders voted against the HSUS/PETA cage-free resolution, we can also conclude that the golden profits of the golden arches are more important than the golden rule for a vast majority of the company's investors.
While I personally support the ideals of HSUS and PETA in this issue, I'm not sure it's really fair to force corporations to grow a conscience when consumers clearly aren't purchasing with theirs. When I looked in the egg cooler at my local Publix grocery store this afternoon, the supply of cheap antibiotic-laced eggs produced by hormone-fed, genetically-altered, physically-abused chickens had been depleted quite a bit. The stock of higher-priced eggs produced by happy, free-moving chickens seemed untouched in comparison.
Millions of people will be adding the 99-cent cartons of eggs to their grocery carts this week without regard to the well-being of the twelve hens that pushed out the product. So aren't the egg end-users the group of people that really should be in the HSUS and PETA crosshairs?
Targeting the fast food companies that make egg sandwiches probably isn't going to work as long as their cash registers are still getting filled by those who are eating the fast food egg sandiwches. Which comes first - the supply of cage-free chickens or the real demand for cage-free eggs backed by steadfast consuming behaviors? That's not really an unsolvable conundrum, is it?
To be fair, there are many companies in the U.S. retail industry that make decisions with a moral compass, leading change instead of reacting to consumer whims. Whole Foods stopped selling eggs from battery-caged hens in 2005. Ben and Jerry's committed to using only cage-free eggs in 2006. Both of these companies have been recognized and admired for their principle-centered practices for as long as they have been in business.
Burger King, Wendy's, Hardees and Carl's Jr. have also publicly committed to using cage-free eggs, but at last reports, 98 out of 100 eggs served at these restaurants are still produced by battery-caged birds. I guess 2% multiplied by several chains will add up eventually, but the big accolades that these companies are getting for such small commitments don't make their cage-free actions seem very authentically motivated.
Should we really be all that impressed by companies that are taking the cage-free high road because it's good for their image and doesn't cost them much? Or is eggwashing starting to be the new greenwashing?
If HSUS and PETA supporters walked into one of the restaurants with a 2% cage-free commitment, it's doubtful that they would be able to specifically request and receive a cage-free egg sandwich there. Let's face it, though. The HSUS and PETA supporters I know are not exactly the target market for these kinds of retail food chains anyway.
That, of course, is the fundamental challenge. Those who care don't consume the products and those who consume the products don't really care. Until one side or the other changes the way they participate in that paradigm, profit-motivated restaurant chains aren't likely to make any profound changes either.
While there are no real winners in the cage-free battle so far, it is clear that the big losers continue to be the chickens.
Or is it the eggs?
Comments
If they made it legal to keep chickens as pet wherever the eggs consumed must be cage-free, then the egg industry would flounder, but the prices would stay low. Some people really can’t afford the price difference, and some of those people will be losing their jobs if laws are passed to tax dairy cattle and require cage-free eggs.
Burger King’s cage-free egg usage is already more than 5%. Quiznos has already committed to going 10% cage-free.
Americans are not only responding to polls that they oppose battery cages. They’re voting to ban the practice, too. Californians just voted to make it a crime to use battery cages for laying in this last November’s election. Other states are now considering similar legislation.
Retailers have an obligation to make good on their ubiquitous promises of social responsibility. Little could be less responsible than using battery eggs.
I agree there may be a difference between people’s voting behavior and their consumption behavior, but that’s no reason for retailers to continue supporting such animal cruelty. After all, consumers have shown that they’re willing to buy cheap products made through sweatshop labor (virtual slavery), but that doesn’t mean retailers shouldn’t eradicate sweatshop conditions from their supply chains.
Similarly, McDonald’s customers didn’t refuse to buy styrofoam, but the company still did the right thing and got rid of it in their supply chain.
Retailers, as major buyers of agricultural products, share some responsibility for how those products are produced. They can take steps in the right direction by moving to cage-free eggs.
The best to help animals on factory farms is to go vegetarian or vegan.
I say keep the chickens in cages and give me cheap eggs.
This is a scam this cage free business put out by HSUS. It is a fact that more chickens suffer and die from free roaming than in furnished cages. They kill each other, peck each others eggs and chicks. This is a farce put on by animal rights radicals to turn people into vegans by making food so expensive they cannot afford to raise or eat chickens. This is a mindless cult of people who have managed to fool the public into thinking that they care about animals when in fact they want all domestic animals extinct. They fooled the public into giving them money by lying about the puppy mills. They intend to make the US into a totally vegan state with no domestic animals for medicine, food, or pets. Read the scientific literature or talk to people who do know about animals and the reason farms moved to furnished cages from free roaming is it reduces the stress on chickens and they live longer. 30 to 40% die in free roaming compared to furnished cage chickens. This is about people who want to rule the world by forcing their way of life on the rest of the population. Its a religion to them and that is why they write against the jewish relgion and why they try to rewrite the protestant bible to suppor their viewpoint. They are on a religious crusade where they want to end all animal human contact or use.
By the way caged chicken eggs are safer and less likely to be cracked or have salmonella or some other disease from lying on the ground. Disease is rampant among free roaming chickens including avian flu.
So, I always buy regular eggs and avoid the free roaming chicken eggs for two reasons. 1. they cost more and 2. they carry more diseases. I will not risk my health to support a stupid idea.
How are caged chickens any better? 5 chickens in a 2ftx2ft cage with feces and what not. I don’t think thats any better.
Dr. Rosset,
I’m guessing you’re not actually a doctor with that level of compassion. I’m also guessing you’ve never actually been to a battery. For the benefit of your education, I suggest arranging a visit to one to get your facts straight, or supply some statistics and evidence to support your arguments against this ’stupid idea’.
Also, I don’t think this is about religion, or because people don’t want contact with animals, or want them extinct(!?)Generally, people who do care about animals and have contact with them support cage free. It is about common sense.
I don’t want to be rude, but your comment makes you sound a bit crazy when you need to get the Jews and the protestants involved over eggs.
Avian flu is a sensationalist issue. If you are worried about brainwashing, forget this whole cage free issue and worry about sensationalist issues edging their way into your supermarket choices.
I live in Australia where the cage free stack of eggs on the supermarket shelf depletes faster than the cage pile. We are going to follow in Europe’s footsteps in the future and ban cages (which the EU will do by 2012). I am hoping the US pulls up it’s socks and progresses a little too.
The more egg production is free range, the more the price of free-range eggs will come down. If you want to save money, find someone nearby who has some chickens, these are usually much cheaper.
All the best,
Kernel Mustard
Battery cages are cruel. Period.
While commercial “free range” sounds great there is nothing free about their range. It is still a mass of chickens enclosed in a building with a low quality of life and a delicate balance between health and death. And what do they eat to keep the cost of eggs low? The same crap (it is called animal digest, etc… which sounds so much more appealing then what it really is) that makes them as healthy as the battery cage eggs. For your own personal consumption eat local from someone in your area with truly free range chickens that are eating the bugs and vegetation that gives the eggs their beuatiful deep yellow color- which are far healthier. Just like the popular French Label Rouge chickens for meat you can produce food in a more humane way that is higher quality and commercially viable. It will cost more true but perhaps the incidence of cancer and drug resistant “bugs” would offset the crap we now eat second hand. And the volume of food we ate would be what we need to remain healthy and stay trim so we would spend less on health care. So higher food costs to buy healthier food but you eat less at the same cost and need to spend less on health care and there is less energy to produce the food…hmmm there could be a net gain on this in the end. But too many love the Wal-Mart way of lots of cheap crap that costs less because it is worht less!
Well, the plight of the caged hens is horrid enough to see, but all anyone needs to do is see the undercover video the vegan people filmed at factory egg farms and watch them put all the baby boy chicks on a conveyor belt which dumped them into a grinding machine which reduced them all to a pile of bloody pulp and, trust me, the committment to avoid factory eggs becomes real and immediate. I used to eat at IHOP a lot because of their open 24 hr policy, but I haven’t put foot in one since i saw that video. And I am making a nuisance of myself at all the restaurants I eat at by asking for their policy on cage vs factory eggs!!!
Marah – What makes you think that having free range vs caged chickens for eggs is going to stop them from killing all the “unnecessary” male chicks?
Battery caging is just plain awful, on this we can all agree, but furnished cages are a better option than free ranging for the chickens. They are safer and studies show they are happier. Happier meaning it is what they would chose on their own. They let chickens have access to free range and furnished cages and 80% chose to be in the cages where they had access to nest boxes, perches and dust baths. {The perch is the key BTW}.
Well you folks really should do your own research.
First of all, chickens raised for eggs are very very very very very rarely given antibiotics – only if there is a disease. I have a large egg farm in the US. We have used antibiotics once in the past 20 years.
Second of all – no hormones are needed!!! The chickens lay the eggs on their own in response to lighting conditions simulating spring time.
Chickens in cages are easier to take care of than cage free and have LOWER MORTALITY (that means fewer of them die) I think that is a pretty meaningful measurement of animal welfare unless you think a dead cage free chicken is being taken care of better than a live caged hen.
Yes the male chicks are killed. They are not needed. But it is done quickly (the film you are talking about was slowed down to make it look like a slow agonizing death).
Guess what – those chicks hatched for organic production also had the males pulled out too! Sorry to burst your self righteous bubble.
Go ahead and purchase whichever eggs you feel best about. Just don’t force your views upon me or my children.
Most of the general public knows nothing about this issue, that’s the major issue. Unless they live in an area where this is occurring nobody really knows what going on. The battery cages seem cruel, but if no one knows what is really going on (on a large scale) nothing is going to happen, obviously there is some progress but not enough.
Free Range vs. cages period. I think just let the hens pick, like Jeffery Hall said if they are more content in the furnished cages then let that be. More chickens die in free range anyways, how is it better? It is in no way (that I can see) a religion or a conspiracy, simply people expressing a point of view trying to better the world and the relationship between humans and animals. If it’s not something you agree with then, ignore or speak up but don’t trash it. Ultimately you can’t ever really know what’s right or wrong.
I’m personally against battery cages but I can understand the appeal of using them. (not that it makes it right to do so by me) I admit I am ignorant on many issues in this subject, so my opinion can’t really be considered but that’s what I think and pushing views on people isn’t right, I’m vegan but I don’t freak when I see people eating meat. Most people do, it’s a fact and I just choose not to.