Uncaged eggs

Janet Gyenes

Jupiter Images

As part of the national Chicken Out! initiative, Vancouver city council resolved to support the sunnier side of the egg-laying industry when it passed a motion requiring all city-run food-serving facilities to use cage-free eggs. Now when you chow down on eggs Benny at Kits Beach’s Watermark restaurant or snarf omelette before teeing off at McCleery Golf Course, you can rest assured that the chickens that laid the eggs are as free to frolic as you are.

Chicken Out! was hatched by the Vancouver Humane Society to raise awareness about egg-laying “battery hens,” which are kept in small wire cages.

Vancouver is North America’s second city to commit to going cage-free, and it is dishing out a challenge to residents, restaurant and retailers: choose certified organic, free-range, or free-
run eggs.

“It’s about making more humane decisions,” says Debra Probert, Vancouver Humane Society executive director. “And dropping eggs from caged hens from your shopping list is a really easy way to take action for animals.”

North America is well behind Europe, where a number of countries have already banned the use of battery cages. The European Union aims to be cage-free by 2012. What about B.C.? When Whistler resolved to go cage-free last September, it also encouraged its Union of B.C. Municipalities counterparts to get cracking and Chicken Out! To learn more about Chicken Out! visit www.chickenout.ca.

(3) comment(s) | tags

Comments

Would you encourage people

By Anonymous, March 20, 2008 at 14:57

Would you encourage people to raise their own chickens (for either meat or eggs) in their backyard? I know this might bring up "animal rights" and all sorts of issues, but this would provide safe food source if the owners go through seminars and workshops and are properly educated. "City Chickens" is a big trend in many cities in the US right now, I don't think why Canadian cities are not able to do so. I would like to see more people supporting the idea and take control of where our food comes from.

It's doesn't rebut any

By jbucher, March 20, 2008 at 16:37

It's doesn't rebut any arguments about the living conditions of chickens, but I've heard that one potential problem with a backyard peep is avian flu. Apparently, it's more easily transmitted because of their exposure to wild fowl.

John Bucher
Editor, Granville Online

I think it's wonderful that

By Anonymous, March 6, 2008 at 00:34

I think it's wonderful that people have such good intentions in regards to eggs, but I was disappointed to read that you assume that cage-free eggs come from chickens "as free
to frolic as you are." While cage-free chickens are not confined to battery cages, they are far from free. There is no law stating that they must be allowed outside; instead, they are crowded by the ten thousands into enormous sheds and, like their caged counterparts, debeaked. Free-range and free-run eggs are the same; they are not regulated legally and there is no guarantee whatsoever when it comes to welfare. Your readers should know that the only label that legally requires chickens to "have access to the outdoors" is the organic label, and even it has its welfare problems.

The Vancouver Humane Society, whom you profiled in your article, has this information on their website, http://www.chickenout.ca .

You can also find more information on this topic here:

http://www.liberationbc.com/issues/organic

Thank you.

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