MAY DAY: Help Eggspose the Hard-Boiled Truth during “National Egg Month!”

By Erica Meier

Herbivore, May 2007

The egg industry’s busiest time of year is the Easter season. After the holiday, “sales go down, but the hens keep on laying eggs,” says the American Egg Board. In an effort to increase consumer demand for excess eggs and boost post-Easter sales slumps, egg producers across the country celebrate May as “National Egg Month.” What better way to take part in this 31-day eggs-travaganza than by helping shed light on hard-boiled truth of egg production?

Unscrambling the Truth

At some point during our childhood, most of us probably sang along to some version of “Old MacDonald’s Farm” (“…and on his farm he had some chickens…ee-i-ee-i-o…”). It’s a fun song that helps kids learn about different animals, but it also makes a long-lasting impression about the typical lives of farmed animals. Kids grow up thinking these animals spend their days romping around on idyllic green pastures while happily clucking, mooing, or oinking. Little, however, could be further from the truth—and some of the worst abuses of farmed animals are taking place on today’s egg factory farms.

Behind virtually every “incredible, edible” egg sold in grocery stores today is a hen crammed inside a wire battery cage so restrictive, she can barely even move. On average, each battery caged hen is afforded a meager 67 square inches in which to live—that’s less living space than the size of a sheet of notebook paper. Denied the opportunity to engage in many important natural behaviors, these birds will never nest, forage for food, or even set foot on solid ground. Instead, the nearly 300 million hens forced to spend their lives confined inside massive egg factory farms across the U.S., are treated like mere egg-producing machines. Egg-laying hens may not have a choice, but we do.

Start Making a Difference Today

The most effective step each of us can take to help laying hens is to simply leave their eggs out of our shopping carts. But our ability to affect change doesn’t end there. During “National Egg Month,” please consider lending an extra hand to these smart and social birds:

• Share egg-free foods and recipes with your friends and family. The best way to win people’s hearts is through their stomachs. Whip up some egg-less egg salad for your friends, bring egg-free chocolate chip cookies to work, or make tofu scramble for a family breakfast. For a variety of quick and easy animal-friendly recipes or to order a copy of COK’s Easy Vegan Recipes booklet, visit www.VegRecipes.org.
• Encourage the FDA to mandate truth in labeling on egg cartons. There are currently no federal regulations relating to the use of animal welfare claims on egg cartons in the U.S. This permits producers to use claims such as “animal-friendly” or “naturally raised” on cartons, even if those eggs came from birds confined inside barren wire cages. Visit www.EggIndustry.com to find out how you can support a rule-making petition that would require egg producers to clearly identify “eggs from caged hens.”
• Distribute flyers exposing the hard-boiled truth. COK’s newest “Eggs from Caged Hens” flyer not only uncovers the suffering endured by egg-laying hens, but it also reveals how the egg industry is deceiving consumers about that abuse. Order free copies today to help spread the animals’ message in your community. Go to www.EggIndustry.com for details.
• Ask Morningstar Farms to stop using eggs. Morningstar Farms has long been a leader in providing vegetarian foods to a growing market, but it continues to support the cruel battery cage industry. Gardenburger, on the other hand, has already removed eggs from all but one of its private-sourced items. Visit www.MorningstarEggFacts.com to learn how you can help encourage Morningstar Farms to offer more egg-free foods.
• Write a letter to the editor. An easy and effective way to help spread a message of compassion is to write a letter to the editor of your local paper. “National Egg Month” is the perfect time to let readers know about the painful reality of egg production and the growing availability of delicious egg-free foods.

Erica Meier is the executive director of Compassion Over Killing (COK), a non-profit animal advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. that exposes cruelty to farmed animals and promotes vegetarian eating as a way to reduce animal suffering. Before working at COK, Erica spent four years as an animal control officer in D.C., rescuing sick, injured, and homeless animals as well as enforcing animal protection laws.