The dominos continue to fall: One egg producer or retailer
after another is going cage-free. The latest is Gemperle Farms, the subject of
a 2008 Mercy For Animals undercover
investigation that documented corpses rotting in cages
with hens still laying eggs for human consumption and workers violently swinging
birds by their necks to kill them.
Gemperle’s announcement comes on the heels of recent cage-free
commitments from Kroger
and Albertsons,
the top two grocery chains in the U.S.; Costco,
Trader Joe’s,
Delhaize, Giant, Stop & Shop, Target, CVS, and BJ’s Wholesale Club; and nearly 100 other retailers,
restaurants, foodservice companies, and food manufacturers.
Hens used for eggs are forced to spend nearly their entire
lives in cages so small the birds are unable to fully stretch their wings. Battery
cages are so cruel they have already been banned by California, Michigan, and
the entire European Union. The transition to cage-free egg production eliminates
some of the most extreme suffering birds endure on factory farms and marks a
valuable step forward in our society’s treatment of animals.
The most important next step each of us can take is to vote
against factory farming by eating egg-free. You can check out delicious
better-than-eggs options at ChooseVeg.com.