I’ve been eating a lot more eggs on this diet (two, poached, 150 calories—what a deal) and noticed at my local supermarket that a dozen of the large, cage-free, antibiotic-free, hormone-free, vegetarian-diet variety (Nature’s Yoke brand) cost only 60 cents more than eggs that are entirely free of any claims to virtue—i.e., eggs probably produced by hens in factory conditions.
Heretical as it sounds, I’m not all that concerned about the antibiotics and hormones; I prefer not to eat them, but they’re not on my top-10 watch list of health concerns. But a nickel more per egg to let a chicken roam free: This seems like a steal (though it’s about a 25% premium on the total cost). Yes, it’s a somewhat romantic notion that these jaunty, dimwitted creatures should be allowed a bit of chickeny behavior during their brief strut upon this stage. But even if the hens-‘n’-hayseeds scene that Nature’s Yoke features on its website (pictured) is a bit contrived (or maybe it isn’t—maybe all the kids wear straw hats in that corner of Pennsylvania, and all the chickens are proud), the idea that we don’t have to torture animals in order to eat them—or their eggs—could use more serious discussion.
I’m no vegetarian. Animals die so that I may eat prosciutto and I’m fine with that, in a mildly guilty sort of way. How they die, though, is in some way the responsibility of each of us who eat meat. And in that light the recent beef recall seems much too much of a tainted-meat scandal (on fairly thin health evidence) and much too little of an animal-mistreatment scandal. That may seem strange to say given that the Humane Society gained huge publicity when it released the horrendous slaughterhouse video. But really, the chest beating seemed to concern a pretty low risk of disease, mixed up with the usual question of government incompetence.
The reason for the food-safety spin isn’t too hard to find: in part because food safety is a red-button issue; in part because bleating too loudly about the general subject of animal welfare risks being labeled kooky and soft (though not in the case of pets—consider the outrage over Michael Vick). Politicians tread especially carefully, leery of seeming anti-farm. But our attitudes toward this subject have more to do with us than with farmers. Farmers do the bidding of the market.
As consumers we can vote with our wallets. There are more options than ever. Even mainstream restaurants are getting on this bandwagon; Chipotle Mexican Grill says it will serve more than 50 million pounds of naturally raised meat in 2008.
Yes, you might pay more. But maybe you do a little less hurt.
Competition Numbers:
Start date: 1/1/08
Height: 5′9½”
Start weight: 199 lbs
Latest weigh in: 2/28/08
Latest weight: 189 lbs
Weight lost: 10
Comments (7)
Thanks for giving voice to an opinion that in my experience is too little spoken. I’ve started buying cage-free eggs for exactly the same reason. Not being vegetarians doesn’t give us the right to close our eyes to the way animals live before we eat them; it means we should be all the more careful that we respect the lives we take.
I wish animal welfare labeling had more teeth. All “cage free” means in that the animals aren’t caged, not that they have access to bucolic pastures. And if government inspectors are letting downed cattle be tortured, I wonder if anyone is making that chickens are being well-treated.
I am from the midwest where chickens were always cage free until someone decided it was more profitable to put them in an awful caged up building and mass produce the eggs. My mom used to raise chickens for their eggs and to sell at a local market. She would threaten anyone within an inch of their life if you scared her laying hens. It would always cut down on the production if they were disturbed in anyway. I often thought how wonderful her hens had it, being protected from the rest of the world.
Thanks for the comments. I suspect that a general rise in consciousness about this, rather than new laws, will make the difference. Consumer demand is powerful.
I read that research suggests eggs from hens allowed to graze outdoors have less fat and more vitamin A and more omega-3 than factory raised hens. You’re not only doing something good for the birds but also for yourself.
I have been to chicken ranches. “Cage free” chickens aren’t any better off. They are crammed into warehouses so tight, they can’t move. In a way, the caged chickens are better–they are protected from other chickens pecking at them in fits of anxiety.
Buy free-range and organic; or save your money and just buy the regular eggs. They’re no different from “cage free.”
I believe that all life needs to be treated with dignity and respect.Animals don’t give their lives to nourish us we take their lives and to repay their sacrafice we should ensure that the quality of the life they have in the time they are given is 100%.Our consumer dollars depict what quality of life these animals have so we should spend our dollars wisely.