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| The US has promised to stop caging hens. Why can’t Britain too? | The US has promised to stop caging hens. Why can’t Britain too? |
| (5 months later) | |
| Walmart, America’s largest food retailer, announced last week that it will source 100% of its whole eggs from cage-free hens by 2025 – a policy that is set to improve the lives of many millions of hens across the United States. | Walmart, America’s largest food retailer, announced last week that it will source 100% of its whole eggs from cage-free hens by 2025 – a policy that is set to improve the lives of many millions of hens across the United States. |
| Back in September, McDonald’s USA also made a groundbreaking commitment to go cage-free with its eggs. Since then, we have seen an encouraging ripple effect across America, leading to more than 60 of the country’s top food companies pledging to join the cage-free movement within the next 10 years or less. | Back in September, McDonald’s USA also made a groundbreaking commitment to go cage-free with its eggs. Since then, we have seen an encouraging ripple effect across America, leading to more than 60 of the country’s top food companies pledging to join the cage-free movement within the next 10 years or less. |
| Thanks to this almighty shift in behaviour we can reasonably expect that within a decade, very few whole eggs sold in the US will still come from caged hens. This is a staggering achievement. Food companies in America have heard consumers loud and clear: farm animals deserve a cage-free life. | Thanks to this almighty shift in behaviour we can reasonably expect that within a decade, very few whole eggs sold in the US will still come from caged hens. This is a staggering achievement. Food companies in America have heard consumers loud and clear: farm animals deserve a cage-free life. |
| But while this groundswell of corporate commitment to phase out cages for laying hens is a massive step forward for animal welfare in the US, the UK, a nation known for its high animal welfare standards, is sadly lagging behind. | But while this groundswell of corporate commitment to phase out cages for laying hens is a massive step forward for animal welfare in the US, the UK, a nation known for its high animal welfare standards, is sadly lagging behind. |
| Food companies in America have heard consumers loud and clear: farm animals deserve a cage-free life | Food companies in America have heard consumers loud and clear: farm animals deserve a cage-free life |
| In January 2012 a crucial ban on the barren battery cage came in to force across the EU – after decades of campaigning by animal welfare groups, including my own, Compassion in World Farming. This new law marked an opportunity for huge strides in the welfare of Europe’s laying hens. | In January 2012 a crucial ban on the barren battery cage came in to force across the EU – after decades of campaigning by animal welfare groups, including my own, Compassion in World Farming. This new law marked an opportunity for huge strides in the welfare of Europe’s laying hens. |
| But sadly there was an abysmal failing in the legislation. Rather than rid the EU of its cruel systems, the law allowed conventional cages to be replaced with so-called “enriched” versions. | But sadly there was an abysmal failing in the legislation. Rather than rid the EU of its cruel systems, the law allowed conventional cages to be replaced with so-called “enriched” versions. |
| This means that today over 50% of the EU’s 500 million hens still spend their lives inside cages which fail to meet even their most basic needs. While a slight improvement on barren cages, enriched cages do not permit hens to adequately carry out their natural behaviours. Shockingly, this system is still used in the whole egg supply chain for a number of UK retailers including Tesco, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl and Asda, although they do also sell free range and organic options. | This means that today over 50% of the EU’s 500 million hens still spend their lives inside cages which fail to meet even their most basic needs. While a slight improvement on barren cages, enriched cages do not permit hens to adequately carry out their natural behaviours. Shockingly, this system is still used in the whole egg supply chain for a number of UK retailers including Tesco, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl and Asda, although they do also sell free range and organic options. |
| The US is taking a refreshingly different approach. With a wave of food businesses publicly committing to phase out cages of any kind for laying hens, America is bypassing the enriched cage dilemma and moving straight into higher welfare cage-free housing systems. | The US is taking a refreshingly different approach. With a wave of food businesses publicly committing to phase out cages of any kind for laying hens, America is bypassing the enriched cage dilemma and moving straight into higher welfare cage-free housing systems. |
| There are huge benefits for egg-laying hens reared outside of the forbidding confinements of a cage. Organic and free-range offer the highest possible standards of animal welfare within egg production, allowing birds to walk, run, stretch their wings, scratch and dust bathe – all core to their welfare needs and behavioural expression. | There are huge benefits for egg-laying hens reared outside of the forbidding confinements of a cage. Organic and free-range offer the highest possible standards of animal welfare within egg production, allowing birds to walk, run, stretch their wings, scratch and dust bathe – all core to their welfare needs and behavioural expression. |
| I applaud Walmart’s announcement, which proves companies can do better for hens not just in the US, but across the globe. | I applaud Walmart’s announcement, which proves companies can do better for hens not just in the US, but across the globe. |
| If the world’s largest retailer can rid its supply chain of whole eggs from caged hens, there is simply no excuse for companies in other countries not to follow suit. Yet many UK retailers are still dragging their heels and resisting the building pressure to go cage-free. | If the world’s largest retailer can rid its supply chain of whole eggs from caged hens, there is simply no excuse for companies in other countries not to follow suit. Yet many UK retailers are still dragging their heels and resisting the building pressure to go cage-free. |
| Despite being owned by Walmart, Asda, the second largest supermarket in Britain, has still to commit to phasing out cages for hens. It’s completely bewildering that a subsidiary of an American company with a cage-free egg commitment, based in a country known for its leadership on farm animal welfare policies, has yet to make its own cage-free pledge. | Despite being owned by Walmart, Asda, the second largest supermarket in Britain, has still to commit to phasing out cages for hens. It’s completely bewildering that a subsidiary of an American company with a cage-free egg commitment, based in a country known for its leadership on farm animal welfare policies, has yet to make its own cage-free pledge. |
| More than 560 companies have already committed to going cage-free through Compassion in World Farming’s Good Egg Award Programme, launched in 2007. There are retailers in the UK who are leading the way for farm animal welfare and directly responding to the consumer demand for higher welfare foods. | More than 560 companies have already committed to going cage-free through Compassion in World Farming’s Good Egg Award Programme, launched in 2007. There are retailers in the UK who are leading the way for farm animal welfare and directly responding to the consumer demand for higher welfare foods. |
| With more and more companies pledging to join the growing cage-free movement worldwide, it is only a matter of time before retailers like Asda are left completely behind in the evolving food industry that is starting to see animal welfare at its heart. I urge Asda, and all other retailers in the UK and Europe still selling cage eggs, to come out of the cage age and commit to cage-free. | With more and more companies pledging to join the growing cage-free movement worldwide, it is only a matter of time before retailers like Asda are left completely behind in the evolving food industry that is starting to see animal welfare at its heart. I urge Asda, and all other retailers in the UK and Europe still selling cage eggs, to come out of the cage age and commit to cage-free. |
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