Wild Oats and Whole Foods Sow Compassion with Cage-Free Egg Policies

©2004	Compassion Over Killing

Less than a week after announcing that Wild Oats Natural Marketplace had gone cage-free, The HSUS was thrilled to learn that the country's largest natural foods retailer, Whole Foods Market, has its own cage-free egg policy. Showing a company-wide commitment to the welfare of laying hens, Whole Foods adopted a policy in January to refuse to sell or use any eggs from caged birds.

Whole Foods contacted The HSUS shortly after we announced that Wild Oats, the nation's third-largest natural foods retailer, had joined a growing list of companies and universities deciding to spare egg-laying hens from intensive confinement in battery cages. Wild Oats announced on May 31 that the company had adopted a new policy committing that all of its national and regional approved egg suppliers would be cage-free, effective June 1. The Colorado-based chain adopted the cage-free policy after discussions with The HSUS's No Battery Eggs campaign about the misery endured by battery-caged hens.

Wild Oats has 75 stores in 23 states, while Whole Foods has 170 stores in North America and the United Kingdom. Together, these companies sell millions of cartons of eggs annually.

"Demand for improving the welfare of farm animals has never been higher," said Perry Odak, Wild Oats president and CEO. "We are hopeful that our decision not to approve egg farmers who use caged birds for our national and regional product lists will encourage the egg industry to move in the direction of phasing out its use of battery cages, and shifting toward cage-free methods that take the animals' welfare into account."

There are currently more than 280 million laying hens in the United States, producing more than 70 billion eggs a year, according to the American Egg Board. There are 64 egg companies that each house more than a million layers, and 11 companies with over five million layers each. Ninety-five percent of the nation's laying hens are crowded onto farms with flocks of 75,000 hens or more, and more than 95% of these birds are confined in cages.

Those cages are so restrictive that the birds cannot even stretch their wings, let alone engage in other natural behaviors, such as nesting, foraging, perching, and dust bathing.

"Birds in battery cages suffer immensely," says HSUS Factory Farming Campaign manager Paul Shapiro. "Wild Oats and Whole Foods have taken a bold step by ending the sale of eggs from caged birds, and we applaud their efforts to help reduce animal suffering."

"Under the leadership of CEO John Mackey, Whole Foods Market has shown extraordinary leadership on animal welfare issues," adds HSUS president and CEO Wayne Pacelle. "We were elated to learn about Whole Foods' cage-free policy, which has been in place for shell and liquid eggs since January. More broadly, Whole Foods is embarking on an ambitious and industry-leading effort to develop 'Animal Compassionate' standards for many of the animal products sold at its stores, and we are pleased to be working with the company on this exciting project."

Thinking Outside the Cage

Scientists increasingly believe that avian brains are as complex and inventive as mammalian brains. Researchers have reported that birds form intricate hierarchical social structures, exchange favors, and even make and use rudimentary tools. Yet despite mounting evidence of their intelligence, the abusive treatment of laying hens by large-scale producers continues.

Apart from that research, the cage-free policy decisions by Wild Oats and Whole Foods come as consumer support for more humane methods of food production is gaining ground. A recent poll by Zogby America found that 86% of Americans believe it is unacceptable to confine egg-laying hens in battery cages.

Overseas, the issue gets more attention. The European Union increasingly regulates the treatment of laying hens, and voted to phase out the use of conventional battery cages by 2012. Even ASDA, Wal-Mart's subsidiary in the United Kingdom, decided last month that it would no longer allow ASDA-brand eggs to be produced by caged birds, giving a reprieve to 500,000 battery hens.

But it's a different story on the other side of the Atlantic—virtually no laws exist in the United States to protect laying hens. The birds are exempted from the federal Animal Welfare Act and the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act. And most states' anti-cruelty statutes either explicitly exempt standard agricultural practices—no matter how abusive—or are not applied to farm animals.

"Many consumers still imagine that egg-laying hens live on Old MacDonald's Farm," says Shapiro. "But that's all changed in the last 40 years."

Other Successes

The HSUS No Battery Eggs campaign hatched only in February 2005, but it has already accomplished a lot since then. Besides the triumph with Wild Oats, the campaign has already won an impressive chain of victories for egg-laying hens:

• George Washington University's school store announced a ban on selling cage eggs in April 2005.

• Food service provider Bon Appetit is using American University as a testing location for cage-free eggs.

• The University of Connecticut is tentatively scheduled to remove battery eggs from two of its seven dining halls in the fall as a test run.

• The Natural Gourmet Cookery School signed our pledge never to use battery eggs.

• The University of Mary Washington's student government passed a resolution in April 2005 urging its dining services to stop purchasing battery eggs for the campus.

See the Video

Battery-Cage Eggs

Wild Oats CEO on Cage-Free Decision

Related Links

About Chickens

'No Battery Eggs' Campaign Exposes the Hard-Boiled Truth about Laying Hens