Google Search Finds New Cage-free Egg Policy

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Google's informal corporate motto is "Don't be evil." In May, the internet search giant further embraced its mantra by becoming one of the latest institutions to move away from using or selling abusive battery cage eggs. By using its clout to take a stand for egg-laying hens, Google has joined a growing animal welfare trend involving dozens of schools and businesses around the country.

Compassion in the Cafeterias

To date, nearly 90 schools—from college prep schools such as Phillips Exeter Academy to some of the country's largest universities such as the University of Wisconsin-Madison—have enacted policies to eliminate or greatly reduce their use of eggs from caged hens. Across the country, The HSUS is working with many more schools interested in doing the same.

Retail Leaders

Grocery chains such as  Whole Foods Market, Wild Oats Natural Marketplace, Earth Fare and Jimbo's...Naturally have completely eliminated their sales of battery cage eggs. And Trader Joe's has switched to using exclusively cage-free eggs in its private line.

Corporate Cafés

In 2005, food service provider Bon Appétit began phasing in cage-free eggs for all of its 400 cafés, including major corporate clients such as Yahoo!, Oracle Corp., Cisco Systems, Adidas, Best Buy, and Nordstrom. AOL has become an animal welfare leader as well by discontinuing its use of eggs from hens confined in cages in all employee dining facilities.

And in May, Google announced that it was the latest leader in a wave of high-tech companies going cage-free. The company is expected to have twelve corporate cafés by the end of 2006, and it uses 300,000 shell eggs and 7,000 gallons of liquid eggs each year.

John Dickman, Global Food Services Manager for Google, explained, "Google has always been a leader in social responsibility, which is why we are proud to exclusively use cage-free eggs in all of our corporate dining facilities."

Caterers

MFS Events, one of the largest caterers in Ohio, is no longer using eggs from caged birds in its operations. The award-winning company caters approximately 3,200 events each year, using more than half a million eggs annually. Larry Clark, CEO and president, stated, "Public awareness of the ways in which egg-laying hens are treated have given us a compelling reason to appeal to our clients' animal welfare concerns and gain a competitive advantage."

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Battery-Cage Eggs

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