Mercy Center Launches a Cage-Free Egg Policy

WASHINGTON —Today, the nation's largest animal protection organization announced that Madison, Connecticut-based Mercy Center, a conference and retreat center for human development, is hatching a new policy for the food it offers its visitors. The center is switching to the exclusive use of cage-free eggs in its dining facilities, a move that The Humane Society of the United States praised as a good way to help improve animal welfare.

Mercy Center has chosen to completely eliminate the use of shell and liquid eggs from caged birds, effective July 14, 2006. The eggs, distributed through Lost Cloud Farms Provisions in Madison, Conn., will come from Pete and Gerry's Organic Egg Farm in Monroe, N.H.. The center uses more than 21,000 eggs each year.

Alan Thayer, executive chef for Mercy Center, states, "Using only cage-free eggs is in keeping with our mission to revere the earth and all who inhabit it. At Mercy Center, we are always looking for opportunities to buy local produce and organic foods, and work with humane food providers like Pete and Gerry's Organic Egg Farm."

Mercy Center joins a growing national trend away from the use of caged eggs. Retailers such as Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats Natural Marketplace have eliminated their sales of battery cage eggs, and Trader Joe's has converted all of its brand eggs to cage-free. Food service provider Bon Appétit is phasing out the use of eggs from caged hens in all of its 400 cafés, including at St. Joseph College in West Hartford. Even companies such as AOL and Google are ending the use of eggs from caged hens in their employee cafeterias.

And Connecticut schools such as University of Connecticut, Yale University and the Unquowa School have joined more than 85 others in enacting policies to eliminate or greatly reduce the use of eggs from caged hens.

"Mercy Center's cage-free egg policy demonstrates just how quickly battery cage confinement is becoming a thing of the past, and we encourage other companies to follow its positive example," comments Paul Shapiro, Factory Farming Campaign director for The HSUS.

In the United States, nearly 300 million hens are confined in barren "battery cages" that are so small, the birds can't spread their wings or engage in many other natural behaviors, such as nesting, foraging, perching, and dust bathing. The cages are stacked one on top of another inside huge warehouses on factory farms. Each bird is afforded less space than a single sheet of paper on which to live, leading to extremely high levels of stress and frustration.

For more information about Mercy Center at Madison, visit www.MercyByTheSea.org.

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The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization with more than 9.5 million members and constituents. The HSUS is a mainstream voice for animals, with active programs in companion animals, disaster preparedness and response, wildlife and habitat protection, marine mammals, animals in research, equine protection and farm animal welfare. The HSUS protects all animals through education, investigation, litigation, legislation, advocacy and field work. The nonprofit organization is based in Washington and has field representatives and offices across the country. On the web at www.hsus.org.