Wild Oats Community Market Puts the Chicken Before the Egg

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, The Humane Society of the United States, the nation's largest animal protection organization, is commending Williamstown, Massachusetts' Wild Oats Community Market for eliminating the sale of eggs from hens confined in abusive battery cages.

Wild Oats Community Market joins a growing number of schools and companies across the country that are moving away from eggs from caged hens. Major grocery chains such as Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats Natural Marketplace have stopped selling cage eggs. Trader Joe's has converted its private line eggs to cage-free. Bon Appétit, a major food service company, is phasing out the use of cage eggs in all of its 400 cafés. Frozen dessert maker Ben & Jerry's is also phasing out the use of cage eggs in its ice creams. Even companies such as AOL and Google have ended the use of cage eggs in their employee cafeterias.

And New England schools such as Tufts University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Marist College, Vassar College, Roger Williams University, Clark University, Lesley University, Emmanuel College, and University of New Hampshire join 100 others across the country in enacting policies to eliminate or greatly reduce their use of cage eggs.

"The Humane Society of the United States commends Wild Oats Community Market for its leadership in ending its support for one of the worst factory farm abuses, and we encourage other retailers to follow its example," commented Paul Shapiro, Factory Farming Campaign director for The HSUS.

U.S. factory farms confine nearly 300 million hens in barren, wire battery cages that are so small, the birds can't spread their wings, walk, or perform many other important behaviors, such as nesting, foraging, perching and dust bathing. Each bird has less space than a single sheet of paper on which to live, leading to extremely high levels of stress and frustration.

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The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization with more than 9.8 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.