One the nation’s leading producers of eggs, Cal-Maine, has cited a consumer shift toward plant-based egg options as a reason its profits are dropping! The company has stated a $74.3 million loss for the 2017 fiscal year and stocks are down by 22%, as it produces more eggs than it can sell. CNBC reports: “A surge in the popularity of …
In November, COK applauded a victory for hens as the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld California’s Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act (commonly known as “Prop 2”), which bans the sale of eggs from battery-caged hens. Now comes another big win for birds! The US Supreme Court has rejected a challenge of Prop 2 filed by six major …
Earlier this year, Rep. Kurt Schraeder (D-OR, and the only veterinarian in the Congress) introduced the Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments (HR 3798) that outlines a ban on the use of barren battery cages on egg factory farms nationwide. In addition to providing hens with more living space and environmental enrichments such as perches, nesting areas, and scratching areas so hens can engage in more natural behaviors, it also mandates that all egg cartons sold in the U.S. include a label that clearly identifies the method of production (i.e. “Eggs from Caged Hens”).
Currently in the US, more than 250 million egg-laying hens are suffering inside tiny wire cages so small, they’re denied the ability to engage in some of their most natural behaviors, including walking. With virtually no laws to protect them, these smart and social animals are subjected to some of the worst abuses imaginable and are routinely treated in ways that would result in criminal prosecution if those same abuses were inflicted upon cats or dogs. That’s why we’ve made it our mission to expose the rotten truth of egg production and promote compassionate food choices.
Here’s some encouraging news from the egg industry with a sunny side for hens: per capita egg consumption in the US has been steadily declining for the past six years!
That’s according to a recent Egg Industry Fact Sheet posted on the United Egg Producers’ website, which is based on statistics from the US Department of Agriculture. As highlighted in the graph below, in 2006 the average American ate 258.1 eggs while the estimate for 2011 drops down to 246.3 — that’s nearly one dozen fewer eggs per person.