A sometimes vegetarian with a guilty conscience, eggs have always been a staple in my diet and I'm always on the lookout for somewhere to buy the good eggs - the ones that have come from a happy and healthy hen. The last time I visited Melbourne, I came across a free-range product that I was really happy with - not only because the egg was good but also because I was able to get a lot of information about the process of production.
Back in Sydney, I spent a good half hour in the egg aisle recently, trying to find a free-range egg that was also produced by a local, Australian-owned company (to save food-miles). I eventually settled on a brand and was disappointed to find on my return home after some internet research, that although what I had in my hand might have been produced 'free-range', this company also (and might I add mostly) churns out eggs from cage hens. Although I had bought a free-range product, at the end of the day my money had gone to a company that profits most from non-free-range egg production - which includes practices such as trimming the beaks of hens and severe over-crowding.
Out of sheer frustration, I emailed the farmer that had produced the eggs that I had bought in Melbourne, wanting to know if he perhaps had a set up in Sydney also (alas no). Today, from that farmer, I received the following email:
At a time when most countries are tightening their farm animal welfare standards, here, the Australian Egg Corporation has launched plans for new standards for free range egg production which will allow de-beaking or beak trimming of hens as a matter of course, stocking densities on farms to increase from 1500 hens per hectare to a massive 20,000 and hens to be kept locked in sheds for up to 25 weeks.
Understandably, the free range industry and consumers are in turmoil over this proposal. We agree with the Egg Corporation that the current standards for free range egg production need to be changed - but they need to be tightened up to ensure that consumers are not misled. The changes proposed by the Australian Egg Corporation will allow large producers to charge customers a premium for branding their eggs as 'free range' without incurring the additional costs of genuine free range production methods.
We have set up a petition at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/freerange/
More info is on our blog at http://freerangereggs.blogspot.com
More info is on our blog at http://freerangereggs.blogspot.com
Besides the prospect of cruel practices being endorsed with the 'free-range' label, what I find most distressing is how difficult it is to access accurate information about food production and what the labels that we rely on to make our food purchase decisions actually mean. The changes proposed to animal welfare standards will only make this more confusing - how can a practice such as de-beaking be considered consistent with 'free-range' standards? When I go to the local outdoor market, convenience store, or supermarket, how am I supposed to know what I am buying? I'm no expert on farming, eggs, or free-range practices in general, so what I want is a system that allows me to identify quickly what food is produced in a way that I am happy with, that I want to support by buying. To me, the potential changes to the standards of free-range egg farming in Australia move further away from this and I see myself spending another half hour in the egg aisle trying to make the right decision and still making the wrong one.
As I said, I'm no expert, so if this is something that interests you then please take a look at the blog, website and petition for yourself. Also, if you have information that you would like to share (like where to find a good free-range egg in Sydney...), please add it in the comments section.
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