Comments | easternmichigan: Help us tell EMU to go cage free.

peaceandcarrots in easternmichigan

Help us tell EMU to go cage free.

Apr 05, 2008 11:03

95% of all eggs produced in America, including the eggs served at EMU, come from hens confined in battery cages. These cages, which typically contain 6-8 hens (some sources claim as many as 11!), provide approximately 70 square inches for each hen - less than the size of an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper! Students for Animal Rights at EMU is currently ( Read more... )

Comments 21

autocraticus April 5 2008, 15:44:21 UTC

I like my eggs with that extra cagey taste.

peaceandcarrots April 5 2008, 15:58:32 UTC

Oh, then you'll want to sign our Make the Cages Even Smaller campaign.

scotlanded April 5 2008, 16:15:59 UTC

I have nothing against your campaign, but I have to say you're probably going about this wrong.

peaceandcarrots April 5 2008, 18:58:24 UTC

The online petition isn't the only thing that we are doing, we also have paper petitions going around campus. We also have a meeting scheduled with dining services management to discuss the issue. But if you have any ideas of how we could do this better I would love to hear them. :)

scotlanded April 5 2008, 19:04:50 UTC

I know what you're doing. You're painting Dining Services in a really bad light, and that only makes people defensive.

peaceandcarrots April 5 2008, 19:31:26 UTC

It's not as if we are throwing fake blood around the dining halls or calling them murderers. The initial decision to purchase caged eggs was probably not even a decision at all. Caged eggs are the norm, are easily supplied and cheap. Our goal is to make dining services aware that there is an alternative, one that we think is more humane. We hope that they will agree that if there is a kinder way to supply the eggs that the students eat, it is worth looking in to. In fact, they have already agreed to look in to it and are doing so right now. We will meet with them again soon and present them with what we hope will be a significant number of signatures that will demonstrate that the student body and faculty feel the same way as we do. Nearly 350 Universities agree with this assessment and have already gone cage free.

the_beej April 5 2008, 16:31:00 UTC

If this works, prepare for your tuition dollars to go up by 30%!

peaceandcarrots April 5 2008, 18:56:33 UTC

Actually, the cage free eggs don't cost significantly more than the caged eggs. If they also switch to egg free substitutes (which also have the benefit of being healthier and are good for people who are allergic to eggs) in their baking then the cost would be offset and could even result in an overall savings.

sanguinequill April 6 2008, 03:36:35 UTC

This in conjunction with the pictures of dead animals that appeared in DC1 really isn't helping anything. I understand and mildly support what you are trying to do, but honestly, 99% of students don't give a damn.

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peaceandcarrots April 6 2008, 05:10:09 UTC

You raise some very good points. First off, it would be difficult to argue that any industrialized animal product is cruelty free, especially eggs. Even in most cage free and free range environments the hens have their beaks cut off and are injected with various hormones and antibiotics, although the USDA organic label does place some constrains on these injections. Beyond the welfare of the hens, a certain percentage of eggs layed are fertilized and allowed to hatch in order to create more egg laying hens; the males that hatch are commonly bagged (literally put into plastic bags) or dumped (yes, into dumpsters) where they will die of either asphyxiation, lack of food and water, or exposure to the elements ( ... )

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peaceandcarrots April 6 2008, 15:28:40 UTC

Of course if I had my way everyone would convert to ethical veganism, but I know that isn't going to happen, not anytime soon anyway. As a group, we all decided that even though we can't end all of the suffering, this is one small part of it that maybe we can help bring to an end. Due to all of the momentum (HSUS, other universities, the EU) that this issue already has, we feel this is actually an achievable goal. As much as I would love to be out there converting people to veganism (or even vegetarianism), I don't do it because this is a decision that people need to come to on their own. Asking people to reconsider the source of their food on the basis how the animals are treated, however, I believe is something that people are more willing to listen to. We are not telling them to make some major change in their lives, in fact all we are asking is that they sign the petition and let EMU make the change for them. The other benefit from this campaign is that (hopefully) it gets people to stop and think about whence their food ( ... )

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