Help us tell EMU to go cage free.

[peaceandcarrots]

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

Comments

[peaceandcarrots]

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 comes. If we can get people to think about the abominable conditions that exist in factory farming today, maybe they will begin to reconsider their choices on their own. Any degree of change, from switching to more humanely raised meat to strict veganism, is change in the right direction as far as I am concerned.

As to your position that the cage free hens are still being mistreated and it is not any less humane - I agree with you that there are still many horrible practices that exist, but we are trying to eliminate at least one of them. From what I have seen of cage free operations, they do provide better living conditions for the hens. Still not good enough I don't think, but better. They have room to move around, they can roost, and engage in other instinctual behaviors that they cannot in battery cages. Additionally, the reason that beaks are clipped is so that the hens do not injure each other in the cages, it may well be that once they are in a less constricted environment this clipping will no longer be needed. Of course the male chicks will always need to be "disposed of," but I feel that we need to focus on the most achievable goals first.

You seem to know quite a lot about these issues already. Are you vegetarian or vegan? (Did you sign the petition?)

[peaceandcarrots]

I guess I just wish I had known more before I had signed it so I could have weighed the pros and cons.
You can only put so much information on a petition or a sign. That said, any of us in SFAR@EMU are always happy to talk about these issues and answer questions. I am curious though, beyond the idea that it wouldn't do enough, what do you see as the cons of our campaign?