California Egg Farmers Take a Stand Against Critical Animal Rights Activists

On Monday, AllenStrategic, representing the Pacific Egg and Poultry Association (PEPA), a regional nonprofit agricultural trade association, stated that an animal rights group out of Washington, D.C., is attempting to mislead the California public about farming practices in that state while trying to take away Californians' rights to make their own grocery-buying choices.

A proposed initiative being petitioned for by the animal rights activists would effectively define and then micromanage alternate farm production methods for California egg farmers, methods the validity of which have not been scientifically proved according to PEPA.

"The modern production practices that California farmers use today help ensure California consumers some of the freshest, safest, cleanest eggs in the world. ((They are)) considered humane and ethical by the leading independent scientific experts on animal welfare and behavior. All farms that follow those strict guidelines are inspected each year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the independent testing company Validus...The practical effect of the animal rights activists' proposal would be to double California retail egg prices -increasing California consumers' grocery bills by tens of millions of dollars each year...Outside activists should not dictate or hijack consumer choice to advance their own political agenda," said Gary West, a California egg producer and incoming chairman of the national industry association that represents U.S. egg farmers.

Animal rights activists and egg-farm critics claim that in the modern world of the mega farm, every egg sold in our grocery stores today is produced by a hen that is severely confined within a wire battery cage averaging less than 7 x 7 feet in space. The hens can barely move and cannot even flap their wings or engage in other natural, instinctive behaviors because of their "imprisonment".