“This is something we’ve been doing on-campus to some extent since 2008, when we started using cage-free eggs in the dining halls. So it isn’t something new to UNC,” said Brandon Thomas, spokesman for Carolina Dining Services.
The majority of the eggs in shells, which are used in bakery goods, already come from cage-free sources. Thomas said shell eggs will be completely cage free by the end of 2015. Whole liquid eggs, used in omelets, will be cage-free during the current spring semester.
However, some types of liquid eggs might take a while to be converted to cage free.
“This is something we can’t do automatically,” Thomas said. “We rely a lot on the suppliers of the eggs. There is no cage-free liquid product available from the suppliers, and for the suppliers to go cage-free, that’s something that could take several years.”
In the U.S., the majority of farms with hens use battery cages, where five to seven hens can inhabit the same cage at the same time.
“It’s not a pretty sight,” said sophomore and animal activist Michael Howell.
“One of the main issues is that since the hens are so close together, they tend to peck each other, and their cages can actually cause lesions on their legs,” he said. “And because they have been genetically engineered to produce more eggs and have more breast to be made for food, most of the time they can’t even support their own body weight. They spend all of their lives on their chest and stacked on top of each other.”
Howell represents animal rights as part of the Discussion Activism and Youth group, which he created this semester to provide safe spaces for students of underrepresented groups to discuss a variety of issues.
