First off, BiteClub is about the least political person on the planet. Except when it comes to basic human decency toward others—and the food I eat.
I’ll keep my philosophies to myself on Prop 8, but I think that all Biteclubbers might want to weigh in on Proposition 2.
Though its received much less press than some other issues on the ballot, Proposition 2 has garnered some strong feelings here in egg country. The proposition, headed up by the Humane Society calls for the elimination of certain types of cages considered by many to be cruel and inhumane to pigs, calves and chickens.
Because California is a huge poultry and egg-producing state (less so for pigs and veal), the crux of the argument, is centered primarily around penning up chickens in small cages where they have little room to move and can be subjected to some very unpleasant treatment. Very unpleasant.
The “Yes” crew claims that passage will not only prevent cruelty to
animals but will also improve food safety (by not having animals
crammed together), support family farms (by improving quality and
safety) and make factory farms more accountable. Supporters of the
proposition include the Sierra Club, New York Times, Bill Niman (of
Niman Ranch), Michael Pollan, ASPCA, United Farm Workers, Jane Goodall
and a host of others. Get the details on Yes on Prop 2 here.
The “No” side, which includes many local newspapers, say that the
Proposition is poorly crafted and would drive egg production out of the
state and possibly to less-regulated areas (like Mexico). They add that
a “yes” vote would potentially drive smaller egg producers into
bankruptcy by being required to make significant changes to their
operations and pay fines for non-compliance. Backed by large
agri-businesses, the “No” side also claims that there could be
significant health issues (like Salmonella) from trucking eggs from
out-of-state (most eggs now come from less than 100 miles from our
homes). Supporters include the Association of California Vets,
California Farm Bureau, California Restaurant Association, Foster
Farms, The San Francisco Chronicle and the Press Democrat. Get the
details on No on Prop 2.
It’s a tough call. No one can argue with the fact that inhumane treatment of animals — even ones that we eat — is right. In an ideal world, all livestock would live happy and healthy lives without suffering. In the real world, however, our demands for cheap food make it almost impossible for farms to survive without streamlining the process to its most efficient methods. Methods that aren’t always quite so agreeable up close and personal.
Accountability is good. Taking away my local eggs isn’t.
Take the time to make an informed choice with your vote and let me know what you think about Prop 2.
Cool ideas on this site, thanks. I honestly took the plunge and got me some chickens last week! Now I have so many eggs like you wouldn’t believe. You might like these egg recipes.
That was very insightful, but before you jump to any conclusion about my level of intelligence or my level of health. This is not China and I can guarantee the regulations that the USDA has implemented will never allow that to happen. I would also like to know what farm you visited when you saw chickens having their beaks ground off. Oh yeah… you’re the ADAM HENRY!
“Don’t force your ideals on how animals should be treated on me” . Sorry Jordan, there are a lot of things you may think you can do to your animals, but the fact is, it is against the law to do them and you can –and will– face misd or felony charges for animal cruelty.
What is obvious from your remarks is first your ignorance of history, and second, your youthful, stupid faith in Industry. Back in the day before there were consumer protections, and Pure Food and Drug laws, before there was government oversight about how food was made, all kinds of atrocities happened …. and were fed to the public– until the profit mongers were exposed. Abuses still happen but regulations –and penalties–have made it clear that is is the wrong thing for companies to do. (For example, this year scores of babies in China were sickened and many died because their formula had been boosted with the poison melamine. This artificially inflates protein content. Don’t lets get started on downed cattle getting in the food chain.
Jordan concludes, gallingly, that he will “suffer” increased costs. Suffer indeed. Suffering is what a living, sentient (um, that means it has FEELINGS and nerve endings) being endures when, for example, its beak is ground off its face without anesthesia, in an attempt to minimize maiming or even lethal injuries from overcrowding in battery cages. i
Actually, maybe it would do you –and all of us– some good to manage without an egg mcmuffin every now and again.
Adam Henry.
If you want to support farms that provide standing room for egg laying hens it is your natural right to do so, but don’t force your ideals about how animals should be treated on me and that is exactly what prop 2 does. I’m now going to suffer the costs of rising egg and poultry products.
What is wrong with you anti Prop 2 people? It is not demand free range for chickens!Prop 2 only requires that egg laying hens have room to stand up, lie down, turn around, and fully extend their limbs. I am so saddened that some of you don’t see this as a humane priority…and I am so pleased that the large majority of our state clearly saw this ethical need. Now..the California Egg Council needs to promote California Hens as “Happy Hens” just like the Calif. Cheese council did for “Happy Cows.”
jordan, the statement that “animals have more rights than humans” is plain wrong. loose raith in the human race, if you must, but not over this issue: the law persists in defining animals as property, and prop 2will help assure that animals raised for food will be treated more humanely on their way to our tables. many thanks to heather for introducing the topic for discussion, and to reanna for encouraging a visit to a farm rescue shelter to get to know our food in a more intimate way. what this proposition tells us, reassuringly, is that people care about animals are handled.
Animals officially have more rights than humans now. I have lost faith in the human race.
I am glad prop 2 passed. I will still keep voting by purchasing LOCAL cage free eggs. If we all continue doing so, this positive way of life for us as human beings and for all animals and for this precious earth will continue to improve. Keep voting!
I completely support Prop 2. What is California coming to when we can’t even allow the poor animals a decent life before we slaughter them?!? It’s the least we can do, seeing that they’re dying for our consumption.
I do vote with my $$ and buy local, free-range eggs, produce, and meat. I’m concerned about this proposition because it is a feel-good measure without any teeth. There isn’t specific language about regulations, enforcement, or money to help those who want to convert but may not have the means. I support local farms and local land used for agriculture over development or even open space. I am frightened at the thought that this law may shut down local family farmers. I dislike measures that are not written in cooperation with the people these laws will impact, and though I think it will pass, I think it is revealing that so many local farmers are against it.
I too raise chickens and I am amazed that anyone who has ever seen a chicken in real life can believe keeping 4 to 8 hens in a cage the size of a file drawer is acceptable.
Animals are not machines. It is not acceptable to me to abuse either people or animals in order to keep prices down and supply “cheap” products to the marketplace.
Cheap clothing is also the most economical purchase for people who are “financially challenged.” Do I want to tell those people that I care more about child labor in third-world countries than I do about putting affordable clothing on their children’s backs? Yes I do. I’m sorry these people are in dire financial straits, but that does not make turning a blind eye to child labor is okay.
There has got to be a limit to what we will tolerate in order to obtain cheap products. We’re not asking that chickens be housed in the Taj Mahal, we’re talking about minimal levels of humane treatment for the animals that provide us with food
Janet Texas
This is kind of off topic but someone mentioned that the HSUS wants to stop all animal breeding, even for competition. I am all for that. A friend who is in the animal care business told me that she was once at an animal shelter that will go unnamed and went through the wrong door, she accidentally wound up in the area where they euthanise the animals. She said there were several PILES of dead animals including puppies and kittens. This is the ugly reality that is hidden from us. Now you know why they are against breeding extra animals when there are already so many that need a home and can’t find one. I know most shelters around here do what they can to avoid this but even the best shelters run out of room or funds and wind up having to make difficult choices.
Drive by one of the countless egg factories and you will smell the worst filth….What about the cost to the environment??? Do you any of you supporters of factory farms live next door to one…They are in the poorest areas of Santa Rosa…Do you think factory farms care about low income or poor people….They are corporate farmers…They do not care about small farmers…Small farmers are going out of business by the thousands everyday because of corporate farms…Factory Farms are fun by businessmen not Farmer John
this logic is flawed. you threaten the loss of an egg company –and a community– over a penny an egg increase in production costs? if business is so shaky that these modest measures can’t be supported, then the farmers don’t belong in business. as to out-of-state eggs, area of origin labeling is required on food and all products, there can’t be any bait and switch here– consumers will know what they are buying.
SB
The financial impact directly affects the owners and their workers. The trickle down affect impacts the “support” people, such as those that maintain machinery on the farm, that pick up and deliver the eggs, those that haul away the chicken poop…
The loss of an egg company will impact people of that town. Those no longer employed in some way by the egg company will not be spending money in their community. They will not be shopping at the stores, eating out, renting videos…
It is not only the owner of a company that will be affected, but the whole community.
Susan
SB
The financial impact directly affects the owners and their workers. The trickle down affect impacts the “support” people, such as those that maintain machinery on the farm, that pick up and deliver the eggs, those that haul away the chicken poop…
The loss of an egg company will impact people of that town. Those no longer employed in some way by the egg company will not be spending money in their community. They will not be shopping at the stores, eating out, renting videos…
It is not only the owner of a company that will be affected, but the whole community.
Susan
SB
The financial impact directly affects the owners and their workers. The trickle down affect impacts the “support” people, such as those that maintain machinery on the farm, that pick up and deliver the eggs, those that haul away the chicken poop…
The loss of an egg company will impact people of that town. Those no longer employed in some way by the egg company will not be spending money in their community. They will not be shopping at the stores, eating out, renting videos…
It is not only the owner of a company that will be affected, but the whole community.
Susan
SB
The financial impact directly affects the owners and their workers. The trickle down affect impacts the “support” people, such as those that maintain machinery on the farm, that pick up and deliver the eggs, those that haul away the chicken poop…
The loss of an egg company will impact people of that town. Those no longer employed in some way by the egg company will not be spending money in their community. They will not be shopping at the stores, eating out, renting videos…
It is not only the owner of a company that will be affected, but the whole community.
Susan
I think those against prop 2 should explain the math behind their statements. What exactly would the financial impact be? If you are already raising free range chickens, why would you need to worry about cage sizes? What is the offical definition of “free range”? I’m not privy to this info as I don’t raise livestock so I’d like more info.
Vote No on Prop2.
Prop 2 is an attempt by the Humane Society of the US (HSUS), an very wealthy, radical animal rights organization, to further their own vegan agenda. If they can succeed in getting this sort of legislation passed in California, they can build on that to attack not only the poultry business but also all other animal agriculture, here as well as across the country. They are also behind much attempted legislation to stop breeding of ALL dogs and cats and use of animals for competition of any sort. HSUS, a national organization, has put in over $3 million dollars to demolish California agriculture via Proposition 2.
For more information on HSUS, see http://www.activistcash.com . Click on the picture and it will take you there.
As is their usual approach, HSUS pleads with the public using trumped up photos and accusations that have little to do with the truth. Even free-range poultry farms are against this bill, as it could put them out of business, too.
The California Farm Bureau is strongly against this Proposition. See their analysis:
http://www.cfbf.com/agalert/AgAlertStory.cfm?ID=1155&ck=285F89B802BCB2651801455C86D78F2A
One must not confuse HSUS with local animal shelters, for which HSUS never donates a penny, and which desperately need your donations now. HSUS is for animal rights, as if they were humans; animal welfare advocates, like most of us, are very much in favor of considerate stewardship of the animals we and others own.
This is not reasonable legislation. Vote NO on 2!
Dear Friends
I have, at one time in my life, been a member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. To this day, I boycott non-“humanely”, i.e., crated veal. As you know, Jeff and I are raising chickens on our farm. They are “free range” and have plenty of room to run around. We sell our free range eggs for $6.00 a dozen because of the cost of their feed, vet visits, egg washing materials, egg crates, delivery, and labeling.
I am against Proposition 2 and would like you to consider the impact of this proposition:
*This will force family owned egg farms out of California or out of business because it is just not financially feasible to give hens enough room to fully extend their wings.
*By forcing the business out of the state, to states that neither have these laws nor the health safeguards we currently have in California, many people will lose their jobs.
*By losing the businesses, the state of CA will lose contributions to our tax base.
*Eggs raised outside of CA will be more expensive than they are now due to shipping costs.
*We, as consumers, will be contributing to a greater carbon footprint of the egg industry.
*Eggs are currently one of the most economical protein sources. I have friends that are “financially challenged” and rely on eggs as a protein for their family. They can’t afford to purchase free range eggs right now. Do you want to tell them that we care more about chickens than giving their kids affordable protein other than rice and beans?
*I have spoken with several people in the poultry business, both of whom raise “free range” birds. I did not get their permission to publish their names, so I am not naming them in this email. If you contact me I would be happy to give you their names.
*One of the people raises ducks. They buy free range eggs and free range chicken, and their ducks are all raised “humanely”. When I asked what they thought of Prop 2, they said that people can choose whether or not to purchase free range as they do. They do not support legislating how animals are raised and are voting no on Prop 2.
*Another poultry person that is in a large scale free range chicken business is against prop 2. They are afraid that if this bill passes, the chicken business will then be under scrutiny and faces being driven out of California. He is praying it doesn’t pass, although he thinks it will. He wishes that people would just buy free range and not legislate it.
*I have also spoken to a person that works at the California Poultry Federation and they feel that the passage of Prop 2 will have “disastrous effects” on the poultry business in CA.
*I also talked to my vet, who also has a Masters in Public Health, has looked at the proposition and read through who supports it. He told me that because there were no “food production” vets on the pro side of prop 2 he would not support it. He also told me that the main board of the small animal vet association agreed NOT to support the passage of prop 2 and then a renegade group went ahead and voted for it.
*These chickens would not exist if they were not used as egg producers. They are a crop. We are eating their eggs. Think about everything that is made with eggs and ask yourself if you want your eggs to be raised in California or out of state or in Mexico.
Thanks for letting me voice my opinion. We shall see what happens tomorrow.
Kind regards,
Susan Mall
Eastside Farm
Dear Friends
I have, at one time in my life, been a member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. To this day, I boycott non-“humanely”, i.e., crated veal. As you know, Jeff and I are raising chickens on our farm. They are “free range” and have plenty of room to run around. We sell our free range eggs for $6.00 a dozen because of the cost of their feed, vet visits, egg washing materials, egg crates, delivery, and labeling.
I am against Proposition 2 and would like you to consider the impact of this proposition:
*This will force family owned egg farms out of California or out of business because it is just not financially feasible to give hens enough room to fully extend their wings.
*By forcing the business out of the state, to states that neither have these laws nor the health safeguards we currently have in California, many people will lose their jobs.
*By losing the businesses, the state of CA will lose contributions to our tax base.
*Eggs raised outside of CA will be more expensive than they are now due to shipping costs.
*We, as consumers, will be contributing to a greater carbon footprint of the egg industry.
*Eggs are currently one of the most economical protein sources. I have friends that are “financially challenged” and rely on eggs as a protein for their family. They can’t afford to purchase free range eggs right now. Do you want to tell them that we care more about chickens than giving their kids affordable protein other than rice and beans?
*I have spoken with several people in the poultry business, both of whom raise “free range” birds. I did not get their permission to publish their names, so I am not naming them in this email. If you contact me I would be happy to give you their names.
*One of the people raises ducks. They buy free range eggs and free range chicken, and their ducks are all raised “humanely”. When I asked what they thought of Prop 2, they said that people can choose whether or not to purchase free range as they do. They do not support legislating how animals are raised and are voting no on Prop 2.
*Another poultry person that is in a large scale free range chicken business is against prop 2. They are afraid that if this bill passes, the chicken business will then be under scrutiny and faces being driven out of California. He is praying it doesn’t pass, although he thinks it will. He wishes that people would just buy free range and not legislate it.
*I have also spoken to a person that works at the California Poultry Federation and they feel that the passage of Prop 2 will have “disastrous effects” on the poultry business in CA.
*I also talked to my vet, who also has a Masters in Public Health, has looked at the proposition and read through who supports it. He told me that because there were no “food production” vets on the pro side of prop 2 he would not support it. He also told me that the main board of the small animal vet association agreed NOT to support the passage of prop 2 and then a renegade group went ahead and voted for it.
*These chickens would not exist if they were not used as egg producers. They are a crop. We are eating their eggs. Think about everything that is made with eggs and ask yourself if you want your eggs to be raised in California or out of state or in Mexico.
Thanks for letting me voice my opinion. We shall see what happens tomorrow.
Kind regards,
Susan Mall
Eastside Farm
Dear Friends
I have, at one time in my life, been a member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. To this day, I boycott non-“humanely”, i.e., crated veal. As you know, Jeff and I are raising chickens on our farm. They are “free range” and have plenty of room to run around. We sell our free range eggs for $6.00 a dozen because of the cost of their feed, vet visits, egg washing materials, egg crates, delivery, and labeling.
I am against Proposition 2 and would like you to consider the impact of this proposition:
*This will force family owned egg farms out of California or out of business because it is just not financially feasible to give hens enough room to fully extend their wings.
*By forcing the business out of the state, to states that neither have these laws nor the health safeguards we currently have in California, many people will lose their jobs.
*By losing the businesses, the state of CA will lose contributions to our tax base.
*Eggs raised outside of CA will be more expensive than they are now due to shipping costs.
*We, as consumers, will be contributing to a greater carbon footprint of the egg industry.
*Eggs are currently one of the most economical protein sources. I have friends that are “financially challenged” and rely on eggs as a protein for their family. They can’t afford to purchase free range eggs right now. Do you want to tell them that we care more about chickens than giving their kids affordable protein other than rice and beans?
*I have spoken with several people in the poultry business, both of whom raise “free range” birds. I did not get their permission to publish their names, so I am not naming them in this email. If you contact me I would be happy to give you their names.
*One of the people raises ducks. They buy free range eggs and free range chicken, and their ducks are all raised “humanely”. When I asked what they thought of Prop 2, they said that people can choose whether or not to purchase free range as they do. They do not support legislating how animals are raised and are voting no on Prop 2.
*Another poultry person that is in a large scale free range chicken business is against prop 2. They are afraid that if this bill passes, the chicken business will then be under scrutiny and faces being driven out of California. He is praying it doesn’t pass, although he thinks it will. He wishes that people would just buy free range and not legislate it.
*I have also spoken to a person that works at the California Poultry Federation and they feel that the passage of Prop 2 will have “disastrous effects” on the poultry business in CA.
*I also talked to my vet, who also has a Masters in Public Health, has looked at the proposition and read through who supports it. He told me that because there were no “food production” vets on the pro side of prop 2 he would not support it. He also told me that the main board of the small animal vet association agreed NOT to support the passage of prop 2 and then a renegade group went ahead and voted for it.
*These chickens would not exist if they were not used as egg producers. They are a crop. We are eating their eggs. Think about everything that is made with eggs and ask yourself if you want your eggs to be raised in California or out of state or in Mexico.
Thanks for letting me voice my opinion. We shall see what happens tomorrow.
Kind regards,
Susan Mall
Eastside Farm
Dear Friends
I have, at one time in my life, been a member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. To this day, I boycott non-“humanely”, i.e., crated veal. As you know, Jeff and I are raising chickens on our farm. They are “free range” and have plenty of room to run around. We sell our free range eggs for $6.00 a dozen because of the cost of their feed, vet visits, egg washing materials, egg crates, delivery, and labeling.
I am against Proposition 2 and would like you to consider the impact of this proposition:
*This will force family owned egg farms out of California or out of business because it is just not financially feasible to give hens enough room to fully extend their wings.
*By forcing the business out of the state, to states that neither have these laws nor the health safeguards we currently have in California, many people will lose their jobs.
*By losing the businesses, the state of CA will lose contributions to our tax base.
*Eggs raised outside of CA will be more expensive than they are now due to shipping costs.
*We, as consumers, will be contributing to a greater carbon footprint of the egg industry.
*Eggs are currently one of the most economical protein sources. I have friends that are “financially challenged” and rely on eggs as a protein for their family. They can’t afford to purchase free range eggs right now. Do you want to tell them that we care more about chickens than giving their kids affordable protein other than rice and beans?
*I have spoken with several people in the poultry business, both of whom raise “free range” birds. I did not get their permission to publish their names, so I am not naming them in this email. If you contact me I would be happy to give you their names.
*One of the people raises ducks. They buy free range eggs and free range chicken, and their ducks are all raised “humanely”. When I asked what they thought of Prop 2, they said that people can choose whether or not to purchase free range as they do. They do not support legislating how animals are raised and are voting no on Prop 2.
*Another poultry person that is in a large scale free range chicken business is against prop 2. They are afraid that if this bill passes, the chicken business will then be under scrutiny and faces being driven out of California. He is praying it doesn’t pass, although he thinks it will. He wishes that people would just buy free range and not legislate it.
*I have also spoken to a person that works at the California Poultry Federation and they feel that the passage of Prop 2 will have “disastrous effects” on the poultry business in CA.
*I also talked to my vet, who also has a Masters in Public Health, has looked at the proposition and read through who supports it. He told me that because there were no “food production” vets on the pro side of prop 2 he would not support it. He also told me that the main board of the small animal vet association agreed NOT to support the passage of prop 2 and then a renegade group went ahead and voted for it.
*These chickens would not exist if they were not used as egg producers. They are a crop. We are eating their eggs. Think about everything that is made with eggs and ask yourself if you want your eggs to be raised in California or out of state or in Mexico.
Thanks for letting me voice my opinion. We shall see what happens tomorrow.
Kind regards,
Susan Mall
Eastside Farm
Why not spend some time with those you eat…Go to a a farm rescue and sit down, spend the afternoon with a pig, a chicken, a baby cow…and than make your decisions regarding the animals based on personal experience….How can you know what to do when you have never touched another, looked into their eyes, and made a connection living being to living being….are you afraid….try it….don’t be afraid to make a connection…it’s the least you can do for those you eat
The fatal flaw of Prop. 2, and why I’m voting against it, is that it only regulates eggs PRODUCED in California and not those SOLD in California, which sets up for a massive switch to cheaper imports that will fill the massive vacuum left by many producers who will cease production. It’s heart is in the right place, but it’s head isn’t.
Prop 2 would give the most modest improvements to how animals we eat are treated. Giving animals room to stand up, to lie down, turn around, and fully extend their limbs –before being slaughtered– is good animal husbandry.
It will also make food safer. Crowding of chickens in “battery cages” had a 20x greater incidence of salmonella, a dangerous gram negative bacterium than cage-free operations. That means more antibiotics in animal feed — and more exposure to antibiotics for humans. And more exposure means more resistance to antibiotics… and emergence of super-bugs that defy treatment.
As to cost, its been estimated that these changes will add only a penny per egg to implement.
Farmers have six years to implement these changes. Plenty of time.
No one is dictating what you can purchase: What is at issue is HOW what you purchase is made. We abhor child sweat shop labor and prohibit it. Likewise, establishing humane and attainable and sustainable standards for food safety and good treatment of farm animals makes sense.
The factory famers are frightened, and rightfully, that their appalling practices are coming to light.
Yes on 2 — the right thing to do.
I dare anyone to watch a video on how animals are treated at factory farms and slaughterhouses and/or read about the kind of hellish conditions that exist at the places that raises and process the food that people put in their bodies. Cheap meat and eggs = inhumane treatment, suffering, unsanitary conditions (for animals and workers) – you get what you pay for. I would be ok with paying more for food that was raised humanely and in a more sanitary way. If I found it got too expensive, I would eat less of it, save it as a “treat” and include more grains and vegitables in my diet which is healthier anyway.
Since the yes website has been posted, I feel compelled to also include the no on prop 2 website: http://www.safecaliforniafood.org
If you have the financial ability to purchase locally grown cage free, then do so. But dont dicatate what others can purchase. Vote in the grocery store..and vote NO on prop 2!
I so totally agree w/ KGC, Terri and Farmer John – either spring the few extra pennies to support farmers who treat their chickens well or buy from the guy up the street who has a coddled clutch of cluckers and too many eggs to eat himself…
Also I’ve **so** been wanting to write to the PD Letters and just say, “Thank you, NuLaid, for the huge sign along 101 in Petaluma – now that I know FOR SURE what you think of your chickens and how you probably treat them, I am empowered to never, ever knowingly purchase another egg from you…..”
Either way, everyone should all buy their eggs from your local farmers, and or your local farmers markets.
I can’t eat old no-so-fresh eggs from the grocery stores anymore, ugh, garbage!
I sell some of, if not THE best tasting eggs in Healdsburg. My hens only live a life of luxury.
Hopefully, this society can place the humane treatment of animals above their palates and their stomachs. If we had to watch a video of how the meal before us came to be there, would we eat it? We have government agencies responsible for the quality of food that is consumed by the public. The pressure on farms, hopefully, will lead to innovations so they can still make a profit while treating animals well. Thanks to all the producers who are doing this already.
This is the web site for Prop 2
http://www.yesonprop2.com/
They have a pretty good response to the charges against the initiative.
It is proven that the current system is very unhealthy and has caused salmonella outbreaks in egg production — and caused the legislation to be passed against using raw eggs in restaurants.
So we are already adversely effected by the current system.
legislation by imitative should always be a last resort. voting is often more emotional than intellectual (and how can it not be given the emotional tone of the marketing associated w/either position). i would rather see a concerted effort by the various affected parties to work out a reasonable approach to the concerns….