How Proposition 2 Will Affect California's Chicken Cages
Photograph from roboppy on Flickr
Caged chickens are right up there with gay marriage and Barack Obama on California's ballot this year. If passed tomorrow, the hot button Proposition 2, or the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, will prohibit the "cruel confinement" of California's pigs, cows, and chickens. Farmers would have until January 1, 2015, to increase space within crates and cages or go entirely cage-free.
While many farmers and vets are behind the happy vision of animals being able to stretch their legs, the opposition argues that it could put local egg farmers out of business. If cage real estate gets too expensive, eggs will have to be imported from Mexico (where cage roominess standards don't exist). The birds, when left wild and outside, could also run into infections like bird flu and salmonella, argues Californians for Safe Food.
Business aside, it's hard to watch videos of pent-up animals (where they can't even turn around) and not feel awful. Yes on Prop. 2 says consumer egg prices would go up "by a few pennies per dozen," which is probably better than the hidden price animals pay. Oakland North, UC Berkeley journalism school's online news project, breaks down the issue really well.
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13 Comments:
Prop 2 does nothing to stop importing eggs from outside California.
That means Prop 2 will mainly kill California's Egg industry to be replaced with eggs from outside California.
That's it.
peekpoke at 7:06PM on 11/03/08
"The birds, when left wild and outside, could also run into infections like bird flu and salmonella, argues Californians for Safe Food."
Yes, so let's instead cram them into damp and hot cages with each other so they have no room for movement, are surrounded by excrement, and breathe ammonia vapors.
/boggle
codeblue at 8:00PM on 11/03/08
i have considered the arguments pro and against prop 2 ..and have ultimately decided i'm for it...
certainly local californian eggs are ideal, but of course one must remember the fear of even more imported eggs only become reality if indeed californians aren't willing to dish out probably a couple more cents for californian eggs...and i'm optomistic californians will. Organic milk from what i've last read though more expensive, is gaining popularity due to both enviormental/animal concerns... so indeed i don't think the fear of
"drving out" really local egg producers is much of a problem.
Of course the californian industrial egg producing system isn't what people are worried about in terms of importing...its about trying to reduce our carbon foot print which is why we don't want to kill california's egg industry...and again i think the argument of people willing to pay extra even in econmoic cris holds water....less carbon foot print...better safer californian eggs..i
acomment at 8:02PM on 11/03/08
@peekpoke - that's NAFTA's fault though, not Prop. 2! Improving conditions locally is part of the solution - think of labor laws. Though I agree that inhibiting imports from non-complying nations is also important, a California ballot referendum isn't going to be able to change the global economy and stop cheap unregulated egg imports. But... you know who can? The next president. Hey, vote!
producestories at 8:41PM on 11/03/08
@codeblue: I agree with your comment. I can't believe how many people see that kind of meat as "quality"...
smile at 9:09PM on 11/03/08
I vote with my wallet. I can buy cage-free eggs now. I'll also buy pastured eggs at the farmer's market. So can anyone else who wants to have eggs from chickens not raised in cages.
I buy pastured pork, I can buy grass-fed beef. So can others, and the more people that do, the more there's a market for it.
If I voted for Prop 2, it wouldn't change what I eat or buy, it would just be me trying to force others to do the same. Would kinda suck if next election PETA were to fund a successful campaign to outlaw all beef or pork or chicken being raised in CA.
All the money spent pushing this proposition could have been spent on educating people on how they can get humanely raised food now. It could have encouraged them to demand it where they buy their food and where they go out to eat.
Market demand would change things a lot quicker than the 6 years before this law would take effect. An example? The iPod was introduced 7 years ago last month. There were MP3 players before it came out, but it sure changed things. iTunes is a huge seller of music, the number one seller of all music in the U.S. Market demand.
Gasoline was just shy of $5 a gallon here a few months ago, yesterday I filled up for $2.39. The reason? A shift in market demand.
Market demand changes things a lot quicker than government legislation ever will. If the market demanded food sold in CA be more humanely raised it would happen. And it wouldn't just be food raised here, but food brought in from out of state as well.
I voted for humanely raised food years ago, with my wallet, and I'll continue to do so.
IdeaRat at 11:11PM on 11/03/08
We have to be crappy or we'll just get crappy from elsewhere...????
Seriously? This is the leading argument?
What happened to being proud? To quality? To doing the correct thing?
Imagine being confined to a space of less than a cot for your entire life only it's not a cot, it's concrete, with holes in it for your excrement to go through... or wire that your skin grows around. Imagine the smells. Imagine having a couple more humans in there with you but your teeth and nails have been filed down or off so you don't hurt each other too much since you've nothing else to do. Oh, and if you happen to give birth the child is yanked from you to be supper for another.
Why is it less humane for humans but we just can't afford to treat animals any better?
Maybe we need to find something else to eat.
Probably better for our health as well as theirs.
Sieseye at 11:42PM on 11/03/08
Unfortunately, this reminds me of the pregnant pig amendment to the Florida constitution a number of years back, which mandated that pregnant pigs should have larger cages. After the amendment passed, most farms just killed all their pigs and went into a different business instead. If I were a California voter, I'd still vote yes on Amendment Two, but remember that things might get worse before they'll get better.
Tally at 12:11AM on 11/04/08
I already pay more for local California free range eggs at my local farmers market, because they are fresher and tastier then supermarket eggs.
gnomatic at 12:42PM on 11/04/08
I think for the sake of discovery and education and the scientific method, I would vote for Prop 2. It would be interesting to see in real life, how much eggs increase in cost.
This day in age you would think companies would look for any little edge in competition. So if that means advertising, "Our eggs are more humane!" then I would guess some companies would have done it already and increased cage sizes on their own.
But I would also guess that the egg industry has fairly low margins. They probably don't make as much as Apple or Intel. A few pennies here and there doesn't add up much to consumers, but it will to the egg producers.
So yea, it'll be fun to see how this shakes out and see who benefits.
foodinmouth at 12:50PM on 11/04/08
@foodinmouth-
i'm glad this will be amusing to you, i'm sure the farmers will get a big kick out of it too.
sfred at 6:18PM on 11/04/08
NAFTA has nothing to do with this, eggs can come from any US state, not just Mexico.
Eggs won't go up in price, people will just buy eggs from out of state.
Non-cage eggs are already available at a higher price, they are a tiny part of the market. How will prop 2 change this?
Do you really think the person who buys the cheapest eggs now will suddenly pay more for local eggs when they can buy the cheapest eggs from out of state?
The only way Prop 2 would make a difference is if it banned import of eggs from outside California that don't meet the California standard.
This is a foolish feel good prop.
peekpoke at 7:38PM on 11/05/08
I raise a few chickens in my backyard, and they have 10sq ft of area PER CHICKEN for their run plus 4 sq feet of room inside their coop, once again PER CHICKEN. That means each chicken has a total of 14sq ft apiece. I don't think this is cruel, and I would prefer legislation that accurately and reasonably dictates living conditions for the chickens. Mine are cage-free, they go into their coop at night all by themselves. Yes, they must stay inside their run, but that is to protect them from the foxes, raccoons, skunks, neighborhood dogs, neighborhood cats. The run is also under a tree for protection from hawks. They are free range, maybe not as free as I would like, but they are safe, healthy, well-cared for, and happy. The stipulation of 2sq ft per chicken and 5-6 sq ft of run room per chicken is not too much to ask, and I think prop 2 would go over better if something reasonable like that were suggested. Also, the store bought cage-free/free range are not really cage free or free range. This changes nothing!
cjeanean at 1:02AM on 11/06/08