A step in the right direction

Most Princeton students — and probably most New Jersey residents — have never visited an egg farm. Yet a recent decision by Dining Services has greatly improved the lives of the hens laying eggs for its cafeterias, and it has helped to inform students and community members of the suffering that these birds are forced to endure.

The vast majority of eggs produced in the United States come from factory farms that confine hundreds of thousands of laying hens in tiny, wire "battery cages." The good news is that the University is helping change this for the better.

At a conference on "Food, Ethics and the Environment" held last November, students and faculty demonstrated their interest in food issues by registering in such numbers that the conference had to be moved from McCosh 50 Richardson Auditorium. Speaking at that conference, Dining Services Director Stu Orefice said that he intended to find more ethical food options where his budget allowed it. Already last year, Dining Services started purchasing cage-free whole eggs instead of eggs from caged hens. Now, Dining Services has committed to phase in the exclusive use of cage-free eggs bought in liquid form as well, which is how the majority of eggs are purchased on campus. Princeton has become the first Ivy League school to move to the exclusive use of cage-free eggs.

Dining Services has also been receptive to the needs of its vegetarian and vegan students. The new Whitman dining hall — as its crowds can attest — serves a variety of healthy vegan salads and vegetarian entrees, and Dining Services has listened responsively to the Princeton Animal Welfare Society's requests for items such as vegan cream cheese and soy yogurt in all of the dining halls.

The food issue bridges education — in ethics, environmental issues, agriculture and public policy — to practice, to changing what we eat and to what the University buys. Greening Princeton, the student organization that has played a big role in pushing for more sustainable food, has also helped to establish farmer's markets, which will be held on Tuesdays now through Oct. 23, outside Firestone Library. Local, organic and free-range products will be sold there.

There's also unprecedented progress on this issue outside our campus borders. A nationwide movement among universities, food service providers, restaurants and grocery chains to give greater weight to animal welfare concerns is gaining traction. The most significant change has occurred in the egg procurement process and with good reason.

Battery cages confine nearly 280 million egg-laying hens in such deplorably cramped conditions that the birds can't spread their wings or walk. Each bird lives in a space smaller than a sheet of letter-sized paper to live. With no opportunity to engage in many natural behaviors, including nesting, dust bathing and perching, these birds endure truly miserable lives.

Dr. Bernard Rollin of the Department of Animal Science at Colorado State University states that "virtually all aspects of hen behavior are thwarted by battery cages ... The most obvious problem is lack of exercise and natural movement ... Research has confirmed what common sense already knew — animals built to move must move."

These birds are abused in ways that would result in criminal prosecution were they dogs or cats rather than hens, and no federal laws regulate the treatment of hens on egg-factory farms.

Fortunately, many schools and companies are taking action to help on their own. More than 160 universities have eliminated or reduced their use of eggs from caged birds. Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck is ending his use of cage eggs. Burger King is beginning to use cage-free eggs. Several grocery chains, including Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats Natural Marketplace, have stopped selling cage eggs. And city councils in Massachusetts, Maryland, Florida and California have condemned battery cage confinement.

These institutions are purchasing tens of millions fewer battery-cage eggs each year, meaning hundreds of thousands fewer birds will suffer in battery cages. In terms of the number of animals affected, this is among the most successful efforts of the American animal welfare movement.

Of course, cage-free housing doesn't mean the birds roam around outside and lead an idyllic life. Yet they can spread their wings, walk and lay their eggs in nests, which are all important improvements that we applaud.

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Those who consume eggs have an obligation to make sure that they aren't supporting the most egregious animal cruelty when sitting down for breakfast. By only purchasing eggs from cage-free birds, Princeton has made an important step in the right direction. It's up to individual egg consumers to do the same, and it truly is the very least we owe these animals.

Jenny Palmer '09 is the president of the Princeton Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) and may be reached at jspalmer@princeton.edu. Peter Singer is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University and may be reached at psinger@princeton.edu.