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A28 u.s. news
Diasabra 12 Februari 2022

Why cage-free eggs becoming norm: It’s what people want

chains as well as dozens of versity, found that after a
grocers and food manufac- The egg industry also ini- mandatory shift on Jan. 1 to
turers responded to pressure tially sought national stan- cage-free in California, the
from animal welfare groups dards that would allow larger price of a dozen eggs in the
by announcing their com- cages but ultimately relented, state jumped by 72 cents —
mitment to cage-free eggs. said J. T. Dean, president of or 103% — over the average
That was followed by laws Iowa-based Versova, a lead- U.S. price, although the gap
requiring cage-free hous- ing egg producer. Egg com- could shrink as the market
ing in California and similar panies house about 325 mil- adapts.
rules in at least seven other lion laying hens, so shifting
states — Colorado, Massa- many out of cages where At Des Moines’ Gateway
chusetts, Michigan, Nevada, they couldn’t move and into Market, which specializes in
Oregon, Utah and Washing- spaces where they could walk organic and specialty food,
ton. and roost was an expensive shoppers said they think it’s
proposition, Dean said. worth paying more for eggs if
McDonald’s, which buys it improves lives for hens.
(AP) — Without much major grocers, egg produc- about 2 billion eggs annu- Besides building structures
fuss and even less public ers are freeing chickens from ally, said it gradually shifted with more space, companies “I feel as though I want
attention, the nation’s egg cages and letting them move to cage-free after concluding had to figure out how to feed the chicken to be happy,”
producers are in the midst throughout hen houses. it was desired by customers. birds that could move about said Mary Skinner, of Des
of a multibillion-dollar Many companies widely pro- and how to collect their eggs. Moines. “How would we feel
shift to cage-free eggs that “What we producers failed to moted their move to cage- More workers and more feed if we were stuck in a cage?”
is dramatically changing realize early on was that the free as good for their brand’s were also needed because
the lives of millions of people funding all the animal image. hens moving around would Gregg Fath, a Des Moines
hens in response to new rights activist groups, they work up more of an appetite. resident who enjoys eating
laws and demands from were our customers. And at Earlier, animal welfare three eggs for breakfast, said
restaurant chains. the end of the day, we have groups, especially the Hu- The key, said Dean, was get- he thinks “people are learn-
to listen to our customers,” mane Society, had organized ting long-term commitments ing to be more aware.”
In a decade, the percentage said Marcus Rust, the CEO shareholder campaigns, con- for guaranteed buyers of eggs
of hens in cage-free housing of Indiana-based Rose Acre ducted undercover investiga- at a higher price and then Looking years into the future,
has soared from 4% in 2010 Farms, the nation’s second- tions of chicken farms and finding financing that would egg company leaders said
to 28% in 2020, and that fig- largest egg producer. filed federal complaints. A work for his company. they think the demand for
ure is expected to more than Gallup poll from 2015 found cheaper eggs from caged hens
double to about 70% in the Josh Balk, vice president for that nearly two-thirds of “When you start talking about will remain roughly 25% or
next four years. farm animal protection at the Americans thought animals needing billions of dollars, more of the market, but Balk
Humane Society of the Unit- deserved protection from you have to try every avenue at the Humane Society said
The change marks one of the ed States, noted the abrupt- harm and exploitation. you can,” Dean said. he expects it to become a tiny
animal welfare movement’s ness of the about face. This is percentage of overall sales.
biggest successes after years “an entire industry that at one Animal rights groups have The exact cost of the switch
of battles with the food in- point fought tooth and nail made allowing animals room on egg producers is hard Balk notes that hundreds of
dustry. The transition has cost not to make any changes,” he to move a priority in their to estimate, in part because national retailers, restaurants,
billions of dollars for produc- said. campaigns but the results some updating of buildings grocers and food manufac-
ers who initially resisted calls have been mixed. The pork and equipment is done pe- turers either have imple-
for more humane treatment To a great extent, the industry industry is fighting to block riodically anyway. The cost mented cage-free require-
of chickens but have since concluded it didn’t have an- the California initiative that to people at grocery stores is ments or plan to do so within
fully embraced the new reali- other choice. required more space for clearer. a few years.
ty. Pushed by voter initiatives breeding pigs and veal calves,
in California and other states Beginning in about 2015, and a state judge recently de- Jayson Lusk, who heads the “This is the future of every
as well as pressure from fast McDonald’s, Burger King layed implementation of new Agricultural Economics De- state in America,” he said.
food restaurant chains and and other national restaurant rules. partment at Purdue Uni-

Worker pleads guilty to abusing inmates at US women’s prison

(AP) - A former employee prison recycling technician, evidence pertained to both a lookout.
at a federal women’s pris- pleaded guilty in federal court Klinger and Warden Ray J. Klinger was arrested last
on in California pleaded in Oakland to three counts of Garcia’s cases. June and accused of sexually Klinger told the women he
guilty Thursday to charg- sexual abuse of a ward. He abusing at least two inmates wanted to marry them and
es he sexually abused at faces up to 15 years in pris- Klinger’s lawyer, John Paul between March and Septem- father their children, even
least two inmates, the first on, though in other cases the Reichmuth, declined com- ber 2020, including inside a proposing to one of them
conviction in a wave of ar- sentences have ranged from ment. warehouse and in a shipping with a diamond ring after she
rests at a lockup known to three months to two years. container on prison grounds was discharged to a halfway
prisoners and workers as Klinger remains free pending An Associated Press investi- while another inmate acted as house, prosecutors said.
“the rape club.” sentencing. A status confer- gation published this week
ence is scheduled for May 11. found a permissive and toxic
Ross Klinger, 36, is one of culture at the prison, enabling
four employees, including Klinger signed a plea agree- years of sexual misconduct
the warden and chaplain, ment in connection with his by predatory employees and
who’ve been arrested in in guilty plea, but the document cover-ups that have largely
the past seven months for was not published to the kept the abuse out of the
sexually abusing inmates at public docket. A court official public eye.
the federal correctional insti- said it was sealed. Because the
tution in Dublin, California. agreement is not public, it is FCI Dublin, about 21 miles
Several other Dublin work- not clear whether it includes (34 kilometers) east of Oak-
ers remain under investiga- a clause requiring him to co- land, was opened in 1974. It
tion. operate with authorities. In a was converted in 2012 to one
court filing last month, pros- of six women-only facilities
Klinger, a former Dublin ecutors said some of their in the federal prison system.