Thirsty Thursday: An Egg-cellent Partnership

While eggs do not figure prominently (or at all) in my diet, they are a staple source of nourishment for many people in the U.S. and worldwide. Now, I am not an advocate for discontinuing the consumption of eggs; however, I do believe that our current methods are unsustainable and treatment of the animals inhumane. Poultry operations (broilers and egg-layers) are responsible for considerable pollution many regions, including the Chesapeake Bay States.

NPR ran a story a couple weeks ago about how two people, on the opposite ends of the egg spectrum, are working together to reach better standards for egg-laying hens. Gene Gregory of the United Egg Producers lobby and Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society have joined forces to confront congress.

"They agreed to jointly lobby Congress for a law that would allow farmers to keep their chickens in cages, but the chickens would get twice as much space, plus perches and "nest boxes" where they could lay their eggs."

This is really only the tip of the ice-berg.  Yet the average Joe is not going to give up his omelet breakfast. While this uncanny partnership may seem like small potatoes in the larger scheme of things, starting a dialogue between big business and environment/ethics advocates will probably lead to greater strides in overall sustainability and animal welfare than staging boycotts.