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WitchHazel

Illegal Battery Eggs - Good eggs and rotten eggs

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I'm sure you're aware by now that illegal battery farming continues, especially in countries like Italy, Spain and Poland. These countries account for a staggering percentage of "hidden eggs", used in processed food.

 

From today, if I use a product or ingredient which contains eggs, I am emailing the producer to ask them to confirm that the eggs used in their products do not come from illegal battery hens. I eat a lot Italian-produced pasta, and I am particularly concerned about that because of the country of origin.

 

Today I've emailed

DeCecco

Garofalo

 

I'm just about to email Reflets de France, Dr Oetker (I was on a course where the woman used their dried egg whites), and some other oscure italian pasta maker.

 

I was wondering if it might be helpful to have a thread where we can share any good eggs and rotten eggs?

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We've changed to the enriched cages... for what they are worth, but so long as there is consumer pressure to use cheap eggs/egg products, there will always be a demand for foreign produced eggs. I find it very sad that (as a nation) we spend so much money abroad like this when our own farmers are fighting for their survival.

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This is such a toughie! :(

 

The P.I.G.S. (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain) are struggling so much with their economies, they will resort to anything, *anything*, to keep their economies going. That means there is an ethical dilema of human survival vs animal conditions.

 

Now, I'm *NOT* saying that there is a justification for illegal battery farming for *any* animal. However, there are many residents within our own country who do not give a fig how an egg is produced, or how a hen is kept ... just so long as their food bill isn't getting any higher!

 

We are not (yet!) in the same financial straits as that of the PIGS; but, I have taken to padlocking my WIR because I am very aware that times are also a bit tough in the UK and chook theft could be a black market option.

 

On the one hand, there is the ethical dilema; on the other, there is an argument for human survival (irrespective of the conditions required to produce supply vs demand).

 

It is well known now that the demand for produce (of both livestock and vegetation) is going to become increasingly fraught in forthcoming years to sustain the human capacity of our planet.

 

The real question is: do we permit the PIGS economies to decline, cause human suffering, poverty, hunger, unemployment, deprivation due to ethical concerns (it is oh so easy to be ethical when we are not starving ;) ) or, do we have to accept that there is (to a certain degree!) a necessity to provide cheap food, nutrition, income and compromise on that?

 

It is going to be the BIG question of the future!

 

Best get our thinking caps on ;) Easy when you are employed to be principled; not so easy when you are unemployed, hungry and in need of a cheap source of food/nutrition.

 

The Global economy is in dire straits; fact! I know a Chinese man who marvels that we feed the birds in the UK. This caused me to look at *why* we feed wild birds. Well, that was easy!!! We do it because we can "afford" to. When you live in a relatively "prosperous" nation, it is easy to extend our feelings/thoughts/philanthropy outside of our own needs and, look to nature. Did we do that during the war? Absolutely not! Every crumb mattered!!!

 

Now, times are going through an economic cycle. I am "priviledged" to have chooks at home who I can care for to the best of my ability. If it were a choice between layers pellets for my chooks and bread for my table - the cold fact is, I would choose bread for my family's table. If I *had* to choose between battery farmed eggs vs free range ... I'd have to go with my purse or the alternative would be seeing my children starve (I couldn't do that! Nor would my chooks with their chicks ;) )

 

Choice is the luxury of those with money! End of!! ;)

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While we do all still have the luxury of choose I would be interested in a good egg rotten egg thread.

I buy organic pasta from Lidal they have to be free range eggs and as cheep as other branded pasta.

 

20 years ago I asked at every restaurant if their eggs were free range and wrote to the management if they were not. Many restaurants now state the origin or welfare status of there food.

I have stood at the supermarket egg aisle and heard people trying to make the right choices and being too confused. We should be able to choose what we want but we only get these choices because people like us insist on doing mad stuff like writing to the manufacturers. I salute your efforts and look forward to hearing the results.

 

All of what has been said about povity is true but I also hear it alot as an excuse for cruelty in food production for this country. "Why do you want to take cheep protein from the poor of this country broiler houses feed the poor" Broiler houses take food from the real poor of South America by the deforestation required for soya production.

The real cheap protein is the vegetarian sources of beans and pulses. I was on income support after my husband died and left me with huge debts. I still raised my child on top quality food we just did not eat meat. Its alot more work but at the end of the day its a question of priorities. In the end we live with the choices we make we should therefore be enabled to make informed choices,

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Hi WitchHazel - there is a forum subject here in omlet in "the good life" started in 2006 where they detailed the companies that use free range. Have you seen it. I did not know that Asda's extra special range uses free range. Please let us know how you are getting on -

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Hi WitchHazel - there is a forum subject here in omlet in "the good life" started in 2006 where they detailed the companies that use free range. Have you seen it. I did not know that Asda's extra special range uses free range. Please let us know how you are getting on -

 

Hi Cranberry

Thanks for this. I was aware of the topic in the Good LIfe section. I'm not actually trying to find out if these companies use free range eggs, I'm setting the bar much lower - I only want to know that they are not using eggs from now-illegal-but-still-being-used-in-some-countries battery eggs. I didn't want to pollute the free range topic with non-free range info.

 

hi Mum

I appreciate the politics that some countries are in financial difficulties and it's hard for their producers to fund the changes required. That's life. My personal choice is to try not want to knowingly support the practice. I'd rather spend my money supporting and reqarding those that have made the change (and of course I'd be happiest if everyone used free range eggs, but I recognise that it just isn't possible to produce the quantity of eggs needed through a completely free range system).

 

 

It's proving hard work getting the information from some suppliers, so I am going to have to resort to physical letter writing to get my responses.

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hi Mum

I appreciate the politics that some countries are in financial difficulties and it's hard for their producers to fund the changes required. That's life. My personal choice is to try not want to knowingly support the practice. I'd rather spend my money supporting and reqarding those that have made the change (and of course I'd be happiest if everyone used free range eggs, but I recognise that it just isn't possible to produce the quantity of eggs needed through a completely free range system).

 

 

It's proving hard work getting the information from some suppliers, so I am going to have to resort to physical letter writing to get my responses.

 

Ditto

 

Good luck with your crusade WitchHazel 8)

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