TORONTO – Canadian egg farmers say they’ll meet restaurants’ growing interest in cage-free eggs despite the fact that conventional housing for hens will take into account more than half of production not less than eight more years.
Egg Farmers of Canada announced Friday that its members, representing more than 1,000 farms, will give more than half of their eggs from hens in conventional housing until 2024 and won’t shift completely to other types until 2036.
One critic of the currently predominant kind of caged housing said Friday the egg farmers may not be changing quickly enough but an Egg Farmer Canada spokesman said supplies of cage-free eggs will be able to meet demand.
Sayara Thurston, campaign manager for Human Society International’s Canadian chapter, said restaurants along with other companies “make clear that the shift … must take place in 4 to 9 years, not 2 decades from now.”
Promises to go cage-free by 2020 happen to be made by Cara Foods (Harvey’s, Swiss Chalet, Kelsey’s, East Side Mario’s along with other Canadian chains), Starbucks, Wendy’s (for it’s Canadian and American restaurants) and Arby’s (for its U.S. locations).
McDonald’s intends to do the same at its Canadian and American locations by 2025, exactly the same year that Restaurant Brands International (Tim Hortons and Burger King) will do so at its Canadian, U.S., and Mexican locations.
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“Most of those timelines will be met,” responded Roger Pelissero, first vice-chair of the Egg Farmers of Canada.
These restaurants don’t account for nearly all interest in eggs in Canada, he explained, adding that the chain like McDonald’s represents a requirement for around five percent from the country’s egg production.
Pelissero said that makes it likely the restaurants will be able to obtain enough cage-free eggs, as farms gradually shift to alternative housing, without requiring changes either to industry’s time lines.
He said the major demand originates from Canadian consumers who buy eggs at grocery stores.
Most retailers still wish to offer shoppers an option between eggs from hens living in enriched cages as well as without cages (free-run or free-range).
Enriched cages house a large number of chickens – instead of four to eight birds in conventional housing – and supply space and amenities such as like perches, for the animals to demonstrate natural behaviours.
The farmer organization, as well as some researchers, believe enriched cages offer animal welfare and farmer health benefits.
