Ethical Foods Memo: Pro & Con On California's Proposition 2; Which Would Eliminate the Use of Battery Hen Cages in the State's Egg-Farming Industry

This November 4 California voters will vote on the first measure of its kind in the United States that if passed would eliminate the use of small or battery cages for egg-laying hens, like the ones pictured above.

The ballot measure, Proposition 2 ("Standards for Confining Farm Animals"), also would eliminate tiny enclosures for veal calves and pigs. The measure doesn't include eliminating small-cages in the raising of chickens for sale and consumption as a food. It only applies to the raising of egg-laying hens.

Natural~Specialty Foods Memo has written about California's Proposition 2 and related battery cage issues in the Golden State, along with writing about the issue in general as it pertains globally. You can read those pieces here.

Proposition 2 hasn't been receiving much attention in California to date. This is because of a few reasons in our analysis and opinion.

First, it's a law of elections and politics in the U.S. that voters pay little attention to upcoming elections until after Labor Day, which has now ended.

Second, California's state lawmakers, mainstream press and voters have been focused for the last couple months extensively on the multi-month-long battle between the state legislature and Governor to work out a long-overdue state budget compromise. The various parties reached a budget agreement last week, and the budget bill was signed this week by the Governor.

Lastly, this is a big year for elections in the U.S. The Presidential race is the primary focus of both the news media and voters. Therefore, ballot initiatives such as Proposition 2 in California and other measures are getting obvious secondary attention.

However, with the Labor Day holiday ended, summer over and the kids back in school in California, statewide issues like Proposition 2 are beginning to receive more attention in the Golden State. Since the ballot measure if passed will also be the first state law of its specific kind in the U.S., Proposition 2 also is beginning to get more nationwide attention in America.

In today's addition of the newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle -- which is generally considered a liberal -to- moderate newspaper editorially in what is overall a very liberal city -- ran an editorial in which the paper's editorial board says it's against Proposition 2, the measure which would eliminate the use of battery cages for egg-laying hens and small enclosures for veal calves and pigs in 2015.

The editorial goes into detail regarding the editorial board's position that California voters should vote no on Proposition 2.

Read the editorial against Proposition 2, "Why proposition 2 is a bad idea," from today's San Francisco Chronicle editorial page here.

In the same editorial page section of today's Chronicle, the paper ran a pro-Proposition 2 opinion piece written by Bill Niman, who is well known in the natural foods industry as the founder of the all-natural meat company Niman Ranch, Inc., which is based in Oakland, California.

Bill Niman also is a cattle rancher and farmer in Bolinas, which is north of San Francisco. In addition to being supplied by cattle and hogs raised on Bill Niman's ranch, Niman Ranch, Inc. meat company buys from over 600 family-owned farms and ranches in the United States. Niman Ranch, Inc. markets a variety of fresh, natural meat products to natural foods stores and supermarkets throughout the U.S., as well as selling its products online via its website.

Read Bill Niman's vote yes on Proposition 2 Op-Ed piece, "Prop. 2 brings humane standards to poultry, pork industries," here.

Based on our reporting on Proposition 2 -- which includes talking with members of both the pro and con Proposition 2 coalitions that have been started -- we think today marks the beginning of what is going to be a vigorous debate on the ballot initiative between now and the November 4, 2008 election in the U.S.

The battery cage issue is a global one. The European Union has already passed legislation to outlaw the use of the small cages in its member countries in 2012.

In the United Kingdom (UK) and other European nations, farmers have already started to convert to the use of larger enclosures which permit the birds to stretch their wings and move around in, which are part of the conditions required under the Proposition 2 ballot measure in California.

Supermarket chains and natural foods stores throughout the world -- and particularily in Europe and parts of Asia like Australia and New Zealand, and the U.S. -- are increasingly offering more varieties of eggs raised by hens in a "cage-free" setting, along with selling more broiler chickens raised "free range" outside of the small cages. Selling veal raised in small crates is something numerous food retailers no longer will do even where there are no laws prohibiting it.

The issue is arguably hottest in the UK, where activists like the celebrity chefs Hugh Fearnly- Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver have been conducting campaigns to get Britain's largest supermarket chains such as Tesco and Sainsbury's to stop selling chickens and eggs produced in battery cages.

These chains have increased the varieties of "cage-free" eggs and "free-range" chickens they sell in their stores as a result, along with increasing the promotion of these products. For example, earlier this year Sainsbury's, along with the upscale British supermarket chain Waitrose, both reported that sales of "free-range" chickens in their respective supermarkets for the first time had reached nearly half of total chicken sales.

The battery cage issue has been far less front and center in the U.S. compared to Europe. However, we see California's Proposition 2 as potentially changing that dynamic. California is a legislative trend setter in the U.S. As some say: As California goes...so goes the nation -- at least that's often the case when it comes to the origin of new laws.

Therefore, we plan to cover the debate on Proposition 2 between today and the November 4 U.S. general election closely, as we believe the battery cage issue is it not only a California (which with nearly 40 million residents is pretty significant in and of itself) issue, but a national an overall global one as well.

Ethical Foods Memo: Analysis and Viewpoints Pro and Con on the Small-Cage Hen Ban Voter Initiative Set for the November, 2008 Ballot in California

As we wrote about in this May 8, 2008 story, the Humane Society of the United States has qualified a ballot initiative, called Proposition 2, on the November ballot in California that if passed would ban egg producers from using small, battery cages for the birds. If passed inNovember, the ballot initiative, called the Prevention of Farm Cruelty Act, would take effect in California in 2015. The law also bans the use of small crates in veal raising, along with the use of confining gestation boxes or cages for pregnant hogs. (California raises lots of chickens, both for egg-laying and to be sold as broiler fryers and roasters, but few hogs or veal calves.)

Since 2002, the U.S. states of Florida, Colorado, Arizona and Oregon have passed laws similar to the California ballot initiative. Those laws however only outlaw the use of the small veal crates and the confining boxes for pregnant hogs. Therefore, if the Proposition 2 ballot initiative is passed in November, California will become the first state in the U.S. to ban the use of the battery cages for egg-laying hens.

A number of animal rights and environmental groups have joined the Humane Society of the United States in supporting the small-cage ban initiative, which will be voted on by California voters in November. These groups include the Sierra Club, the California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) and others. The California State Democratic Party also supports the battery cage ban initiative, as do numerous city councils in cities throughout the state.

The United Egg Producers, a national trade association which represents numerous egg farmers in California and throughout the U.S., is currently lining up opposition to the November ballot initiative, which if passed would require the egg-producers to stop using the small cages in 2015, giving them over six years to make the transition.

Among the arguments the egg producers association makes is that currently about one-third of all eggs sold in retail stores and used by restaurants and other institutions in California are shipped in from out of state Since the ballot initiative doesn't prevent supermarkets and other retail stores from selling eggs produced from hens raised in small cages out of state, the group says the law would essentially amount to an anti-competitive measure against California egg producers, since out of state egg farmers would ship in eggs produced by battery-cage raised hens at cheaper prices, thereby forcing many California egg producers out of business.

This does seem to be a flaw in the language of the ballot initiative. For example, in the United Kingdom, which passed a law outlawing the use of battery cages which goes into effect in 2012, the nation's food retailers will be prevented from selling eggs from hens raised in battery cages regardless of where the eggs come from, as part of the comprehensive legislation.

The egg producers group also says switching from small cage egg production to cage-free will double and possibly triple the retail cost of California-produced eggs to consumers. Egg prices for conventional, battery cage-raised eggs have already increased by about 25% in just the last year in California due to increased feed costs and the soaring price of fuel, energy and fertilizer, among other things, according to the California State Department of Agriculture.

The Humane Society of America counters this claim of a doubling -to-tripling of retail egg prices if the measure passes in November by a study prepared for an industry-wide meeting in 2006 as evidence that the cost to switch over to cage-free farming would be minimal. The report claims that the difference between constructing and operating a cage-free facility compared to a caged one amounts to less than one cent per egg.

Arnie Riebli, the managing owner of Sunrise Farms in Petaluma, in Northern California, which produces and sells cage-free eggs and eggs produced by hens confined in battery cages, says he disagrees with those figures and doesn't understand how they were calculated. Rather, he believes the cost of cage-free production is closer to double that of caged production. Even so, he says that while initial costs are higher, he receives a higher profit margin on cage-free eggs because they command a higher wholesale price from retailers.

Egg-producer Riebli argues the egg producer association point of view, saying that if required to raise only cage-free birds, his business will lose its competitive edge to out-of-state producers. "Every other state is going to sit out there and ship more eggs in here," he says. "They're not stopping it. They're just moving it somewhere else."

The Humane Society is gaining backing for the measure however from numerous Democratic Party state politicians, veterinarians, businessmen and woman, and even some farmers, along with nearly every animal welfare organization, numerous environmental groups, and thousands of California consumers.

One key factor as the whether or not the battery cage ban passes in November is the continuing soaring cost of food. Food prices are a sensitive issue with California consumers, who also are voters, currently in the Golden State, which is experiencing a severe economic downturn at present.

California political observers say if the battery cage ban opposition groups can make a strong case to voters that if the ballot initiative passes the price of eggs at the supermarket--which has already risen by about 25% in the last year alone--will double or triple--they stand a good chance of defeating the measure.

Supporters say California voters/consumers are ready to ban the battery cage practice, sighting surveys they've said they have conducted which show support for the measure by the state's voters when they view photographs or video of the hens in the tiny cages, which don't allow the birds to move, turn around or even groom themselves in.

Julia Olmstead, a writer and graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley School of Journalism, recently wrote an opinion piece focusing on the environmental aspects of the battery cage ban ballot initiative. Ms. Olmstead, who is a writer with the Land Institute's Prairie Writers Circle, a pro-environmental organization, suggests in her piece that voting yes on the small-cage ban offers environmental problems, and that even though she supports free-range chicken-raising and buys free-range eggs, she isn't likely to vote yes on the measure in November. You can read her opinion piece which first appeared a few days ago in the Los Angeles Times, here.

On the other side--pro battery cage ballot initiative--is Ed Boks. Mr. Boks is the respected general manager of Los Angeles' Animal Services Department, and was one of the first proponents of the small cage, veal crate, and hog gestation box ban ballot initiative.

In an article from his blog, published nearly a year ago, Mr. Boks lays out why California voters should support the ballot measure. He wrote the piece before the measure qualified for the November ballot. However, he is one of the stronger and most respected proponents for the initiative's passage this November, which is why we bring you his opinion even though his piece was published some time ago. You can read the piece from Mr Boks' blog here.

Additionally, the Humane Society of the United States and its affiliated group supporting Proposition 2, the hen battery cage, veal crate and hog gestation box ban ballot initiatiive, offers its arguments for the bans on its website, which you can view here.

From the industry's perspective, you also can read a report on a recent study about the possible economic effects in California of Proposition 2, conducted by the United Egg Producers' group here.

Most California political observers say they expect the ballot initiative to start receiving lots of attention in the media and by voters right after Labor Day, which is about the time Americans generally start to focus on the fall elections. Since there's a Presidential election this year, U.S. voter turnout is expected to be higher overall than normal, with many observers believing it could be the highest it's been in the U.S. in decades, come November.

The battery cage ballot initiative is important not only because of the effects it will have in California--which is the number one agricultural state in America, and the fifth-largest producer of eggs. Even more important from the larger view, is that California is a trend-setting state in the U.S. when it comes to ethical, animal rights and environmental laws. Should California's voters pass the small-cage ban legislation in November, expect to see numerous state governments throughout the U.S.--especially in progressive states--create similar legislation.

The European Union passed a battery cage ban, with all member states ratifying the law, a couple years ago. That ban goes into effect in most of western Europe in 2012. Already in the United Kingdom, many egg producers are transitioning from the small cages, to new, larger ones which give the birds enough space to move around, turn around, and practice natural behaviors like grooming.

The issue is much hotter in Europe, and particularly in the UK, than it is in the United States currently. However, we expect the publicity this fall from the California battery cage ban ballot initiative--regardless if it passes or fails--to increase interest in the issue among consumers in the U.S.

Natural~Specialty Foods Memo Resources:

Click here to read a selection of previously published pieces about the battery cage issue. Click here to read a couple past stories about the battery cage issue in the United Kingdom (just scroll down a bit from the top at the link).

Ethical Foods Memo: Will 'The Chickens Come Home to Roost'? Mercy For Animals Offers Additional Evidence On Hen Abuse; Gemperle Farms Goes Silent

The animal rights group Mercy For Animals--which says a video it has (a link to which we posted here in an earlier piece about the subject) showing abuse to hens at an egg-laying farm was taken at a Merced County, California facility owned and operated by Turlock, California-based Gemperle Farms--is offering more evidence and proof the video is from one of the company's egg ranches.

Although the video footage is grainy, it shows close ups of hens with badly festering sores, as well as chickens being pushes and pulled in and out of small cages by workers. There's even a scene in the video in which a ranch worker throws a hen on the ground, stomps on it, and then throws it into a pit of dirt.

Mercy for Animals says the video was taken at a Gemperle Farms' egg-laying facility in Merced County, California by an undercover operative for the animal rights group, who was hired to work as a maintenance man at the company's egg-laying facilities in the towns of Delhi and Hilmar in Merced County, and shot the video on site.

The animal rights group says the video was shot in January and February by the undercover operative using a hidden video camera.

Steve Gemperle, president of Gemperle Farms, has said he doesn't believe the video is from one of his egg-producing ranches, siting the grainy quality of the video as evidence that he or others can't tell it's one of the company's facilities.

Gemperle told the Sacramento Bee newspaper last Tuesday the video "is trying to discredit us. My company doesn't tolerate the abuse of animals. Abused animals don't produce eggs."

However, Gemperle has gone into the media underground since Tuesday. Modesto Bee reporter John Holland reported Friday that neither Gemperle or any other spokesperson for the would return his calls for comment on the video and accusation by Mercy For Animals that the video is from one of the company's Merced County egg-producing facilities. The Modesto Bee is a sister newspaper to the Sacramento Bee and is the largest daily newspaper in the Merced and Stanislaus County areas.

Natural~Specialty Foods Memo placed two calls to Gemperle Farms corporate office on Friday to talk with Gemperle or a spokesperson about the issue. Both times we were told by a receptionist that nobody from the company was available to talk about the issue.

Although Gemperle Farms isn't talking about the issue, Mercy For Animals is, offering further evidence they say proves the video is from the Gemperle Farms' egg-producing facilities in Merced County.

Nathan Runkle, executive director for Mercy For Animals, says the group has undercover video footage taken by the operative they claim was employed at the egg farms, of Steve Gemperle himself on site at the egg-laying farm, along with having pay stubs from the undercover operative which prove he worked at the facility.

Runkle also says there is video footage showing numerous faces of Gemperle Farms' employees, which further shows it's the Gemperle egg-laying farm where the video was taken showing the hens being abused, he says.

This isn't the first time an animal rights group has accused, and said it had video of, Gemperle Farms' employees abusing hens. In 2005, a group called Farm Sanctuary said it took video footage of hen abuses at a Gemperle Farms facility in Merced County.

The issue is getting lots of attention in California in part because a ballot initiative measure banning the use of small or battery-style hen cages in California will be on the November, 2008 electoral ballot. California voters will get to approve or deny the measure with their votes. If passed, the law would force California egg producers to stop using the small cages--which most use--in 2015.

The European Union has banned the use of the small or battery cages by egg producers in all its member nations effective in 2012.

Mercy For Animals' Runkle says he believes hen abuse is an industry norm in California and the U.S. rather than just the exception at Gemperle Farms. Farm Sanctuary agrees.

However, California's Pacific Egg and Poultry Association, a trade group for egg producers, says that's absolutely false. A spokesperson for the association says such abuse and treatment in the video is isolated in the California egg producing industry, as well as being "in violation of the association's and industry's high standards for animal welfare."

Any egg producer who allows such hen abuse is wrong and in violation of the association's standards, the spokesman says.

Mercy For Animals' Runkle says the group has asked the Merced County District Attorney's office to investigate the hen abuses it says occurred at Gemperle Farms in the county, which it claims are evidenced in the videos it has.

Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse has replied back to the animal rights group that based on the evidence currently available, the video, his office isn't going to launch an investigation into the matter at this time.

Morse told the Modesto Friday if there is evidence presented of hen abuse at the Gemperle Farms' facility, it first needs to be investigated by the county's Sheriff's Department. He said if any further evidence is provided to the Sheriff's Department, and if the department launches an investigation and find the results legitimate, he would welcome them forwarding it to the county DA's office for potential prosecution.

Gemperle Farms is one of the top egg producers in California, which is the number five egg-producing state in the U.S. The egg-producer sells its eggs to NuCal Foods, Inc., which is one of the largest egg distributors in the Western U.S. NuCal buys eggs from Gemperle and dozens of other egg-producers and distributes them to restaurants, institutions, supermarkets, convenience stores, drug stores and other classes of trade.

As we reported here, Trader Joe's, which bought eggs produced by Gemperle Farms from NuCal, announced last week it would no longer sell any eggs produced by the egg-producer at its stores because of the video.

NuCal, Inc. has nothing to do with the hen abuse issue. It's a distributor and marketer of eggs and isn't involved in operating egg-producing facilities.

We would strongly suggest two things to Gemperle Farms: first, obtain some experienced crisis communications public relations council.

Second, if you know the video showing the hen abuse is from one of your facilities, or even if you strongly think it might be, hang a lantern on it. With the help of your experienced crisis communications person, admit it happened at your facility and take immediate measures to make sure it never happens again. Take responsibility if responsibility is warranted.

These measures should include firing those people identified as abusing hens, bringing in independent third parties to help clean up the act at the facility and to eventually certify humane conditions, and ensuring superior animal health and welcoming regular third-party inspections of all the egg-producing facilities.

If you don't believe the video is from one of your facilities, then you need to communicate that fact through the media, as well as offer evidence the egg farm in the video isn't one of yours.

There are two constants in issues of this nature. Number one is to communicate with and through the media. When you go silent, people assume (especially reporters) you're guilty and hiding something. They assume this because more often than not it's the case.

Second, if it is your facility in the video, the sooner you admit it and pledge to fix it, the better things will get. This is particularly true if management has no knowledge of the hen abuse.

Meanwhile, honesty and sincerity are key in any plan to go forward. Animal abuse is no laughing matter. Either are false accusations if the facility really isn't a Gemperle Farms' egg-producing farm.

The truth needs to come out, and fast. Animals used to supply food for humans should never be abused. Its not only unethical and written about as a sin in the bible if one is a believer, it's also a poor economic practice. Stressed animals produce poor food. Humans aren't only their brothers' keepers, we also are the keepers of the animal species we use for our nourishment and sustenance

We know there was hen abuse. It's right there in the video. What we don't know for sure is if it occurred at a Gemperle Farms'-owned facility. If it did, and Gemperle Farms' knows it, it's the owner's moral and legal obligation to admit it. If the video isn't from a Gemperle Farms' facility, and Mercy For Animals is falsifying it, their credibility should and will be ruined forever. There also are legal aspects of such falsification should it be the case.

Let's get to the truth of this matter fast--for the sake of the hens, the reputation of ethical egg producers, and for the retailers who as the agents for consumers sell eggs in their stores.

[Read Natural~Specialty Foods Memo's three previous pieces on the hen abuse issue and video here. There's also a link to the video there.]

Ethical Foods Memo: Group Says it Has Video Showing Major California Egg Producer Abuses it's Egg-Laying Hens

Earlier today we wrote about a ballot initiative that if passed would ban California egg-producers from using small or battery-style cages for their egg-laying hens. That initiative has been qualified by the California Secretary of State's Office and will appear on California's ballot for residents to vote yes or no on this November.

Read our piece from earlier today here.

In our piece, we wrote now that the small hen cage ban ballot initiative has been qualified and will appear on the November, 2008 California ballot, we expected to see a real "egg fight" start soon between the proponents of the small cage ban measure and those in the California egg industry who are against it becoming law.

It looks like that "egg fight" has started sooner than even Natural~Specialty Foods Memo thought it would.

The McClathchy Company-owned Modesto Bee, the largest daily newspaper in Merced and Stanislaus counties, which are the number one and two largest egg-producing counties in California, is reporting a group called Mercy For Animals has a video showing that one of the region's, and the state's, leading egg-producing companies, Gemperle Farms based in Turlock, California, abuses its egg-laying hens, or at least has employees who do so.

In the article, the company denies the video is of one of it's egg farming operations. However, Mercey For Animals says it can prove the video is from the egg-producer's egg farm in Merced County because the video was taken by a Mercy For Animals undercover operative who worked in the operation for some time and took the videos while employed with Gemperle Farms.

This isn't the first time a group says it took video of hen abuse at Gemperle Farms. A group called Farm Sanctuary said in 2005 and again last year it took videos of egg-laying hens being abused at Gemperle-owned chicken farms. You can read more about what this group had to say here.

Like we said, the issue is already starting to heat up. We will have more to report--and say--soon.

Read the story in the Modesto Bee here.

There's also a link to the video Mercy For Animals says was taken by its operative at the Gemperle Farms egg-laying farm here, along with additional information the group says comes from its undercover operative who worked at the facility.

Ethical Foods Memo: Small Hen Cage Ban Ballot Measure Will Go to Voters in California

A coalition of organizations and consumers led by the Humane Society of the United States has obtained enough signatures from registered voters in California to qualify a measure on the November, 2008 ballot that if passed would ban the use of small or battery-style hen cages in the state's egg industry as of 2015.

That ballot measure got more than the needed 433,971 signatures required to get the initiative placed on the November ballot, the California Secretary of State's Office has announced.

The ballot measure being promoted by the Humane Society of the United States and allied groups would require that cages provide enough room for hens to stand up, lie down, turn around and fully extend their limbs, according to the language of the initiative.

The egg-laying hens aren't able to move around in the above ways in the small cages currently used by nearly all egg-producers in California and in the rest of the United States.

Although there are some producers who raise and market cage-free eggs in California and the U.S., such practices are currently minimal. Additionally, very few U.S. egg producers use larger cages such as those more commonly used in the United Kingdom and in other Western European countries.

The coalition led by the Humane Society of the U.S. says the ability of hens to stand up or turn around is impossible in the small cages currently used by the majority of egg producers in California and the U.S. The small cages allow the hens about 67 square inches of cage floor space per-hen. That's about the size of an average piece of letter paper.

Paul Shapiro, director of the Human Society's factory farming campaign, says California voters will have a choice this November regarding whether they want to "enact a very modest anti-cruelty measure that would improve the lives of millions of animals in California."

Most small cage egg-producing farmers and companies in California are opposing the measure.

Among those in opposition to the ballot initiative measure are a number of industry leaders in the San Joaquin Valley, which is not only California and the United States' number one agricultural producing region, but the most diverse and largest overall farm crop producing region in the world on a total dollar basis.

These egg producers argue the small cages protect the hens from injury and disease. Further, they say consumers in California can buy cage-free eggs if they choose. These opponents to the small cage ban voter initiative also argue if passed in November the measure will increase the price of eggs significantly for consumers.

Egg prices have already soared in the last year in California, as they have throughout the United States. According to the California Department of Agriculture, retail prices of eggs in the state's supermarkets have increased by 25-30% in the last year.

This is due in large part to the same reasons food prices are soaring throughout the world: rapidly rising oil and fuel prices, more demand for grain than supply, the conversion of numerous acres of corn crops to corn used for ethanol fuel rather than animal feed, and a few other factors.

Egg-laying hens in the United States are fed a diet composed primarily of corn.

Merced County, which is located in the Northern San Joaquin valley about 40 miles from Fresno and about 125 miles from San Francisco, is the number one egg-producing region in California. Nearly 100% of all the eggs produced in the county are conventionally-produced by housing hens in the small cages. The county produced about 1.88 billion eggs in 2006, the latest year figures are available for, according to the state's agricultural department.

Stanislaus County, which literally is right next door, is the state's number two egg-producing county. Egg producers in Stanislaus County also overwhelming use small cages for their hens. In 2006, about 605 million eggs were produced in the county.

Other major egg-producing counties in California include San Joaquin County, which is next door to Stanislaus County in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. Nearly all of the egg producers in the county also us the small cage method for hens. San Joaquin County produced about 337 million eggs in 2006.

Fresno County and a couple counties in the far northern part of California also have egg production as part of their agriculture.

Although more egg producers in the San Joaquin Valley have started cage-free operations in recent years, cage-free egg farming doesn't even equal 4% of the total egg production in California. In fact, most of the cage-free producers are small, niche farmers in the northern portion of the state, located an hour or so from San Francisco.

The ballot measure would not affect chickens raised for meat, it only pertains to egg-laying hens and the small cages the animals are kept in.

Sponsors and supporters of the ballot initiative say they chose 2015, seven years from today, as the deadline for the elimination of the small cages and the likely use of the larger, roomer hen cages, to go into law so as to give egg producers plenty of time to phase in the change at their operations.

Ballot measure a first in USA

The California ballot initiative is the first proposed law in the U.S. to ban the small hen cages. California is unique among nearly all other states in America in that it has the ballot initiative process, which groups, politicians and citizens can use to go around the state's legislature in order to get laws passed they're in favor of.

All it takes is to file the proper paperwork and get a fixed number of valid signatures from registered California voters to get a measure put on the ballot, such as how the Humane Society of the U.S. and its allied groups did with the small hen cage ban measure.

Depending on the particular measure, all it takes for a ballot initiative measure to become law is a simple majority vote by the state's voters. Some ballot initiatives, such as those for bonds to be used for specific purposes like building roads or bridges for example, require a two-thirds majority vote of the people to become law.

Additionally, when a ballot initiative passes by a majority vote of California voters, the state's Governor can't veto it like he can veto a bill passed into law by the California State Legislature.

As California goes, so goes the nation?

Since California is a trend setting state for ethical food issues and legislation, players in the egg and food and grocery industries nationwide will be paying very close attention as to if the small hen cage ban passes or not in November. If it does, we're likely to see numerous similar measures being taken up by state legislative bodies throughout the U.S.

Small cage bans in the UK and Western Europe

Unlike in the United Kingdom specifically and Western Europe in general, the issue of banning the small cages hasn't been a hot button one in the U.S., until now with the California measure qualifying for the November ballot.

For example, all of the UK's leading supermarket chains--Tesco, Wal-Mart-owned Asda, Sainsbury's, Morrissons, Waitrose, Somerfield, the Co-op and others--have agreed to stop selling eggs produced in the small cages by 2012.

As a result of this agreement among the retailers, the UK's egg industry pledged it would stop using the small cages altogether before the end of 2012. There is now a law formalizing this agreement which will take effect in 2012 in the UK.

Already, many egg producers in the UK and elsewhere in Western Europe are using larger cages which allow the hens to walk around a bit, turn, stretch and do the things called for in the California small cage ban measure. There have been few if any reports in the UK of the hens injuring themselves in these larger cages like the Northern San Joaquin Valley egg-producers suggest will happen with the use of the larger cages instead of the small ones.

Cage-free eggs also are much more popular in the UK and other parts of Western Europe, compared to the U.S. and even to California, which is the leading consuming state of the eggs raised from hens who aren't confined to the small cages.

Earlier this year, two UK supermarket chains, Waitrose and Sainsbury's, reported sales of cage-free eggs in their respective supermarkets were reaching about 49% of all egg sales in the stores. In other words, nearly half of all eggs sold in the two retailers' supermarkets are now cage-free.

An egg fight coming up

With the small hen cage ban initiative now approved by the state of California and set to go on the November ballot, we expect to see a real battle over the measure by its proponents and opponents, who thus far are primarily egg producers and their trade associations.

It will be interesting to see if the state's huge retail food and grocery industry gets involved or decides its better to stay on the sidelines for fear of alienating thousands of consumers regardless of which side it were to choose.

Voters, who also are obviously consumers, will decide the issue however. And because the November, 2008 election includes the Presidential election--and one that's looking to be one of the hottest in sometime in the U.S.--there should be record turnout at the polls in California and throughout the U.S. this year.

Additionally, the soaring cost of food at the supermarket also is likely to influence how California voters vote on the small hen cage ban measure this November. If those campaigning against it are able to make a convincing enough argument that banning the cages will increase the retail prices of eggs even further, they could win.

On the other hand, animal rights issues are important to California voters, especially those in the San Francisco Bay Area and major portions of Southern California. Therefore, its very possible animal rights could trump potential price increases come November, resulting in the measure winning. Stay tuned.

Ethical Foods Memo: Chef Jamie Oliver and Sainsbury's Both Winning in the Famous Factory Farming Flap

A Bird in the Hand is Worth Two in the Bush: It looks like celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and UK supermarket chain Sainsbury's are both coming out winners in their recent spat, which found chef Oliver, who's also Sainsbury's TV commercial pitchman, slamming the grocery chain and other British supermarkets on his TV documentary, "Jamie's Fowl Dinners," for not sending representatives to debate him on the issue of factory poultry farming following the airing of the program.

[Read our three previous pieces on the issue here (January 7), here (January 11) and here (January 12, 2008).]

British grocery retailer Sainsbury's said today's its stores are reporting a huge surge in sales of battery-free-farmed, free-range and organic chickens following chef Jamie Oliver's TV documentary on factory, or battery, poultry farming which aired in the UK recently.

The program, called "Jamie's Fowl Dinners", investigated and discussed the conditions in which battery-farmed chickens are raised and kept in the UK. (As mentioned above, Oliver wanted a representative from Sainsbury's, along with executives from the other major British grocery chains--Tesco, Morrisons and Asda--to appear on a debate with him after the documentary aired. None of the "big four" supermarket chains sent representatives. However, Sainsbury's did provide a company executive who was interviewed by Oliver for the documentary.

Today, a Sainsbury's spokesperson says sales of free-range, organic and chickens adhering to the RSPCA's Freedom Food program have soared by 50% since Oliver's program aired. (You can learn more about the RSPCA Freedom Food program for poultry here, and here.)

Perhaps ironically, the Sainsbury's spokesperson also said sales of battery, or what is also referred to in the UK as intensively-raised chicken, increased over the same time period as well.

For example, Sainsbury's Basics chicken line, a value-line of intensively-raised birds, increased by a modest 1 to 2%, according to the spokesperson. What's significant--and rather interesting in light of the 50% sales increase of the free-range, organic and RSPCA-approved chickens--is that the Basics line didn't have a drop in sales, especially following the airing of chef Oliver's documentary, which is being attributed to the sales increase of the non-battery birds.

Sainsbury's isn't the only British grocery chain to report a substantial rise in sales of free-range, organic and RSPCA-approved birds. Upscale supermarket operator Waitrose, which doesn't sell battery-farmed chickens at all in its stores, reports a 31% rise in sales of organic chickens for last week. Further, the grocer said sales of free-range birds increased by 24% during the same time period.

About 95% of chickens and 63% of egg-laying hens are raised using the battery, or factory or intensive-farming, method in the UK. The issue regarding this method has been a hot one--and is growing hotter on the heels of Oliver's program and a similar one by chef Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall which also recently aired in the UK..

The RSPCA animal welfare group also has been popularizing the anti-intensively-farmed poultry issue with its model set of guidelines for raising fryer-chickens and egg-laying hens. Both Waitrose and British chain Marks & Spencer have adopted the group's guidelines and no longer sell intensively-farmed chickens in their food stores.

Sainsbury's CEO Justin King announced a couple days after the chef Oliver flap that the grocery chain would stop selling the battery-farmed birds as well. Sainsbury's hasn't given a specific date regarding when that will happen. Tesco and Asda also have said they are willing to stop selling the factory-farmed birds as well. However, they haven't definitively said they will do so, nor given a time-line for phasing out the sales of the battery birds, or to stop selling eggs that come from hens farmed using that method.

Chicken is Britain's most popular meat, with 855 million pounds of the feathered bird being produced in the UK every year, according to government agricultural statistics. Those figures also show that the Brits consume 12 times as much chicken as they did just 30 years ago.

Meanwhile, chef Oliver, who is paid $1.3 million annually to be Sainsbury's TV commercial pitchman, seems to be coming out a winner thus far over the whole fowl flap. After an intense phone conversation with Sainsbury's CEO King last week, during which Oliver apologized--and then did so again in a letter--he still remains under contract with the grocery chain.

Sainsbury's seems to be coming out a winner as well. Following the airing of Oliver's program, the grocer went on a PR offensive. It ran full-page advertisements in Britain's major daily newspapers touting its positive animal rights positions. Sainsbury's also sent letters to all of its loyalty card members touting the same message. And of course, King announced the chain's decision to stop selling intensively-farmed chickens last week on a popular London radio show.

Now, this week, as the dust settles, Sainsbury's finds itself selling 50% more free-range, organic and RSCPA-approved birds than it was selling before Oliver's documentary. It also says sales of battery-farmed chickens haven't dropped, and actually have increased slightly.

It appears no harm has been done to Sainsbury's business over the fowl flap with Oliver. In fact, the opposite seems to have happened from a sales standpoint.

It also appears Oliver has had his desired effect. In fact, he's had double the desired effect: not only has he dramatically increased awareness of the factory poultry farming issue, he seems to have gotten his employer, Sainsbury's, to join Waitrose and Marks & Spencer as grocer's who won't sell the intensively-farmed birds any longer as well. It will be hard for Sainsbury's not to do so, since King announced the grocery chain would on a popular network radio show that has a couple million listeners.

Oliver still remains the TV pitchman for Sainsbury's. He hasn't resigned, nor has the grocer made any move to fire him. In fact, doing so would likely result in lots bad press for Sainsbury's at this point in time.

So, if we were keeping score, which we aren't of course, at this point in time we would have to call it a 10 for chef Oliver and a 10 for Sainsbury's. (That's a 10 on a 1-to-10 point scale by the way.)

Further, it seems the big winner in this fowl flap is the anti-intensive chicken farming movement itself, led by the RSPCA organization. They've received much publicity, obtained a commitment from Sainsbury's to stop selling the battery birds, and likely will soon see Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and other British grocers follow the three chains in a policy of no longer selling the intensively-farmed birds in their stores.

Already, with just Marks & Spencer and Waitrose no longer selling the chickens, there's been an increased demand for RSPCA-approved birds in Britain. That demand will grow once Sainsbury's joins the other two grocery chains. Should Tesco, Britain's number one supermarket retailer with about 32% of the nation's total food dollar market share, stop selling battery-raised chickens anytime soon, it would likely be enough to put an end to raising birds in that manner in the UK.

We believe this story is far from over. Stay tuned.