McDonald's switch to cage-freeeggs has companies scrambling

Third-generation farmer Frank Hilliker checks on his 8,000 Leghorn chickens in a cage-free aviary system

barn at Hilliker's Ranch Fresh Eggs, a family business since 1942, in Lakeview, California, Dec. 19, 2014.

Photo: Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Will the next egg you eat come from a chicken raised in a roomier barn?

Foodies and farmers say it probably will pretty soon.

Both say McDonald’s recent decision to switch to “cage-free” eggs will change

the $9 billion egg industry. Right now, egg companies still produce 96 percent

of eggs in barns full of stacked wire cages.

McDonald's buys 2 billion eggs a year, which makes it hard to ignore. Many

other companies have also made a similar switch. Burger King, Dunkin’ Donuts

and Starbucks are just three.

By Los Angeles Times, adapted by Newsela staff on 10.22.15

Word Count 837

Laws Require More Space For Hens

California passed a law requiring more space for egg-laying hens in 2008. Since

then, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Michigan and Ohio have passed laws

regulating hen housing.

“The McDonald’s announcement really settles the debate as to whether there

will be a future for cage confinement in the egg industry — the answer is no,

there won’t be,” said Paul Shapiro. He is vice president of farm animal protection

for the Humane Society of the U.S. “How quickly that will happen is now the real

question.”

Ken Klippen, head of the National Association of Egg Farmers, agrees. He isn’t

exactly applauding the McDonald’s decision, though. He wrote the company,

challenging the idea that it’s more humane to give chickens more room. He also

said that more manure may come into contact with eggs laid by hens that have

access to floors.

“I agree,” Klippen said. McDonald's decision changes things. Some egg

farmers do not agree that the decision was a good one, he said.

Producers Already Expanding Enclosures

Glenn Hickman isn’t waiting to debate the merits. The Arizona egg producer

responded to the announcement with plans to build a modern, 2-million-hen

facility. Hickman, like other West-Coast producers already selling eggs in

California, has been moving toward roomier enclosures since Proposition 2

passed in 2008.

California’s Proposition 2, which took full effect in January, does not say exactly

how big the enclosure has to be. It requires that hens have the ability to turn

around freely. They have to be able to lie down, stand up and fully extend their

limbs. California has since issued a rule requiring about 116 square inches per

bird.

A 2010 law expanded Proposition 2 to apply to all eggs sold in the state.

California consumes roughly twice as many eggs as it produces. Californians

buy much of their eggs from farms in other states.

Chickens Stacked In Old Wire Cages

Before the law passed, Hickman housed several million chickens in stacked

wire enclosures. They are known as battery cages. These cages leave each bird

with less space than a sheet of photocopy paper, or a little more than 90 square

inches.

By December, 4 million of his projected 10 million laying hens will live in more

spacious “enriched” enclosures. Such larger spaces offer perches, scratch

areas and private areas to lay eggs.

“When it comes to harvesting an egg, whether the chicken can fly up or down or

scratch or perch really doesn’t upset the production of the egg,” Hickman said.

“As long as we can convince the consumer that those things cost a little bit

extra, but they’re worth it" and eggs can be sold for a profit, farmers are "happy

to do so.”

Big egg producers in the Midwest also have shifted production. Rose Acre

Farms in Indiana has about 25 million hens. It has committed to putting larger

spaces in any new barns.

Prices Go Up In California

The shift has driven up costs. The amount supermarkets pay for eggs — the

wholesale price — has widened in California and other states, according to the

U.S. Department of Agriculture. The gap between California and New York, for

example, rose to $1 a dozen in January. The difference was 12 cents in October

2014.

This week, the average wholesale price for a dozen white, large eggs was

around $2.40 in California, up by $1.26 from this time last year, according to the

USDA. The nationwide average was $1.78, up about 82 cents from the same

period last year.

Much of the recent price increase has been attributed to outbreaks of bird flu

this spring. The disease which wiped out more than 42 million laying hens in the

U.S. Midwest.

Egg producers have warned of price shocks due to the cage-free craze. San

Diego egg farmer Frank Hilliker, for example, said he lost several customers

after he made the switch. One was a grocer who bought about $4,000 worth of

eggs each week.

Klippen said the egg industry will fight efforts to extend cage-free regulations.

He said McDonald’s bowed to “a small group of consumers, who are sort of the

animal activists.”

But neither Hickman nor Hilliker is turning back any time soon.

“It’s been a challenge going cage-free, but it’s reinvigorated me, as a farmer,”

Hilliker said. When he goes into his barns on a given morning, Hilliker said, “I’ll

look, and say, oh my God, I can’t believe I did this — and survived. And I’m

building the next one.”

Quiz

1 Which two of these sentences provide the BEST evidence against the decision by

McDonald's?

1. McDonald's buys 2 billion eggs a year, which makes it

hard to ignore.2. He also said that more manure may come into contact

with eggs laid by hens that have access to floors. 3. The gap between California and New York, for example,

rose to $1 a dozen in January. 4. “It’s been a challenge going cage-free, but it’s

reinvigorated me, as a farmer,” Hilliker said.

(A) 1 and 2

(B) 2 and 3

(C) 3 and 4

(D) 1 and 4

2 Which paragraph in the section "Chickens Stacked In Old Wire Cages" does NOT

show egg farmers adapting to the standards that McDonald's now supports?

3 Which answer choice BEST describes how the article develops its central ideas?

(A) It begins with the cost of switching to cage-free egg farming,

discusses opposition to laws like California's Proposition 2 in other

states, and describes conditions of egg-laying hens.

(B) It begins with the decision by McDonald's, raises questions about

the costs and benefits of the change, and explains how some

farmers are adjusting to it.

(C) It begins with the McDonald's decision, discusses opinions about

California's Proposition 2, and shows how egg farmers are making

changes.

(D) It begins with the conditions of egg-laying hens, analyzes the

debate about McDonald's, and raises the issue of avian flu.

4 Which sentence from the section "Producers Already Expanding Enclosures" would

be MOST important to include in a summary of the article?

(A) Hickman, like other West-Coast producers already selling eggs in

California, has been moving toward roomier enclosures since

Proposition 2 passed in 2008.

(B) California’s Proposition 2, which took full effect in January, does not

say exactly how big the enclosure has to be.

(C) California has since issued a rule requiring about 116 square

inches per bird.

(D) California consumes roughly twice as many eggs as it produces.

Answer Key

1 Which two of these sentences provide the BEST evidence against the decision by

McDonald's?

1. McDonald's buys 2 billion eggs a year, which makes it

hard to ignore.2. He also said that more manure may come into contact

with eggs laid by hens that have access to floors. 3. The gap between California and New York, for example,

rose to $1 a dozen in January. 4. “It’s been a challenge going cage-free, but it’s

reinvigorated me, as a farmer,” Hilliker said.

(A) 1 and 2

(B) 2 and 3

(C) 3 and 4

(D) 1 and 4

2 Which paragraph in the section "Chickens Stacked In Old Wire Cages" does NOT

show egg farmers adapting to the standards that McDonald's now supports?

Paragraph 11:

Before the law passed, Hickman housed several million chickens in

stacked wire enclosures. They are known as battery cages. These

cages leave each bird with less space than a sheet of photocopy

paper, or a little more than 90 square inches.

3 Which answer choice BEST describes how the article develops its central ideas?

(A) It begins with the cost of switching to cage-free egg farming,

discusses opposition to laws like California's Proposition 2 in other

states, and describes conditions of egg-laying hens.

(B) It begins with the decision by McDonald's, raises questions about

the costs and benefits of the change, and explains how some

farmers are adjusting to it.

(C) It begins with the McDonald's decision, discusses opinions

about California's Proposition 2, and shows how egg farmers

are making changes.

(D) It begins with the conditions of egg-laying hens, analyzes the

debate about McDonald's, and raises the issue of avian flu.

4 Which sentence from the section "Producers Already Expanding Enclosures" would

be MOST important to include in a summary of the article?

(A) Hickman, like other West-Coast producers already selling eggs

in California, has been moving toward roomier enclosures

since Proposition 2 passed in 2008.

(B) California’s Proposition 2, which took full effect in January, does not

say exactly how big the enclosure has to be.

(C) California has since issued a rule requiring about 116 square

inches per bird.

(D) California consumes roughly twice as many eggs as it produces.