Caged and Traumatized: A Closer Look at the Egg Industry

For years, my favorite Sunday morning breakfast was scrambled eggs. Once I learned about what was going on in the egg industry that breakfast lost its innocence, and I found egg alternatives. Do you know where your eggs come from?

In the United States today, close to 300 million hens are suffering inside tiny ” title=”http://www.unitedegg.org/” target=”_blank”>United Egg Producers, uniquely joined with the ” title=”http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/08/business/egg-producers-and-humane-society-urging-federal-standard-on-hen-cages.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1334516520-RsEPZZckiBkyWGbhTlTHmA” target=”_blank”>call for better federal standards on hen cages. The improvements would require hens be given a little bit more space (up to 144 square inches each). However this bill (” title=”http://www.hfa.org/pr012412.html” target=”_blank”>rotten egg bill” and argue that we need more.

Dr. Jana Kohl, a Founding Member & the Chief Executive Advisor of ” title=”http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8370301/Chickens-are-capable-of-feeling-empathy-scientists-believe.html” target=”_blank”>scientists revealed that hens have a very unique capacity for empathy as well. This is a fact the Torah has acknowledged for thousands of years. The Torah has a very special mitzvah to preserve the dignity of hens called shiluach ha’ken (Deuteronomy 22:6). On the technical level of this mitzvah, one is commanded to send away the mother bird before taking eggs. The broader value of ensuring compassion for all animals requires that the hens must be provided cage-less free-range treatment, with respect shown for their emotional experience. 

The laws of kashrut allow for the consumption of regular eggs purchased in any food store without any kosher supervision but today we must transcend the letter of the law to ensure we are on the forefront of creating a more just world. No egg, produced in today’s horrific industry, is fit for consumption.

” title=”http://shamayimvaretz.org/” target=”_blank”>The Shamayim V’Aretz Institute, the new Jewish vegan movement and the Founder & President of ” title=”http://www.amazon.com/Jewish-Ethics-Social-Justice-Yanklowitz/dp/1935104144/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320275675&sr=1-1″ target=”_blank”>Jewish Ethics & Social Justice: A Guide for the 21st Century” is now available on Amazon. In April 2012, Newsweek named Rav Shmuly one of the