Concord Monitor, NH
03-27-06
'Designer' eggs go to colleges
Better conditions for chickens the goal
BY WARREN JOHNSTON
Valley News
A campaign for the humane treatment of animals is positively affecting the
bottom line of one niche New Hampshire farmer and putting healthier eggs on
the plates of students at Dartmouth College and the University of New
Hampshire.
The effort by the Humane Society of the United States is designed to pressure
large egg producers to change the practice of confining hens to small cages and
to allow layers to roam free and act "more like chickens."
Instead of seeking an all-out ban, the Humane Society is attempting to draw the
attention of large egg producers by getting college dining halls to serve eggs only
from cage-free hens and to persuade socially conscious grocery chains to stop
selling eggs from caged flocks.
The society's effort is starting to show signs of success, but the campaign's
impact on the overall egg industry probably will be incremental, agriculture
officials say.
Niche "designer" eggs, such as cage-free, free-range, pasture-raised, organic
and those with Omega 3 and vitamin E, also are gaining popularity because of a
growing public awareness of dietary health issues.
---ADVERTISEMENT--Because of high production costs and a retail price as much as $2 a dozen
above caged eggs, designer eggs largely appeal to a market of higher-income
consumers, New Hampshire Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Taylor said.
According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture study, there is evidence that more
affluent consumers will buy eggs and meat based on humane treatment of the
animals, but the biggest influence on the overall market is price.
Designer eggs currently have about a 5 percent share of the $3 billion U.S. egg
market, but in recent years, the largest U.S. producer of designer eggs, Eggland
Best Eggs, has seen dramatic increases in sales, according to Food Production
Daily, an online newsletter for the food processing and packaging industry.
Incredible egg
Long considered a pariah by healthy diet advocates, during the last decade the
egg has been vindicated by studies that have found it is not only to be safe to eat
but in some cases essential.
For example, a 2002 study by the American Council on Science and Health
found that consumption of up to one egg a day may have benefits beyond just
the nutritional value and had no detectable effect on heart disease risk in healthy
people. Harvard School of Public Health also found no significant link between
eggs and heart disease in healthy people.
A 2003 study by Harvard Medical School found evidence that teenage girls who
regularly consumed of eggs are less likely to develop breast cancer later in life.
The scientific vindication and increased popularity of low-carbohydrate diets
have turned egg sales around during the last 10 years, an Iowa State University
report says.
In addition, researchers at the University of Kansas found that putting healthful
additives in the hens' food could enhance the natural benefits of eating eggs, and
the designer egg was born.
Researchers found that adding flax, canola oil, fish oil or sea algae to the
chickens' feed would produce higher levels of Omega 3 in the eggs, says a report
from the Marketing Advisory Center at Southwest State University in Minnesota.
In addition to Omega 3, researchers also have found that feeding chickens
vitamin E, which has been linked to a reduced cancer risk and credited for
slowing the aging process, will increase vitamin E in the eggs.
Scientists at the University of Florida, too, found that feeding hens diets higher in
vegetable protein, fiber and vitamin E lowered the bad cholesterol in eggs by 25
percent.
All in a name
There are two sides to the argument of caging laying hens.
"Caging birds has benefits for the birds, consumers and producers," a study by
the University of Florida says.
"The separation of birds from their feces is advantageous in reducing the risk of
disease and parasitic infections. Eggs are laid on the sloping floor of the cage so
... that decreases the possibility of bacterial disease."
However, the welfare of the animals is still being debated, the study says, noting
that niche markets are developing to meet the needs of consumers who do not
want to buy eggs from caged birds.
It's important to note, "cage free" doesn't mean that the birds are raised
outdoors. Typically, the hens are maintained on the floor of a poultry house,
which results in higher production costs, and cage-free eggs can be twice the
price of eggs from caged birds, the study says.
Monroe, N.H.-based Pete and Gerry's Organics LLC, which is the largest
producer of cage-free eggs in New England, keeps its 150,000 hens inside most
of the time, Chief of Operations Jesse Laflamme said.
"We're primarily concerned about disease and predators, and we're right on the
Connecticut River and the flyway. That's another concern for disease," Laflamme
said.
Free-range eggs are produced from hens that graze and roam outdoors,
although to meet USDA requirements, there is no set time that they have to be
outdoors. They just have to have the ability to go outdoors. They can choose not
to.
There also are pasture-raised birds. They stay in a pasture all the time in a
portable pen that is moved daily.
To be certified organic, birds must be fed certified organic feed and no synthetic
pesticides can be used to control pests. Typically, as with Pete and Gerry's,
organic eggs are produced in a cage-free environment.
Showing results
The Humane Society's campaign is beginning to show results. Companies such
as Whole Foods, Wild Oats Natural Market Place, Jimbo's Naturally and Earth
Fare, have eliminated eggs from caged hens from their shelves. Trader Joe's
also has converted all its brand-named eggs to cage-free, said Paul Shapiro,
who is the society's factory farming campaign manager.
Tomorrow, Dartmouth will become one of 80 colleges and universities serving
only cage-free eggs in their dining halls.
The move, which was prompted by the society's campaign, will cost the school
more for shelled eggs, but the value of meeting social obligations, buying from
local farmers and serving a better-tasting egg, makes the change worthwhile,
Dartmouth Dining Services Director Tucker Rossiter said.
Dartmouth announced last year that the dining services would begin purchasing
products from local farmers, and the switch to buying cage-free eggs from Pete
and Gerry's fits that goal, Rossiter said.
Although there was not student pressure to serve cage-free eggs, Rossiter said,
trends spread quickly on the Dartmouth campus, and it was a positive step to
make the switch now.
In Vermont and New Hampshire, only Dartmouth, UNH and Phillips Exeter
Academy have committed to make the switch to cage-free eggs.
In New England, eight other schools, including Yale and Tufts universities and
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have changed to cage-free eggs.
The three New Hampshire schools serve about 600,000 eggs a year, which is
only about .4 percent of Pete and Gerry's 1.68 billion annual egg production, but
it is welcome business, and it shows a growing awareness of the need for
humane farming practices, Laflamme said.
"We're really excited about being able to supply Dartmouth. I think it's quite a
statement for them to make this move. They're going to pay more, but they're
getting a better tasting, Omega 3 egg, and it's the right thing to do," Laflamme
said.
Rossiter said he was unsure of the exact increase in cost for serving cage-free
eggs, but he guessed that it was about 4 cents an egg. "It will have a small
impact" on the dining services' budget.
Dartmouth Dining Services oversees the food service for all of Dartmouth,
except for the Hanover Inn. The college service serves 13,000 meals a day from
7 a.m. to 2 a.m., Rossiter said, noting that a meal could be only a cup of coffee
and a bagel. "If you come through the door, we count you."
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center is a separate dining operation and hasn't
moved to cage-free eggs because of health concerns, spokeswoman Deborah G.
Kimbell said.
The medical center uses only liquid pasteurized eggs and is careful to make
sure that they are well cooked, she said.
Rossiter said he's spoken to the Hanover Inn about making the switch to cagefree eggs, and the move is under consideration.
Full circle
Forty years ago, it was pretty easy and inexpensive to buy eggs in the Upper
Valley from cage-free hens. There were plenty of backyard hen houses and small
egg farms and roadside stands were abundant.
"Everybody raised chickens, and they were all free-range," Taylor said.
Then, agriculture schools and extension services came up with a more efficient
way to produce eggs - battery cages - and farmers took the laying hens off the
floor and put them in cages a bit smaller than a standard sheet of paper. They
stacked the cages and put more hens - 10 times the number - in the same hen
house. They turned lights on in the houses at night to fool the birds and increase
production. They trimmed their beaks to reduce food consumption.
"It's a very efficient, productive way to get eggs, but I wouldn't want to be a
chicken," Taylor said.
New Hampshire and Vermont farmers who made the switch did well for a few
years, then the industrialized farms took over. Area farms couldn't compete with
operations that had a million or more hens. Those that survived, such as Pete
and Gerry's, found a niche.
During the late 1960s, Pete and Gerry's followed the industry shift and put in
cages, but the farm found it harder and harder to compete with the big
operations, Laflamme said.
"That's when (Jesse's Laflamme's uncle, Pete Stanton, and his father, Gerry
Laflamme,) decided that if we were going to keep going, we needed to change.
We had no other option. We could either get out of the business or find a niche.
"We ripped out the cages and put in nests. We let chickens be chickens," Jesse
Laflamme said.
Since then, the business has grown steadily and expanded into six new barns.
The farm, which is certified organic and humane, has about 150,000 hens. The
eggs are marketed throughout New England and the Mid-Atlantic states under
the names of Pete and Gerry's Organic Cage Free Eggs and Nellie's Nest Cage
Free Eggs, said Laflamme, who is the fourth generation of the family to run the
farm, which started in late 1800s.
Not only are the hens given vegetarian feed and receive no medications or
pesticides, Pete and Gerry's also tries to give some recognition to the hens for
their hard work, Laflamme said.
Much like a famous Vermont ice cream company's flavor of the month, Pete and
Gerry's egg cartons feature a monthly chicken. For March, Edna is the farm's
official spokes-chicken.
"Chickens are pretty funny. They all have a personality. They have strong basic
instincts to socialize, and when they're in a cage, they can't be themselves,"
Laflamme said.
"They don't ask much. They're just happy to act like chickens, and we let them
do that."