Magnificent Cage-Free Chicken Eggs

I once read that sardine manufacturers pay more for
the olive oil used to marinate fish than for the
tightly packed bodies filling those cans. Therefore,
the more fish they squeeze into a can, the greater
is their profit. Packed like sardines, goes the saying.

Many years ago, I attended the opening night performance
of a Bette Midler appearance at the Copacabana in New
York City. Lisa and I were packed in like sardines when
we were seated at a table for eight which held 12 people.
The only thing making that experience worthwhile was that
the sardine sitting to my left was Diana Ross. To Lisa's
left was Diana's date and future husband. Nearby sat Mayor
Ed Koch and his date, Bess Myerson.

Each year, I watch the New Year's Eve Times Square
celebration on television. So many people. A million,
perhaps? To be in that elbow-to-elbow mass of humanity
would represent hell on earth for me.

This morning, I opened the New York Times and saw the
page-1 story:

Suddenly, The Hunt Is On for Cage-Free Eggs
by Kim Severson

Ben and Jerry's uses them. So does Wolfgang Puck. Wholesalers
seem willing to pay an extra 60 cents per dozen to purchase
eggs from compassionately raised chickens. The cost to build
a cage-free facility is $30 per bird, compared to $8 per
bird in the case of traditional facilities.

I read the article with interest, then turned back to page
one to view the accompanying photograph.

There seems to be more room for a sardine filet resting
in a can with her brothers and sisters than there is in a
cage-free barn. The mass of fowlinity (chicken version
of humanity) was so thickly packed, that I could not make
out even one wing.

Could it be that cage-free barns are less compassionate to
these gentle and intelligent birds than the cages they
replaced?

Consider the horror of the life chickens live. That front
page photograph was worth more than all of the words in the
accompanying story.

For more information of a chicken's life on the farm:

http://www.upc-online.org

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com