McDonald’s Board Opposes Cage-Free Eggs
This bit of news just flashed across my phone via and at the New York Times:
The board of directors of has recommended that the company’s shareholders vote against a proposal to require that 5 percent of the eggs purchased for the chain’s restaurants in the United States be the cage-free variety.
The proposal was advanced by .
Some major fast food companies, including Burger King, Subway and Wendy’s, and the retailers Wal-Mart and Trader Joe’s, have already made some level of commitment to purchasing or selling cage-free eggs.
But the McDonald’s board said on Friday that the science was not there to support a switch.
“As we have examined this issue over the years, we have determined that there is no agreement in the global scientific community about how to balance the advantages and disadvantages of laying hen housing systems,” it said in .
I must say that while I’m not entirely suprised, I am disappointed that McDonald’s has consistently refused to acknowledge what other corporate giants (Wal-Mart, Subway, etc.) have already come to realize – that battery eggs are just plain wrong, and that the American consumer won’t stand for them anymore. Hopefully this announcement will garner enough negative press to make the McDonald’s Board reconsider, but I honestly doubt that will be the case.
From my understanding, the other big boys were responding to consumer demand. Is anyone who eats at McDonalds really the kind of consumer who’s going to demand cage free eggs? Given the fact that their whole system is built on the horrors of Big Ag, I’m not holding my breath here.