Greens ask for good eggs for Easter

3rd March 2008

The Green Party has called for the Council and the catering companies they use to switch to 'Good Eggs' this Easter in a motion to Council on Wednesday (Mar 5th). The motion will ask Council officers to report on the financial and supply implications of switching to eggs and egg products sourced from cage-free providers. A similar move is being considered by Bolton Council after LibDem councillor Richard Silvester called for a ban on battery eggs in schools and at functions.

Cllr Bernard Little said, "Free range eggs taste nicer and are better for
hens too. Many people will have seen the TV programmes on how chickens are farmed with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver. They showed that caged hens are subject to physical injuries such as bone fractures and frustrated natural behaviour that can result in cannibalism.

"The 'Good Egg' campaign of Compassion In World Farming has already got the House of Commons, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, MacDonalds, and Weatherspoons on board. The council can show a real lead in switching over to cage free eggs. Around Easter we have eggs and chicks everywhere; I'd like to think we are doing right by the real thing the rest of the year. This report will just be a first step towards ensuring hens have better lives and eggs are laid in humane conditions."

Green Parish Councillor for Stocksbridge Dan Lyons added,"The evidence clearly shows hens confined in battery cages suffer intensely.Such extreme cruelty has no place in a civilized society."

ENDS

Contact; Kathy Aston, 222 1795 (W), 231 1548 (H)
Motion to support 'Good Eggs' for Easter

That this Council:

a) Notes the recent 'Chicken Out' campaign by chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver's Fowl Dinners, where inhumane practices
in the production of chicken and egg products using battery farming were
highlighted;

b) Further notes the "Good Egg" campaign of Compassion In World Farming, where businesses and organisations including the House of Commons, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, MacDonalds, and Weatherspoons have committed to phasing out eggs from battery farmed hens;

c) Believes that the welfare of egg-laying hens can only be met through the
use of cage-free systems such as organic, free-range, or barn;

d) Therefore asks Council officers to produce a report detailing the
financial and supply implications of:

i) the Council's in-house Catering services purchasing eggs, or products
with egg ingredients, from cage-free providers where available;

ii) providers of catering services to Sheffield Council, for example Taylor
Woodrow, being directed to source eggs, or products with egg ingredients,
from cage-free providers where available;

iii) providers of school meals, including Scholarest, being required to
source eggs, or products with egg ingredients, from cage-free providers where available;

e) also asks officers to clarify where providers of meals on wheels such as
Wiltshire Farm Foods, Women's Royal Voluntary Service, Oakhouse Foods, and
Park Care Meals source eggs, or products with egg ingredients, and whether they
would commit to sourcing from cage-free providers;

f) will work with organisations such as Compassion In World Farming and the RSPCA to find suitable suppliers should difficulties arise in the sourcing of cage-free eggs, or products with egg ingredients;

g) asks for the report to be brought back to Council for consideration in
three months time.