Oregonians for Humane Farms

The corporate food system in America has come under intense pressure in recent years over its environmental and humanitarian standards—most recently when a pork producer in Iowa was filmed by undercover allegedly abusing its animals, as my colleague Alexandra Silver wrote about recently. Usually industrial producers and green groups are at each others' throats, fighting a battle that's as much a culture war as it is a dispute over how we should raise our food. There's rarely room for compromise.

U.S. egg farmers would give hens twice as much space as they now have under an agreement with an animal welfare group on Thursday that would be written into federal law and end years of state-by-state battles.

It would be the first federal law on treatment of animals on the farm, said the groups. At the moment, no legislation has been filed in Congress to enact the agreement.

There are 280 million hens laying table eggs. Egg farms produced 91.4 billion eggs worth $6.5 billion last year.

The Oregonian editorial board got it right the first time when it panned an egg industry "reform" measure, Oregon Senate Bill 805, as promising only "a few more inches of space for laying hens but only by the distant date of 2026" and observing it's "so crimped it's meaningless".

To read the full article, click here.

Watch out Senate President Peter Courtney: fellow animal lover U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer is weighing in on the ongoing and heated debate over egg-laying hens.

Blumenauer issued a statement today, declaring his support for a potential measure on the 2012 ballot that would give more than 200 square inches per bird by 2019. A bill pending in the Oregon Legislature would grant 116 square inches to each hen by 2026, which Blumenauer calls too little, too late.

The legislative battle over how much room to give caged hens may end up on the 2012 Oregon ballot.

A group called Oregonians for Humane Farms submitted paperwork today with the Secretary of State’s office, seeking to put the issue to voters next fall. The proposal would mandate 1-1/2 square feet of space per hen by 2019. Currently, chickens in Oregon get about 67 square inches apiece.

To read the full article, click here.