A second media win today for the battery egg industry. I already blogged about this morning’s Washington Post article. This even more damaging USA Today article almost entirely sidesteps the issue of animal cruelty associated with battery cages, and quotes almost nobody except people with financial ties to the industry.
The piece even concludes with this quote from a large scale battery egg producer:
At Pearl Valley, Dave Thompson says happy hens, safe eggs and making a profit are possible, but it takes a lot of attention to detail and spending 12 hours a day, seven days a week in the barns. "I take good care of my birds and my wife, and I put every penny back into the farm."
Yes, Thompson really did compare the way he treats battery hens to the way he treats his wife. Assuming his wife is not currently locked in a tiny cage, and due to be sent to slaughter within the next year I believe this is the most outrageous comparison I’ve yet heard from an egg farmer.
Over the past year or so, USA Today has published some of America’s finest food safety reporting. But at this critical moment, they’ve published something that’s barely a hairsbreadth away in tone from a battery egg advertorial. Link.
