Un oeuf is not enough: France suffers major egg shortage

[FarCenter]

French cake manufacturers called for urgent help Thursday after several farms halted egg production for failing to implement EU poultry happiness rules, sending the price of eggs skyrocketing.

Shortages began after the European Union Welfare of Laying Hens Directive banned the use of battery cages from January 1, forcing an unspecified number of farms that did not apply the new rule to temporarily cease production.

France is now suffering a shortfall of 21 million eggs a week or 10 percent of overall production, the National Union of Egg Industries and Professionals (SNIPO) said in a statement.

As a result, egg prices shot up 75 percent between October last year and February, the statement said, with a potential knock-on effect on the cost of pastries, cakes and even sweet brioche bread.

http://www.france24.com/en/20120301-un-oeuf-not-enough-france-suffers-major-egg-shortage

[Auggie]

1. A law actually working. Maybe this will create more animal-friendly farms.

[izquierdista]

2. And better eggs

Chickens that have scratch food and greens in their diet lay much better eggs. Get them out of the battery cages and into a more natural setting, and sure, the production may be down 10%, but the flavor could double.

[Zalatix]

3. But that impinges on our absolute right to full-on egg production!

So what if we are cruel to animals or even if this endangers egg production in the future, we have to go full speed NOW!!

[dimbear]

4. That ancient joke goes on some more. A Scotsman explains how to get two eggs in France:

Order twa, and throw the third one away.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. They had 12 years to get ready for this

http://www.slowfood.com/international/food-for-thought/focus/125891/a-better-life-for-laying-hens/q=DC0580?-session=query_session:42F94249075a02D4D2PLC309C1D5

And it's not a particularly large change:

In their investigation into the matter, The Ecologist discovered that enriched cages in fact only grant around a postcard-sized extra space per bird – still not enough for them to fully extend their wings. “Most birds in ‘enriched’ cages will still spend a significant proportion of their time standing on sloping wire mesh floors with little room to move around”, reports The Ecologist, “and they will all still be denied fresh air and sunshine.” According to scientific research, the risk of cannibalism due to stress in enriched cages is also significantly high.

The change for the space to move per bird is from 550 sq. cm to 750 sq cm. - ie it's now about 11 inches by 11 inches.

[JVS]

7. It's more profitable to delay getting ready and then letting the price rise.

[jsmirman]

6. "EU poultry happiness rules"???!!!

Get bent.

My Lord, the rights they want for these chickens!

You mean it's not unspeakably cruel to confine a chicken to a space smaller than HALF of an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of white paper for the entirety of their short, miserable lives?

Whoever coined that phrase, which I see they've managed to spread to all the totally non-shit proof filters of every junk news outlet on both sides of the Atlantic should be forced to spend a day in a ratio-related style cage. Happiness? Asshole. Try a "not going completely fucking insane and then having to live every day until your last like that" form of UNHAPPINESS.

Let them choke on brioche.