Small Mercy

News (BBC Radio 4) that the last battery hen has been freed uplifted briefly, a small mercy in a world of injustice. She will end her days as a hen should, free to roam, and live outside. Hens are still generally kept in cages, albeit larger ones with a few comforts. In many other European countries they are still kept in wire cages with no room to move, and die of exhaustion when they can lay no more. Of course one must not ignore the economic reasons for this. Many producers simply cannot afford to make the required changes, the amount they are paid for their eggs being insufficient to allow this.

Supermarkets and the 'consumer' are no doubt to blame for this, often preferring to import and buy cheaper eggs from elsewhere. Eggs are considered to be cheap, as are poultry, pork and many other kinds of produce. They should be valued more and we should be prepared to pay more for them, in the knowledge that the creatures we are asking to work for us or we are consuming can at least live with some comfort and dignity. I will never forget the look of despair and hopelessness in the eyes of pigs kept indoors in a battery style system with only concrete for a vista and hardly any room to move. I felt really ashamed. Pigs are happy creatures, and this shows when they are kept in plenty of space and the ability to go wild (rather like children) outdoors. I still like eating them, though, and perhaps all this concern for their welfare is only hypocrisy on my part.

In any case the moral is: find out how and where it is made and buy the best you can afford, preferably from a local producer.