Most columnists use their editorial page perch to weigh in on the major issues of the day. That's nice. It's sort of like what bloggers do. But some columnists use their editorial page perch to challenge large audiences to consider the implications of more marginal topics that they won't hear about anywhere else. Nick Kristof is of the latter inclination, and today he continues his effort to push animal rights concerns into the mainstream. He begins, as I think he should, with the stunning passage of Proposition 2 in California -- a ballot initiative that "will ban factory farms from keeping calves, pregnant hogs or egg-laying hens in tiny pens or cages in which they can’t stretch out or turn around." What's interesting about Proposition 2 is not that it got on the ballot or even that it passed. It's that it passed by one of the largest margins in California history. The implication of the victory was pretty profound: There's plenty of passive acceptance of animal cruelty, but when actually asked to make an explicit decision on the most awful practices, there's considerable electoral support for regulations protecting animals.On a related note, last January, I had some sport with the USDA's decision to allow producers to slap a USDA-certified "naturally-raised" label on meat products from animals that "have been raised entirely without growth promotants, antibiotics (except for ionophores used as coccidiostats for parasite control), and have never been fed animal by-products." That's exactly what I think of when I think of natural! Right down to the coccidiostats!Subsequently, I came across the Humane Farm Animal Care certification on some eggs in my local Harris-Teeter. The Humane Farm certification is given to products from farms that ensure a "nutritious diet without antibiotics, or hormones, animals raised with shelter, resting areas, sufficient space and the ability to engage in natural behaviors." More information here. They're careful to say that "humane" is not the same thing as "cage free" or "organic," terms that I think have gotten mixed up with humane practices in the consumers mind. Moreover, the more of a market there is for these products, the cheaper they'll become, which will in turn grow the market, which will again make the products cheaper, and so forth. You've seen this with organics (though there've also been considerable efforts to cut corners).Plus, the eggs I buy featuring that logo have been pretty damn good. NICK KRISTOF CARES ABOUT CHICKENS.
Most columnists use their editorial page perch to weigh in on the major issues of the day. That's nice. It's sort of like what bloggers do. But some columnists use their editorial page perch to challenge large audiences to consider the implications of more marginal topics that they won't hear about anywhere else. Nick Kristof is of the latter inclination, and today he continues his effort to push animal rights concerns into the mainstream. He begins, as I think he should, with the stunning passage of Proposition 2 in California -- a ballot initiative that "will ban factory farms from keeping calves, pregnant hogs or egg-laying hens in tiny pens or cages in which they can’t stretch out or turn around." What's interesting about Proposition 2 is not that it got on the ballot or even that it passed. It's that it passed by one of the largest margins in California history. The implication of the victory was pretty profound: There's plenty of passive acceptance of animal cruelty, but when actually asked to make an explicit decision on the most awful practices, there's considerable electoral support for regulations protecting animals.On a related note, last January, I had some sport with the USDA's decision to allow producers to slap a USDA-certified "naturally-raised" label on meat products from animals that "have been raised entirely without growth promotants, antibiotics (except for ionophores used as coccidiostats for parasite control), and have never been fed animal by-products." That's exactly what I think of when I think of natural! Right down to the coccidiostats!Subsequently, I came across the Humane Farm Animal Care certification on some eggs in my local Harris-Teeter. The Humane Farm certification is given to products from farms that ensure a "nutritious diet without antibiotics, or hormones, animals raised with shelter, resting areas, sufficient space and the ability to engage in natural behaviors." More information here. They're careful to say that "humane" is not the same thing as "cage free" or "organic," terms that I think have gotten mixed up with humane practices in the consumers mind. Moreover, the more of a market there is for these products, the cheaper they'll become, which will in turn grow the market, which will again make the products cheaper, and so forth. You've seen this with organics (though there've also been considerable efforts to cut corners).Plus, the eggs I buy featuring that logo have been pretty damn good. 
