metro board wants you to switch to organic eggs from free-range hens
Author:
Frank Luba
Publication:
The Province
Publication Date:
March 1, 2009
It's no yolk -- Metro Vancouver wants you to consider using organic eggs from free-range chickens.
The regional government doesn't have the authority to ban battery-cage egg production, in which chickens live their lives in cages producing eggs. Neither can it stop the sale of such eggs.
But the board passed a motion Friday asking consumers, retailers, restaurants and producers to consider using the cage-free alternative. Metro has a restaurant in its Burnaby headquarters and has asked its caterer to switch to cage-free range eggs.
The caterer has agreed and will absorb the 15-cent-per-egg difference between cage-free and battery-cage eggs.
The issue was brought by the Vancouver Humane Society to Metro's agriculture committee, which passed it onto the Metro board for consideration.
"We're just putting the story out there to alert people," said Metro board chairwoman Lois Jackson. "Make sure you know what you're eating. Make sure you know where it's from."
Meanwhile, Vancouver council is to consider a bylaw change that would allow residents to keep chickens in their backyards.
