Trader Joe’s, one of the nation’s most popular grocery chains, announced its commitment to improving animal welfare in its U.S. supply chain by switching to 100 percent cage-free eggs.
Trader Joe’s says this transition will take place by 2020 in California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado and nationally by 2025. While cage-free doesn’t mean cruelty-free, this move will spare countless hens a life of suffering in tiny wire battery cages and hopefully inspire other food companies to adopt similar policies.
Stuffed into cages so small the birds can’t walk, spread their wings, or engage in other natural behaviors, hens on egg factory farms are subjected to unspeakable cruelty and neglect. Each bird has less floor space than the size of a sheet of notebook paper.
The new cage-free commitment by Trader Joe’s follows similar announcements by grocers Costco, Target, and BJ’s Wholesale Club, and nearly 100 restaurants, food manufacturers, and foodservice companies.
Animal Ethics Project 