Federal rules a decade in the making are supported by both industry and consumers. The Trump administration froze them, anyway.
Most Americans these days want their eggs to come from happy chickens—documentaries revealing horrific conditions inside the machinery of industrial farming long ago penetrated the public consciousness. But figuring out which chickens are treated most humanely has always been a challenge, especially since big agriculture realized how using a few magic words can mean piles of money.
What makes cage-free different from organic? What makes organic different from grass-fed? Free range different from pasture-raised? No one really knows for sure, and that’s the problem.
It’s a question the organic industry has been trying to answer for more than a decade, ever since it realized major egg suppliers with huge, crowded barns were interpreting existing rules loosely, selling eggs with the organic seal when the chickens who laid them, even if freed from their cages, had likely never seen the sky. Regulations require organic eggs come from hens raised with outdoor access—so some producers built little porches off large, feces-littered sheds in order to get the seal—and the higher prices that come with it.
Meanwhile, smaller producers that want consumers to know their chickens are trulyhappy keep adding labels, trying to differentiate themselves from the big guys. A carton of Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs comes with a USDA organic seal and a list of guarantees: That the hens are raised without antibiotics, hormones, synthetic pesticides, or genetically modified feed. All that is standard under the USDA’s organic seal. But these eggs are also labeled “Certified Humane” and “Free Range.” Those labels are third-party certified, but still somewhat nebulous to most consumers. They’re extra.