Did CCSC fowl up my great eggspectations or did they rise above the coup?
Be it resolved: no more inhumane eggs in John Jay. While the council tabled discussion on other socially conscious dining issues, the campaign for cage-free fowl in Columbia took a major step forward now that the official representative body of the college decided that no $8-10 dollar increase in discretionary meal plans should stop John Jay, Wien, Ferris and others from upholding their moral obligation to protect hens across the world.
Stay tuned for a report from Senior Executive Vice President Robert Kasdin on M-ville next week.
– JJV
Full text of the resolution after the jump.
Certified Humane Cage-Free Eggs Resolution
Whereas, the Columbia College Student Council acknowledges the need to promote humane and socially conscious policies whenever possible,
Whereas, eggs currently sold in Columbia Dining services establishments come from factory farmed hens forced to live in overcrowded, poorly lit, barren cages no more than 16 inches wide, meaning that in her entire life a hen is not able to even spread her wings (1),
Whereas, due to such tight confinement, the hens are constantly rubbing against these wires and are often featherless and covered with bruises and abrasions,
Whereas, most hens in these conditions suffer calcium depletion and cannot be used to produce eggs for more than a year; after which, they are sent to the slaughterhouse to produce low-grade chicken products since their meat quality is so poor,
Whereas, our distributor, Sysco, has cage-free systems that meet Certified Humane (2) standards—the most stringent available—in which hens are able to walk and spread their wings, are provided perches and pools in which to dust bathe, and are provided regular health inspections thereby significantly improving their quality of life,
Whereas, several European countries have entirely banned the use of battery cages and the European Union plans to phase out cage-produced eggs by 2012 due to animal welfare (3),
Whereas, more than 150 colleges and universities have switched completely or partially to the use of cage-free eggs, which has reduced the suffering of tens of thousands of hens (4),
Whereas, the student council understands this to be an opportunity to extend the University’s commitment to social responsibility by supporting and encouraging the growing market for humanely produced eggs,
Be it resolved, that the Columbia College Student Council calls for Dining Services to order cage-free eggs from its suppliers for all on-campus dining establishments.
Authors,
Alidad Damooei Sara Partridge
Vice President of Policy Class Representative
CCSC Class of 2011
1 FactoryFarming.com: Factory Egg Production. Access Farm Sanctuary Research Report, “The Welfare of Hens in Battery Cages”
http://www.factoryfarming.com/eggs.htm (20 October 2007).
2 Compassion Action for Animals. FAQ About Cage Free Eggs. http://www.exploreveg.org/feat/cagefree/cage-free-faqs (21 October 2007).
3 The Humane Society of the United States, ‘No Battery Eggs’ Campaign Exposes the Hard-Boiled Truth about Laying Hens.
http://www.hsus.org/farm/camp/nbe/ (21 October 2007).
4 The Humane Society of the United States, Cage-Free Egg Production vs. Battery-Cage Egg Production. http://www.hsus.org/farm/camp/nbe/ (21 October 2007).
16 Comments
@umm... the change is in upperclassmen meal and not across the board because freshman meals are capped by how much they can increase by. they can not increase by anymore than inflation.
@wait, wait #7 was on to something. Why don’t we get athletes to pay for the eggs? We could have some sort of scheme where if their record is, let’s be generous, better than the worst in the goddam league, they wouldn’t have to pay!!
@sigh nooses, islamofascism, expansion, student activities budgets cut….and THIS….*this* is the priority for the CCSC? There’s the real world, and then there’s the imaginary fantasy world of the CCSC.
Grass is greener, guys. Grass is greener.
@sigh Whoever you are, the geometer schtick is getting a bit old now.
Also, who the fuck has an upperclass meal plan? If that were the funding source, it would be like asking only athletes to pay for the eggs, since they and RAs (who eat for free) are the only people I know who still have JJ meals. And one would have to be pretty fucking dumb to accept a more expensive meal “plan” of dining dollars when those can be had on ssol.
@hahahaha No, it will clearly never get old. I almost fell out of my chair.
@yay for geometer (and his evil arch nemesis non-euclidean!) he/she may not be a lolcait, but i dig it.
@Nope RAs don’t get free meals. They don’t get shit.
@RAA yeah, they do. 3 John Jay meals per week. I mean, nothing to write home about, but it’s something.
@NON-EUCLIDEAN INDEED IT IS I.
YET YOU HAVE IT WRONG GEOMETER; TO CALL ME SHAPE-HATING IS HYPERBOLE, I MERELY DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE PARALLEL POSTULATE.
@THE GEOMETER SOMEONE HAS DESTROYED THE EGG’S PERFECT ELLIPTICAL SHAPE. HIGHLY DISPLEASING.
@THE GEOMETER IMPOSTOR, I SEE THROUGH YOUR PATHETIC ATTEMPT TO GRASP THE TRUE NOTION OF SHAPE.
IS THAT YOU, NON-EUCLIDEAN?
MY MOST EVIL SHAPE-HATING ARCH-NEMESIS, HAVE YOU COME TO BISECT ME?
@Haha! CCSC has to invoke the “European Union” in a resolution about eggs? Do they realize how stupid they sound? That’s not to say that I don’t admire this humanitarian gesture for what it’s worth. But it comes off in such an idiotic, self-important tone…
@well “But it comes off in such an idiotic, self-important tone…”
idiotic self-importance has been the M.O. of CCSC since time immemorial.
@and it's because they are important; more important than you’ll ever be.
@LOL silly hippies. fuck chickens. god gave us the earth to rape and pillage. christ. don’t any of you do your fucking lit hum readings?
@dhfgjgfjh bwog, you realize that a ccsc resolution doesn’t make it so. this is a policy dining would have to take up. also the resolution doesn’t actually mention how to fund the change in the text and i’m suspicious of the claim that an increase of a few dollars in upper class meal plans will be enough. further, why impose the charge only on upperclass meal plans? that’s hardly fair; the increase should be across the board if this is to pass.