Animal welfare is an issue often overlooked by a vast majority of people. When consuming animal products, individuals often don’t realize the suffering and pain that results from the industry. As a society, it is important for us to understand the origins of the products we consume and to place economic pressure on companies that exhibit blatant disregard for animal suffering. Together, we have the ability to effect positive change in the industry by manipulating supply and demand, a process that has proven to be tremendously effective thus far. The recent policy shifts of the Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean Cruises are just two examples of the power consumers have to sway the policies of large corporations.
Carnival and Royal Caribbean, two of the largest cruise service providers in the world, have recently committed to switching over to 100-percent-cage-free eggs on all of their ships within the next decade. Royal Caribbean announced in December it would complete the transition by 2022, and Carnival followed suit a few weeks later, declaring a goal date of 2025.
Cage-free eggs stray from the standard methods employed by most industrial farms, in which battery cages are used for the purpose of efficiency. Chickens in cages are kept extremely close together with very little room to move. They cannot spread their wings, nor can they lay eggs in nests. In fact, the battery cages in which these chickens have to live the entirety of their short lives are often the size of a single piece of letter-sized paper. As a result of this intensive confinement, many chickens end up pecking and biting at one another in an effort to get more space.
Although chickens are still locked inside without being able to venture outdoors in cage-free farming, this method allows the animals to stretch their wings, make nests and dust-bathe. These small improvements provide chickens with much better lives. Unfortunately, cage-free egg farming is still inherently cruel, with chicks having the tip of their beaks burned off, male chicks being killed soon after hatching and other chickens being slaughtered at a very young age. Still, by encouraging companies to make the switch, millions of chickens in the future will have a much better quality of life than those that came before.
Carnival and Royal Caribbean are now part of a growing trend of large companies that have responded to public pressure by changing their policies. They’ve joined the ranks of companies including Subway, the Costco Wholesale Corporation and Dunkin’ Donuts that have recently announced timelines for switching over to cage-free eggs. The cruise companies are particularly relevant to residents of Florida because their headquarters are located in the state. The proximity they have to us as businesses allows us to exert more pressure, as it is ultimately the citizens and tourists in our state who utilize their services. As can be seen in this example, we can levy tremendous pressure on the other companies that source animal products from farms that use inhumane practices. The transition from battery-cage to cage-free eggs is a step in the right direction for the egg industry, but it isn’t the final step in the fight for animal rights.
As consumers, it is important to understand the influence we have in reforming industry practices, regardless of the social issue. The only way to force the hands of massive corporations is to make change financially necessary. By consuming products from businesses that are more aware of animal rights, we create a standard for all industries. And by applying continuous pressure on companies that maintain unethical policies, we can strive for progress in all industries. With consistent and organized pressure, we can persuade all companies to adopt this vital shift and ensure increased animal welfare.
Praveen Varanasi is the president of Vegan Eating for Gators and a campus coordinator for The Humane League.
