http://www.ivu.org/faq/definitions.html

Would you be able to bring this up in Dresden?

I understand the allowance for eggs and dairy products was inserted into the IVU website after the 1996 World Vegetarian Congress. Yet ethics, history, consistency, cultural inclusiveness, and environmental awareness all point the way to a definition that excludes the products of animal agribusiness.

I believe the term “vegetarian eggs” was actually first coined as a cynical swipe at vegetarians. Because of the “heat” the conventional egg industry was and is feeling from animal welfare groups, it’s a way to make a subtle dig. Worse yet, through the law of unintended consequences, it has been wildly successful for the reason stated above, and now others are using the term just to stay competitive. Here’s how it came about: Roughly 2% of conventional layer mash includes rendered animal fat. The animal fat is used to boost energy and thereby increase production. The only problem is that it brings with it the threat of illness being transmitted to the chicken and then to those who eat the egg. Many of us cage free egg producers began taking animal fat out of the diet and making the claim “No Animal Fat In Feed” back in the ninties. Then someone, I can’t remember who, started claiming these kind of eggs were produced from hens fed a “vegetarian” diet because there was no animal fat in the feed. Pretty lame and worse, deceptive. I don’t think that anyone who is vegetarian or vegan would describe a diet of 60% non-human grade feed corn and 40% non human grade soy bean would as a vegetarian diet. Those two together consitute 80 % of the feed mix for layer feed. The rest are supplemental grains like barley and then just supplements, vitamins that is.
Incredibly, some egg companies have used the term and still house the layer hens in cages.

You’re right to think that cage free production isn’t very pretty, but I would say that if it is certified under an ISO audited third party certifier like Humane Farm Animal Care, there are some marketed improvements in conditions. Such improvements would be increased space required per hen, natural light, perching and dust bathing areas, as well as the obvious benfit of being out of cages as long as they have adequate space. You can look up HFAC’s Certified Humane standards for egg layers on their website.

It’s worth the trouble.

And thank you, Lee. For further information on the history of vegetarianism and the word “vegan”.

Yes, the link to “Origins of the Vegetarians” (in the third paragraph of this article) is worth a look. It indicates that the early vegetarians did have what we’d call a vegan perspective. Some important community-based activism involves encouraging local vegetarian societies to align their by-laws (in the section that defines “vegetarian” with reference to the foods to be bought for or offered at events) with that perspective. (Many local vegetarian groups already do have a clear vegan policy written into their by-laws, and they should be thanked and encouraged for it.)

As you might know, the word “vegan” was taken from the first and last letters of “vegetarian” to signify that the vegan commitment takes vegetarianism to its logical conclusion. Vegan Society founder Donald Watson was a life member of the Vegetarian Society and was delighted to see international vegetarian conventions take the cue and serve completely vegan food. Chef Ken Bergeron of the North American Vegetarian Society’s annual Summerfest uses no animal products; meals throughout the five-day event (which draws some 600 attendees) are all vegan, nutritiously complete, and quite attractively presented.

And Doris, yes, it is jarring to see a specific group’s interest in spreading its animal-husbandry standards become so keen that a new market for animal products is lent encouragement so those standards can be applied. When animal-protection groups find symbiosis with the growth of animal agribusiness, it’s clear that the movement for animal rights is located elsewhere.

Animal rights represents a paradigm shift. Activists, educators, and journalists need to stop conflating the big-money animal-protection industry (which may and often does function as animal-use-protection) with animal rights. Dissident Voice is one of the very few publications making space for this message.

To my knowledge there is no way to search DV on a name and return only articles written by that person.

But, Good Grief, Charlie Brown!! I KNOW I’m not helping chickens by eating eggs.

Certifying eggs as “cage-free” is problematic, but encouraging people to eat eggs when they don’t already eat eggs crosses a very big line. If you are convincing egg producers to go “cage free” at least there is an argument that you are improving conditions for the chickens. But no one helps chickens by encouraging more egg-eating, no matter how “humane” the producer is.

Lee has published here at Dissident Voice numerous times. Take a look.

If you be interested in a website of a very artistic and political lady (who might sometime seem to be more concerned about cats than humans), you should visit Alice at:

White Light Black Light.

(I also feed and house two cats.)

Just as the U.S. beef and dairy industries are pushing their products onto the plates of the Chinese population, so the egg industry is pushing its product onto the plates of the Indian population. With all of the free advertising the animal-use industries are receiving from huge national and international “welfare” groups, their bottom lines will increase that much faster, along with the misery of the animals who will suffer in even greater numbers because of the “compassionate campaigns” of those supposed welfare organizations.

You might find of interest my post to Gary Kaposta’s article of July 11, 2008, right here at Dissident Voice, titled The Obesification of America. Or are you another of Sunil Sharma’s “hit-and-run” article posters at Dissident Voice?

Lloyd Rowsey