Are your eggs free range? Do you care?
Well, chicken farmers care, because marketing success for 'free range' labels has made it a big business.
There actually is a somewhat fuzzy limit, 1,500 birds a hectare, but a group in Australia says some larger producers are using the "free range" label for their chickens, even if they have 20,000 per hectare. Basically, the farmers claim, the eggs are being laid by caged hens even if they are not in cages. And the public does not know the difference and is paying $1-2 more per dozen.
Well, sure, they have a point, the public should know what they are buying even if what they are buying is an intellectual placebo, like that free range eggs are somehow better. But the public can't tell the difference because there is no difference.
South Australian poultry farmers are not amused at the technicality, so they are putting stickers marked "true free range" on their egg cartons. Others are using "premium" - yeah, no one has thought of putting 'premium' on a carton before.
It's like that guy came along and made it possible for all of the Sneetches to have a star, so elitist Sneetches put multiple stars on their bellies, just to show they are superior.
Really, a Sneetch with a star or not is all you are paying for with free range eggs anyway. So if you want to have stars upon thars, go ahead and pay the extra two bucks.
Farmers fed up with free range claims - ABC News Australia
H/T Natasha Mitchell
