Free-Range Egg Drop Scoop

In November 2008, California voters overwhelming approved Prop. 2, the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act. The act recently has come home to roost locally, for as of February 22, UC Santa Barbara’s residential dining services (aka the dorms) will only be serving students cage-free eggs. That means all the hens providing UCSB eggs will have two to three more times the space than caged hens, those 280 million birds that live in barren battery cages so small, they can’t even spread their wings. While people may argue whether this step is big enough (just ask your favorite vegan), this move by an institution as staid as UCSB is further proof that a food revolution might actual happen. “By switching their residential dining services to exclusively cage-free eggs, UC Santa Barbara has taken an important stand against one of the most inhumane factory farming abuses,” said Karin Olsson, part of the Humane Society’s factory farming campaign. “The Humane Society of the United States applauds UCSB and hopes other schools will follow its positive lead.”