For Advocates of Cage-Free Eggs

"Throughout the whole of the industry, there’s 30 million of these chicks and the males do not produce eggs and we can’t get an economic cent (?) out of them so unfortunately they are depleted."

"Now this is standard to dispatch of the male chicks in egg-laying industry across all systems: organic, free range, battery caged. All chickens, all countries around the world, this is a fact of life."

Then they kill the chicks.

"This is a sad reality of where your eggs come from in all systems."

"We don’t burn these. . . . They go into pet food, they’re fed to reptiles" (which he proceeds to do and the audience is initially upset. Someone actually says, "Oh no no no!" but Mr. Oliver manages to diffuse the moment and it ends with giggling and laughter).

The comments section for this video on YouTube includes lots of mean-spiritedness and ignorance as you might imagine. There are also some surprises, however, such as the people who claim that Mr. Oliver shot this segment as an endorsement for cage-free eggs, as he uses only "humane" products, or the people who say this is exactly why they buy free-range products.

evilempire96 writes: I gurantee (sic) you by Jamie Oliver doing this many people in the UK will change their thinking and start buying free range eggs.

tolman33 writes: Jamie Oliver is creating awareness in the UK for this to be stopped. For
people to buy free range eggs and chickens because of how cruel the
industry is.

askegg writes: This is a sad reality of life. In order for some to live, others must
die. In a world of limited resources this is the only way. It drives
evolution and triggers our empathy. I will still eat eggs, chickens,
meat, and milk. but I would rather be alive and sad than dead.

(And let me just say that last one makes no sense to me–none).

Statements like the above demonstrate that people can hear something–twice–within a couple of minutes, then come to the opposite conclusion, presumably because they just can’t take the truth (that they just heard twice within a couple of minutes). For those who missed it: It is standard to kill the male chicks across all systems. No matter who supplies your eggs, the males were killed. The males are killed within a day or two. Always. Period. I’m not sure phrasing it different ways helps when someone simply doesn’t want to hear the message, though.

The next time someone tells you they buy only cage-free or organic or free-range eggs because, you know, they’re "humane," ask them if they have three minutes to watch a video by a mainstream celebrity chef-type whom they probably already know and love. And of course, send them to Peaceful Prairie’s "The Free-Range Myth" to show them what the hens from their "humane" egg production facilities look like.

Thanks to Michele from Peaceful Prairie for telling me about the above video.