Some people don’t put a lot of thought into where their food comes from, or what’s in it, as long as it tastes good and isn’t unreasonably expensive. But that said, there are plenty of people who care about where their food comes from, and what exactly is in it. There’s a whole swatch of plugged-in, knowledgeable foodies with concerns ranging from genetically modified organisms to additives and even the carbon footprint engendered by shipping some food items outside of their natural habitat.
If you’ve visited a grocery store lately, you may have noticed that many egg cartons are labeled “cage-free,” these days. This term is both distinct from and a natural evolution of the term “free range.” Free-range chickens are allowed to roam freely in an often enclosed outdoor area, as opposed to being caged and unable to move in a concentrated animal feeding operation, which are often so small that a bird often can’t open its wings, which makes for a painful, miserable existence.
Norwegian Cruise Lines Holdings has recently announced that, following rising consumer demands, all of the eggs served on the ship will be 100 percent cage-free eggs globally by the end of 2025. Last year, the other two leading cruise ships, Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean, made similar commitments to only use cage-free eggs by 2025.
The cruise industry made the changes in response to a campaign by Open Wing Alliance, which as noted by Cruise Industry News, is a global coalition initiated by The Humane League and includes 93 animal protection organizations from 67 countries worldwide.
“We applaud Norwegian Cruise Lines Holdings for publicly publishing their global cage-free implementation plans. As the demand for cage-free eggs increases worldwide, cage-free is becoming the industry standard. Other hospitality companies like Millennium Hotels and Langham Hospitality Group need to follow NCLH’s lead or risk losing business,” said Jennie Hunter, Senior Campaigns Coordinator, The Open Wings Alliance.
Nestlé, Aldi, InterContinental Hotels, Sodexo, Kraft Heinz, Compass Group, Shake Shack, Famous Brands, Costa Coffee, Burger King, Dunkin’, Krispy Kreme, Unilever, and Barilla have all recently made commitments to switch to cage-free systems.
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