What jolly good eggs!
Latest news from Carmarthenshire Council’s press office – It’s a Good Egg Award
Carmarthenshire County Council has received a ‘Good Egg’ award for committing to use eggs from free-range hens.
The Good Egg Awards were handed out at a ceremony in Harrogate on Wednesday, July 1, 2009, by Compassion in World Farming, a leading farm animal welfare charity, to celebrate the commitment of companies and public sector bodies to stop using eggs from battery caged hens.
Carmarthenshire County Council’s pioneering move across its catering departments in schools and social care establishments will ensure hens supplying 40,260 eggs each year will be spared a life of misery in a cage. They will be free to carry out many of their natural behaviours, unlike hens kept in barren battery cage systems.
The council is one of a growing number of local authorities in the UK to receive a 2009 Good Egg Award. The recognition comes in the framework of Compassion in World Farming’s ‘Cage-free Councils’ campaign, which is gaining the support of a growing number of concerned citizens across Great Britain.
Compassion in World Farming’s Campaigns Co-ordinator, Eloise Shavelar said: ‘We congratulate Carmarthenshire County Council for going free-range and hope that other councils will follow their example. All local authorities have a clear opportunity to lead the way in animal welfare standards, ahead of the 2012 EU ban on barren battery cages. Central and local government offices are important users of eggs – they employ over 2.5 million staff with most providing food for employees and to supply local contracts including schools, residential units and social services."
Elin Cullen, Carmarthenshire County Council’s Head of Business and Specialist Services, said: “We were delighted to hear that we have been awarded a Good Egg Award. It further confirms our commitment to ethical procurement principles and supports the recommendations contained in our School Meals Nutrition Strategy which we launched back in 2004, to improve the quality of school meals in Carmarthenshire.”
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has recently encouraged public sector bodies to move away from using battery eggs whether used as shell eggs or in products containing eggs.
The issue of animal welfare in public spending has also been supported within the House of Commons. More than 150 MPs supported a motion tabled in 2008 calling on public bodies to procure food with higher standards of farm animal welfare. The motion stated that battery eggs are no longer appropriate.
Carmarthenshire County Council joins some of the UK’s top companies in becoming a 2009 Good Egg Award winner. They include Debenhams, Little Chef, Starbucks Coffee, John Lewis and Virgin Trains.
Cllr Pam Palmer, executive board business manager, said: “This is a wonderful achievement, which has come shortly after Carmarthenshire was announced a Fair Trade county. Awards like these honour our commitment to improving the awareness and availability of produce which is ethically grown and sourced. It shows that we are a county that cares.”
About the Good Egg Awards
The event took place during the Local Government Association Conference in Harrogate at the Barcelo Majestic Hotel at on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009.
Full details of the Good Egg Awards are available on www.ciwf.org.uk/good_egg_awards
• For more information on the ‘Cage-free Councils’ campaign please see http://www.ciwf.org/councils
• Sales of free-range shell eggs accounted for 56 per cent of the market value in the UK (TNS data).
• Free range eggs have seen an 8.4 per cent growth in the volume of sales compared with a 3.3 per cent decline in the sale of battery caged eggs (TNS data).
• For the first time this year, The UK’s Office of National Statistics is including large free range eggs in its 2009 Basket of Goods and Services survey.
• Yet, despite increased consumer demand for cage-free eggs, 58 per cent of UK hens are still kept in battery cages.
Carmarthenshire County Council has received a ‘Good Egg’ award for committing to use eggs from free-range hens.
The Good Egg Awards were handed out at a ceremony in Harrogate on Wednesday, July 1, 2009, by Compassion in World Farming, a leading farm animal welfare charity, to celebrate the commitment of companies and public sector bodies to stop using eggs from battery caged hens.
Carmarthenshire County Council’s pioneering move across its catering departments in schools and social care establishments will ensure hens supplying 40,260 eggs each year will be spared a life of misery in a cage. They will be free to carry out many of their natural behaviours, unlike hens kept in barren battery cage systems.
The council is one of a growing number of local authorities in the UK to receive a 2009 Good Egg Award. The recognition comes in the framework of Compassion in World Farming’s ‘Cage-free Councils’ campaign, which is gaining the support of a growing number of concerned citizens across Great Britain.
Compassion in World Farming’s Campaigns Co-ordinator, Eloise Shavelar said: ‘We congratulate Carmarthenshire County Council for going free-range and hope that other councils will follow their example. All local authorities have a clear opportunity to lead the way in animal welfare standards, ahead of the 2012 EU ban on barren battery cages. Central and local government offices are important users of eggs – they employ over 2.5 million staff with most providing food for employees and to supply local contracts including schools, residential units and social services."
Elin Cullen, Carmarthenshire County Council’s Head of Business and Specialist Services, said: “We were delighted to hear that we have been awarded a Good Egg Award. It further confirms our commitment to ethical procurement principles and supports the recommendations contained in our School Meals Nutrition Strategy which we launched back in 2004, to improve the quality of school meals in Carmarthenshire.”
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has recently encouraged public sector bodies to move away from using battery eggs whether used as shell eggs or in products containing eggs.
The issue of animal welfare in public spending has also been supported within the House of Commons. More than 150 MPs supported a motion tabled in 2008 calling on public bodies to procure food with higher standards of farm animal welfare. The motion stated that battery eggs are no longer appropriate.
Carmarthenshire County Council joins some of the UK’s top companies in becoming a 2009 Good Egg Award winner. They include Debenhams, Little Chef, Starbucks Coffee, John Lewis and Virgin Trains.
Cllr Pam Palmer, executive board business manager, said: “This is a wonderful achievement, which has come shortly after Carmarthenshire was announced a Fair Trade county. Awards like these honour our commitment to improving the awareness and availability of produce which is ethically grown and sourced. It shows that we are a county that cares.”
About the Good Egg Awards
The event took place during the Local Government Association Conference in Harrogate at the Barcelo Majestic Hotel at on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009.
Full details of the Good Egg Awards are available on www.ciwf.org.uk/good_egg_awards
• For more information on the ‘Cage-free Councils’ campaign please see http://www.ciwf.org/councils
• Sales of free-range shell eggs accounted for 56 per cent of the market value in the UK (TNS data).
• Free range eggs have seen an 8.4 per cent growth in the volume of sales compared with a 3.3 per cent decline in the sale of battery caged eggs (TNS data).
• For the first time this year, The UK’s Office of National Statistics is including large free range eggs in its 2009 Basket of Goods and Services survey.
• Yet, despite increased consumer demand for cage-free eggs, 58 per cent of UK hens are still kept in battery cages.
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