Claudine Erlandson of Shoreline wrote to the Seattle Times in her letter published January 23rd:

“It is our gain every time we raise the bar for more humane treatment of animals. In this case, it is chickens that will benefit from this new initiative, which hopefully will be on the Washington ballot in November [Groups fault egg producers practices, NWThursday, Jan. 20].

I applaud the Humane Society of the United States, Farm Sanctuary and local groups to organize Washingtonians for Humane Farms, a process long overdue in our state. Maureen OHagan writes that ‘There are seven egg producers in Washington, and together they have about 6.5 million hens. That is a lot of chickens confined in tiny cramped cages causing them unimaginable suffering.'”

TWO REPORTS OF LOCAL NOTE:
1. “Separating Factory Farm Egg Production from Authentic Organic Agriculture”
A Report and Scorecard by The Cornucopia Institute

2. The Cornucopia Institute’s Organic Egg Scorecard notes our area’s organic egg producers Wilcox Family Farms and Stiebr Farms both obtained a “3-egg rating” out of 5
[Ed. Note: This means that while these companies do a good job complying with ‘Minimum USDA Standards’, they have room for improvement to exceed minimum requirements, to then warrant an “Excellent” or “Exemplary” rating.]:

Very GoodOrganic, Complying with Minimum USDA Standards
“Brands with a three-egg rating are very good choices. Eggs from brands in this category either come from family-scale farms that provide outdoor runs for their chickens, or from larger-scale farms where meaningful outdoor space is either currently granted or under construction. All producers in this category appear committed to meeting organic standards for minimum outdoor space for laying hens.”