[Script Info]
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[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.00,0:00:02.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What does cage-free mean?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:02.59,0:00:11.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The term may bring to mind happy chickens roaming free in a rolling \Ngreen field, their lush feathers glistening in the ample sunlight.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.46,0:00:18.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, here comes a vegan to rain on your chicken paradise parade...
Dialogue: 0,0:00:19.83,0:00:24.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(It's me...I'm the vegan...)
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.12,0:00:34.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(music, bird song, animal noises and the soft buzzing of bees)
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.01,0:00:41.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hi, it's Emily from BiteSizeVegan.org, where you can \Nfind free resources, eCourses, kids' content,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:41.34,0:00:46.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and a Guided Search to help you find just what \Nyou need, even if you don't know what to ask!
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.88,0:00:53.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Speaking of eCourses, this video has one of its very own, \Nso you can test your knowledge after watching!
Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.71,0:00:58.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For those of you watching this on BiteSizeVegan.org\N—first of all, you're awesome
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.68,0:01:00.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,—just click the "take the eCourse now" button.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.65,0:01:06.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For those of you watching elsewhere, just head over to\NBiteSizeVegan.org/CageFree
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.54,0:01:10.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where you will also find all of the sources for this video
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.67,0:01:14.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(and there are a lot... Cause I'm a nerd)
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.84,0:01:19.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Before diving into the meaning of cage-free eggs, it's important to acknowledge
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.09,0:01:24.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the vast majority of the world's almost 8 billion\Nlayer hens are still kept in battery cages
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.84,0:01:29.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,—one of the most intensive forms of confinement in the animal products industry.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.86,0:01:36.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Crammed together in these small, barren cages, each\Nindividual hen is afforded less space than a single sheet of paper
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.51,0:01:41.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,—unable to extend their wings or even stand fully upright.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.39,0:01:48.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Denied the ability to engage in natural behaviors such as\Nforaging, wing-flapping, perching, dust bathing, and nesting,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.20,0:01:51.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,hens in battery cages experience extreme distress—
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.84,0:01:56.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,manifesting in neurotic behavior, feather loss, aggression, and even cannibalism.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.98,0:01:59.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These hens live in constant pain,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.82,0:02:07.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,often suffering from osteoporosis due to the combination of nutrient loss\Nfrom high egg production and a severe lack of movement.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.84,0:02:17.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Rising public concern over the last four decades regarding the horrific conditions\Nof battery cages has led to increasing demands for alternative systems.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.26,0:02:23.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, a total ban on battery cages sounds like a \Nhuge move in the right direction, right?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.61,0:02:30.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, In 1999, The Council of the European Union set a directive \Nthat banned all “barren battery cages” by 2012.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.49,0:02:36.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While media coverage at the time focused on the end of battery cages in the EU,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.33,0:02:43.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what the directive actually did was replace barren battery cages with \N“enriched"—meaning furnished—battery cages.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.18,0:02:49.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yes, hens would now be provided more space and given \Nfurnishings like perches and laying nests
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.26,0:02:51.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,—certainly an improvement over barren cages.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.90,0:03:02.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,However, while reports extolled that hens would now each be afforded 750cm²,\Nrather than the 550 cm² in conventional battery cages,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:02.10,0:03:07.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they neglected to clarify that—due to the new furnishings\N—only 600cm² would be usable.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.73,0:03:13.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Meaning—in the end—that this revolutionary\Nstep forward for the rights of laying hens
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.42,0:03:18.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,granted them less than a single playing card\Nof additional space.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.43,0:03:29.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Even more maddening: in 2012, over twelve years after the directive, \Nthirteen Member States had still failed to comply with the ban.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.08,0:03:37.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The 1999 Council Directive addressed more than an eventual end \Nto barren battery cages in favor of enriched cages
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.21,0:03:41.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,—it also introduced a third category, termed "alternative systems."
Dialogue: 0,0:03:41.70,0:03:50.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This umbrella term covered various non-cage systems, such as aviaries \Nand barns—including what we commonly refer to as "cage-free eggs."
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.53,0:03:53.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, what, exactly, does cage-free mean?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.56,0:04:02.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the simplest terms, cage-free means exactly what it sounds like: \Nlaying hens are never caged. But the simplicity ends there.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.76,0:04:12.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As the term "cage-free" primarily defines how hens are not to be housed, \Nthe actual conditions under which cage-free hens are housed varies greatly;
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.79,0:04:17.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,standards are largely unspecified, unverified and unregulated.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.41,0:04:22.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the U.S., the United Stated Department of Agriculture (USDA) \Nonly specifies that cage-free eggs
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.52,0:04:27.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"must be produced by hens housed in a building, room or enclosure \Nthat allows for unlimited access to food and water
Dialogue: 0,0:04:27.80,0:04:32.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and provides the freedom to roam the area during the laying cycle."
Dialogue: 0,0:04:32.49,0:04:39.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Cage-free eggs graded by the USDA are subject to on-site inspections\Ntwice a year, purely to ensure the hens are not in cages.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:39.66,0:04:43.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Additionally, not all cage-free eggs are graded by the USDA,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:43.60,0:04:49.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so many cage-free labels do not have any verification \Nat all that the hens they came from were not caged.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:50.11,0:04:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the European Union, while the term "cage-free"\Ndoesn't seem to be widely used,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:55.00,0:05:01.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,non-cage systems are required to "not exceed \N9 laying hens per m² usable area."
Dialogue: 0,0:05:01.50,0:05:04.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This affords each hen a little over a square foot of space.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:05.00,0:05:10.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are no such stocking density limits in the United States, among other countries.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:10.49,0:05:16.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The separation between cage and non-cage farming is often completely non-existent:
Dialogue: 0,0:05:16.04,0:05:22.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,many egg producers have both caged and cage-free facilities on the same property.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:22.09,0:05:26.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Purchasing cage-free eggs is in no way supporting smaller, independent farmers.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:26.36,0:05:33.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That said, there is no denying that almost anything would be\Nan improvement over life in a battery cage.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:33.56,0:05:40.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,However, as we've learned with "enriched" cages, alternative systems \Naren't the idyllic environments we may envision.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.43,0:05:48.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Cage-free hens are kept indoors, usually in windowless buildings. \NEach structure may contain thousands to tens of thousands of birds.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:48.37,0:05:56.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This extreme overcrowding leaves some cage-free hens without much more room than battery cages, resulting in many of the same mental and physical consequences.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:56.89,0:06:04.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Additionally, cage-free hens are not spared the cruel \N"standard practices" of the egg industry as a whole.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:04.34,0:06:09.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All hens are sourced from hatcheries where male chicks are killed upon hatching.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:09.55,0:06:16.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The primary method recommended by the European Union's humane \Nregulations, and implemented worldwide, is "maceration"
Dialogue: 0,0:06:16.53,0:06:23.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,—a euphemistic term for dropping newborn male chicks \Ninto a meat grinder while alive.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:23.67,0:06:28.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's estimated that 3.2 billion male chicks are killed every year.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:28.79,0:06:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Cage-free hens are still subjected to debeaking —a painful mutilation \Nin which a portion of their sensitive beaks are cut or burned off.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:37.00,0:06:46.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the few countries where debeaking is banned, hens face increased mortality rates from aggressive pecking brought on by crowded and stressful living conditions.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:47.03,0:06:53.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The living beings within all animal product industries\Nare viewed as just that—products.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:53.71,0:07:01.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Laying hens are no different—everything from their environment to their \Nvery genetics are engineered for maximum egg output.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:01.18,0:07:07.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Artificial lighting is used to constantly manipulate hens' \Nhormones in order to increase their egg production.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:07.52,0:07:13.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of the most cruel practices within the\Negg industry is what's referred to as "induced molting."
Dialogue: 0,0:07:13.48,0:07:19.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Farmers remove the hens’ food for weeks, literally starving them.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:19.16,0:07:26.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The hens lose up to 35% of their body weight, along\Nwith their feathers, allowing their reproductive tracts to “refresh”
Dialogue: 0,0:07:26.27,0:07:29.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so they can pump out another round of eggs.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:29.15,0:07:35.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They are also subjected to more extreme forms of light manipulation,\Nat times enduring a week of constant light.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:35.93,0:07:40.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is nothing within the cage-free label that prohibits this barbaric practice.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:40.20,0:07:46.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While forced molting is banned in some countries,\Nthis simply means the hens are slaughtered after they are no longer profitable
Dialogue: 0,0:07:46.54,0:07:49.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,—a fate which awaits every layer hen.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:49.53,0:07:55.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,No matter the label, housing conditions or country, all \Nlayer hens are killed when their egg production declines
Dialogue: 0,0:07:56.10,0:08:05.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,—typically when they are 70-80 weeks old. No longer able to turn a profit, \Nthey are sent to their deaths—still mere babies themselves.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:05.37,0:08:09.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In caged systems, hens can be more effectively separated from their waste.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:10.16,0:08:17.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In cage-free systems, the ammonia from their waste can cause \Ndangerous conditions for the hens, workers, and the public.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:17.22,0:08:24.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A study looking into the sources of particulate pollution found the \Npoultry industry to be the greatest single contributor.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:24.40,0:08:34.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The ammonia in poultry litter "combines with other pollutants—\Nsulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide...to produce a secondary source of \Nadditional deadly [fine particulate matter]."
Dialogue: 0,0:08:34.30,0:08:38.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has estimated that this\Nkind of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5)
Dialogue: 0,0:08:38.28,0:08:43.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"is responsible for over 90% of air pollution-related health damages."
Dialogue: 0,0:08:43.77,0:08:48.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A large-scale study by the Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply \N(CSES) research project
Dialogue: 0,0:08:48.59,0:08:55.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,found the mortality rate (meaning death rate) in non-cage\Nsystems to be 2.5 times higher than in battery cage systems.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:55.05,0:08:59.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This finding was far from isolated to one study or country.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:59.31,0:09:07.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The primary causes of increased mortality in non-cage systems include: \Ninjurious pecking, cannibalism, and disease transference.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:07.75,0:09:13.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These very issues are a large part of why battery cages were invented in the first place
Dialogue: 0,0:09:13.65,0:09:19.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,—confining hens in cages makes it much easier to manage behavioral \Nissues and disease outbreaks.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:19.81,0:09:26.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Pointing to the housing system as the reason for more deaths, is an \Noversimplification of what is a very complex issue.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:26.93,0:09:32.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A meta-analysis of data from 29 sources covering commercial farms in 16 countries
Dialogue: 0,0:09:32.47,0:09:38.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,indicates a possible decline in mortality rates within\Nnon-cage systems in more recent years.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:38.23,0:09:44.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The authors argue that this decline will continue as producers become \Nmore familiar with managing non-cage systems,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:44.81,0:09:48.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and as more "appropriate" hen breeds are created and utilized.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:48.64,0:09:54.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They also emphasize are created and utilized. the importance of debeaking \Nhens to reduce injurious and cannibalistic behavior.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:54.51,0:10:00.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At first glance, this decline in mortality rates in non-cage systems \Nmay sound like a promising trend.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:00.73,0:10:09.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yet, rather than pointing to reasons for hope, the proposed causes of the decline actually highlight a stark reality:
Dialogue: 0,0:10:09.88,0:10:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,within the animal products industries, the solutions are the problems.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:15.14,0:10:19.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When hens injure and kill one another due to their breeding and living conditions
Dialogue: 0,0:10:20.20,0:10:23.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,—both of which have been imposed upon them—
Dialogue: 0,0:10:23.01,0:10:27.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the solution is to cut off their beaks and alter their breeding.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:27.22,0:10:35.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ian J.H. Duncan, Professor Emeritus and Emeritus Chair in Animal Welfare at the University of Guelph, Canada, illustrates this predicament, saying:
Dialogue: 0,0:10:35.67,0:10:42.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"If [producers] do not trim beaks, then feather\Npecking and cannibalism may cause enormous suffering.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:42.29,0:10:47.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If they do trim beaks by conventional methods, \Nthe birds will suffer from acute and chronic pain...
Dialogue: 0,0:10:47.91,0:10:54.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Chopping off parts of young animals in order to prevent future \Nwelfare problems is a very crude solution."
Dialogue: 0,0:10:54.50,0:10:58.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Duncan proposes instead that, given \N"feather pecking has hereditary characteristics....
Dialogue: 0,0:10:58.66,0:11:03.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It therefore seems likely that the long-term\Nsolution to this problem will be a genetic one..."
Dialogue: 0,0:11:03.72,0:11:08.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While certainly less objectionable than debeaking on a visceral level,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:08.64,0:11:20.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,genetic manipulation of sentient beings to serve our purposes is not only extremely ethically problematic, but \N—once again—what got us into this position in the first place.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:20.55,0:11:27.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The animal products industries have honed these beings at a \Ngenetic level to meet specific demands and performance.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:27.66,0:11:34.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Laying hens have traditionally been bred for producing \Nas many eggs as possible in a caged environment.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:34.20,0:11:38.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Place them into a cage-free environment and mortality skyrockets.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:38.79,0:11:47.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, the solution to the problems inadvertently created by genetic \Nmanipulation is to further manipulate their genes.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:47.39,0:11:56.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Every time our breeding, confinement, mutilation and slaughter of non-human \Nanimals invariably cause ethical, environmental and health problems,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:56.31,0:12:02.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we strive to solve them with different variations of breeding, \Nconfinement, mutilation and slaughter.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:02.95,0:12:13.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We continue this cycle over and over again—addressing problems \Nof our own creation with solutions that will eventually become our next problem
Dialogue: 0,0:12:13.60,0:12:19.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,—rather than stepping back and questioning our use of animals in the first place.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:19.12,0:12:26.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Even if less hens die in one housing system\Nthan another, is that truly any indicator of their quality of life?
Dialogue: 0,0:12:26.88,0:12:31.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As the authors of the meta analysis themselves poignantly state:
Dialogue: 0,0:12:31.27,0:12:38.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Put simply, what makes animals suffer is not necessarily what kills them."
Dialogue: 0,0:12:38.58,0:12:45.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are mountains of research and governmental regulations \Nyou can read through regarding the welfare of laying hens around the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:45.19,0:12:47.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What I've covered just touches the surface.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:47.86,0:12:58.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But in the end, while I believe it's vital to know the truth behind humane \Nclaims, it's our use of animals in and of itself that's inhumane.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:59.20,0:13:01.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,No matter what label we give it.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:02.18,0:13:07.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I hope this video has been helpful. \NDon't forget to take the free eCourse to test your knowledge!
Dialogue: 0,0:13:07.48,0:13:11.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To stay in the loop about new Bite Size Vegan content\Nand updates, subscribe to the newsletter or
Dialogue: 0,0:13:11.99,0:13:15.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,follow the Telegram channel for the most reliable notifications.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:15.90,0:13:18.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now go live vegan, and I'll see you soon.