WEBVTT 00:00:00.170 --> 00:00:04.880 A question that I get with surprising frequency from non-vegans and vegans alike is whether it's 00:00:04.880 --> 00:00:09.840 ethical to consume eggs from a rescued or backyard chicken. It goes something like this. 00:00:09.840 --> 00:00:14.090 “My friend has her own chickens and she loves them and takes really good care 00:00:14.090 --> 00:00:18.440 of them and they’re happy and healthy and they lay eggs all the time that aren’t fertilized. 00:00:18.440 --> 00:00:23.080 So, wouldn’t it be okay for her to eat them? I mean if the chicken just drops the egg and 00:00:23.080 --> 00:00:28.119 walks away? Or carries it to my friend and offers the egg to her with outstretched wings? 00:00:28.119 --> 00:00:31.659 Or leaves a little note on the ground saying ‘please take this thing that came out 00:00:31.660 --> 00:00:34.740 of my vagina/anus and put it in your mouth?" 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:40.300 Okay I may have made up those last two. 00:00:40.820 --> 00:00:45.080 But you get the idea. There’s even a new dietary distinction called “veggan.” 00:00:46.140 --> 00:00:50.739 (and I have no idea if that’s how it’s pronounced, but that’s what it’s going to be today). 00:00:51.300 --> 00:00:55.940 So, let’s finally tackle this beast. What is the ethical concern with eating eggs 00:00:55.940 --> 00:00:58.100 from rescued or backyard hens? 00:01:02.340 --> 00:01:06.780 Hi it's Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome to another vegan nugget. I’ve answered this 00:01:06.780 --> 00:01:11.930 question briefly in the Q&A for a speech I gave, which you can watch here. But today 00:01:11.930 --> 00:01:14.690 I’m going to go into greater depth. And I’ll warn you ahead of time, 00:01:14.690 --> 00:01:16.939 I'm rather snarky in this video. 00:01:17.500 --> 00:01:23.180 First off, let’s address this veggan thing. Veggans, according to dietitian Jessica Cording, 00:01:23.180 --> 00:01:27.200 “follow the ‘rules’ of a vegan diet — they avoid animal and dairy products and 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:31.180 eat a plant-based diet — they just also eat eggs.” 00:01:32.720 --> 00:01:36.100 Yes, because something that comes out of the sphincter of a bird 00:01:36.100 --> 00:01:38.640 is definitely NOT an animal product. 00:01:39.420 --> 00:01:43.460 Instagram is aflutter with the new hashtag and several articles have already been written 00:01:43.460 --> 00:01:49.200 on vegganism, one of which includes this gem from registered dietitian Alissa Rumsey, a 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:53.890 spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: “As people become more interested 00:01:53.890 --> 00:01:58.789 and aware of how food affects both their health as well as the environment, plant-based diets, 00:01:58.789 --> 00:02:02.999 including veganism, are becoming more and more popular and mainstream. Veganism may 00:02:02.999 --> 00:02:06.270 be appealing to people, but many find that it is too restrictive.” 00:02:06.270 --> 00:02:10.450 Because once you rule out the flesh of animals’ bodies the secretions and objects that come 00:02:10.450 --> 00:02:14.570 out of their orifices, there’s just really nothing left to eat! 00:02:16.500 --> 00:02:21.900 So why do veggans feel compelled to consume the shelled menstruation of another species? 00:02:23.020 --> 00:02:24.640 Protein, of course. 00:02:25.160 --> 00:02:28.020 I mean, where else can you get it? 00:02:30.760 --> 00:02:36.340 Food writer Vicki Anne Hadley, featured in The Daily Mail, was vegan for a whole 6 months before adding 00:02:36.340 --> 00:02:38.920 eggs back into her diet when her friend, 00:02:39.420 --> 00:02:42.700 who has her own chickens, offered her an egg dish. 00:02:42.709 --> 00:02:48.150 Hadley says, “I am very into fitness and have a very active lifestyle so I wanted to 00:02:48.150 --> 00:02:51.010 ensure that I would be getting enough protein in my diet.” 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:55.939 Never mind the fact that the USDA has deemed it illegal for the egg industry to advertise 00:02:55.939 --> 00:03:00.709 eggs as “a protein-rich food” if they’re using government money. It’s also illegal 00:03:00.709 --> 00:03:04.920 to say they “contribute nutritionally,” are “healthful” or even “contribute 00:03:04.920 --> 00:03:08.819 healthful components.” They can’t say eggs are “good for you,” “healthy” 00:03:08.819 --> 00:03:13.699 or an “important part of well-balanced, healthy diet.” Or even “safe.” 00:03:14.020 --> 00:03:20.080 Eggs were even found to have the same atherosclerotic effect as cigarettes in a 2012 study. 00:03:20.090 --> 00:03:24.560 However, the egg industry has been trying valiantly for decades to portray their product 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:29.530 as healthy, rarely letting legal restrictions hold them back and by and large succeeding 00:03:29.530 --> 00:03:35.599 in their goal. To hear the entire sordid conspiracy behind eggs, see my video The Great Egg Conspiracy: 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:39.200 Lies, Corruption & Kevin Bacon, linked here and below. 00:03:39.200 --> 00:03:42.780 Long story short, eggs are one of the worst things you can put in your body. 00:03:42.780 --> 00:03:47.480 However, as you may know and as I always emphasize, veganism at its core is not about health. 00:03:47.480 --> 00:03:51.790 It can be the healthiest way to eat, but poor health doesn’t necessarily mean poor ethics. 00:03:51.790 --> 00:03:55.570 So even if eggs are horrendous for our health, what’s the ethical issue with 00:03:55.570 --> 00:03:57.780 eggs from backyard or rescued chickens? 00:03:57.790 --> 00:04:02.409 If you don’t already know, chickens on standard farms and even free-range farms are kept indoors 00:04:02.409 --> 00:04:07.469 in cramped, filthy conditions and forced to produce an unnaturally large amount of eggs, 00:04:07.469 --> 00:04:11.629 robbing their body of essential nutrients and leading to premature death. If they don’t 00:04:11.629 --> 00:04:15.909 die from exhaustion, disease, or malnutrition, they’re sent to slaughter when their production 00:04:15.909 --> 00:04:19.749 declines, typically around 68-72 weeks of age, though their 00:04:19.749 --> 00:04:22.440 life expectancy is around 8-10 years. 00:04:22.440 --> 00:04:27.920 The most horrifying aspect of eggs is that male layer chicks are ground up alive or suffocated 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:33.010 by the hundreds of millions every year. These are brand new, fluffy baby chicks, 00:04:33.010 --> 00:04:35.650 thrown into grinders while they’re still conscious. 00:04:35.650 --> 00:04:40.890 So, all of that horror aside, what about the idyllic backyard and rescue chickens, living 00:04:40.890 --> 00:04:44.810 out their lives outside in the grass, free to roam and peck as nature intended? 00:04:44.810 --> 00:04:49.670 There are several aspects to look at here. First, where did these beloved chickens come 00:04:49.670 --> 00:04:54.540 from? Did your friend -- because everyone who asks me this refers to their friend or 00:04:54.540 --> 00:04:59.870 some hypothetical situation, so I’ll follow suit: did they buy them from someone involved 00:04:59.870 --> 00:05:05.020 in the animal products industry? If so, that act in itself is supporting cruelty. But let’s 00:05:05.020 --> 00:05:07.460 say your friend rescued their chickens from a sanctuary. 00:05:07.460 --> 00:05:11.760 Another consideration is, does your friend really have the resources and know-how to 00:05:11.770 --> 00:05:16.370 care for chickens? Backyard chickens seem to be the new urban hipster accessory. 00:05:16.740 --> 00:05:20.280 They are to hipsters what the purse Chihuahua is to socialites. 00:05:21.260 --> 00:05:25.420 Many people who excitedly bring home their chickens don’t realize the high cost of 00:05:25.420 --> 00:05:30.510 properly caring for them and either end up offering a sub-par or even low-quality home 00:05:30.510 --> 00:05:34.690 for their chickens, turning around and passing them off on someone else, or even 00:05:34.690 --> 00:05:38.310 letting them go as if they’ll return to the chicken wild. 00:05:38.620 --> 00:05:42.680 But let’s say your friend knows their chicken stuff and has the finances and land. 00:05:42.680 --> 00:05:44.960 Is it okay to take the eggs then? 00:05:45.150 --> 00:05:49.710 What not everyone knows is that chickens will cannibalize their own eggs. This is an important 00:05:49.710 --> 00:05:54.620 practice that returns vital nutrients to their system lost with egg production. Making an 00:05:54.620 --> 00:05:59.620 egg is a serious endeavor involving an extreme loss of calcium and pressure on the hen’s body. 00:05:59.620 --> 00:06:04.550 This is part of why hens in the egg industry die so early. In addition, taking a hen's egg 00:06:04.550 --> 00:06:08.430 away sends the signal to her body to make a replacement. So the more eggs we take away 00:06:08.430 --> 00:06:12.350 the more she’ll produce, thus continually depleting her body. 00:06:12.350 --> 00:06:16.530 If your friend’s hens don’t seem interested in eating the egg, they can always crack it 00:06:16.530 --> 00:06:19.520 a little, which usually let’s the hen know it’s not going to turn in to a baby and 00:06:19.520 --> 00:06:23.690 is available for eating. This is something I did when I volunteered at SASHA Farm Animal 00:06:23.690 --> 00:06:26.820 Sanctuary. And trust me, there was nothing left. 00:06:26.820 --> 00:06:31.420 But what if your friend has cracked the egg and the hens still won’t eat it. Can they 00:06:31.420 --> 00:06:35.840 then, finally, serve it up over easy, despite, of course, the health consequences? 00:06:35.840 --> 00:06:38.260 Isn't an omelete ethical at this point? 00:06:38.270 --> 00:06:44.210 Here’s what it comes done to. Hens do not make eggs for us. They are not ours. And this 00:06:44.210 --> 00:06:49.810 insane drive to justify something – anything – that came from an animal because, god forbid 00:06:49.810 --> 00:06:53.050 we not eat something that came out of someone else, is part of 00:06:53.050 --> 00:06:55.930 the addict behavior of animal product consumption. 00:06:56.300 --> 00:07:00.380 If you think that’s extreme, take in this excerpt from an article in The Guardian quoting 00:07:00.380 --> 00:07:04.520 Isobel Davies, co-founder of Hen Nation, an “ethical egg” farm. 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:11.200 Hold on, you couldn’t see me because the image was up. An “ethical egg” farm. 00:07:12.500 --> 00:07:13.540 Let's proceed. 00:07:13.620 --> 00:07:19.080 Davies says, “I get so many emails from vegans about our eggs. One woman said she 00:07:19.090 --> 00:07:23.050 couldn’t sleep the night before trying them because she was so excited. “ 00:07:23.050 --> 00:07:28.110 Linda Turvey, who runs the Hen Heaven sanctuary says, “I get calls from all over the country. 00:07:28.110 --> 00:07:32.400 Virtually all the eggs are going to vegans or their friends and family. I recently got a call from 00:07:32.400 --> 00:07:37.340 a new vegan who works out in the gym and wanted to order 80 eggs a week for protein." 00:07:37.340 --> 00:07:40.970 She also recalled one man from London who caught the train to Horsham, a bus to 00:07:40.970 --> 00:07:45.710 Henfield and then walked a mile and a half to the Sussex sanctuary just to get 00:07:45.710 --> 00:07:47.630 some eggs for his vegan daughter. 00:07:47.630 --> 00:07:51.110 Now if that’s not addict behavior, I don’t know what is. 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:55.520 I hope this video was helpful. If you want to learn more about eggs, check out the videos 00:07:55.520 --> 00:07:59.400 below, including my egg video for kids. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the backyard 00:07:59.400 --> 00:08:05.000 chicken debate and the veggan phenomenon. Let me know what you think in the comments. 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:08.440 If you liked this golden egg of a nugget, do give the video a thumbs up and share it 00:08:08.440 --> 00:08:12.680 around to answer this oft-asked question. If you’re new here, I’d love to have you 00:08:12.680 --> 00:08:17.000 as a subscriber. I put out fresh content covering all aspects of veganism every Monday, Wednesday, 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:20.550 and some Fridays. To help support Bite Size Vegan’s educational efforts, please see 00:08:20.550 --> 00:08:24.710 the support links below or click on the Nugget Army icon or the link in the sidebar. 00:08:24.960 --> 00:08:29.580 Now go live vegan, stop eating sphincter food, and I’ll see you soon. 00:08:29.580 --> 00:08:34.500 That was my favorite part. “They avoid animal products. And they eat eggs.” 00:08:34.840 --> 00:08:41.420 When you’re eating something that came out … of an animal… 00:08:42.660 --> 00:08:47.680 …the animal produced it. It’s literally… an animal product. 00:08:47.680 --> 00:08:54.600 It’s something that literally fell … out of an animal … 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:01.940 … I don’t understand how this is not connecting.