Charity seeks egg-lovers to crow about free range!

FREE RANGE FRIDAY is the brainchild of the British Hen Welfare Trust, a national charity which educates the public about how they can make a difference to hen welfare, and encourages support for the British egg industry. The awareness and fundraising campaign encourages people to think about where the eggs in their food come from, whilst having a get-together to raise funds to support the work of the charity.

Jane Howorth, Founder of the British Hen Welfare Trust, said:

“Our aim with FREE RANGE FRIDAY is to spread the word so that people actively choose free-range eggs when doing their shopping. As a nation, we care very much about welfare, and how the food we eat is produced;  many people choose free-range shell eggs, but how many people think to check the labels of processed food like ice-cream, quiche, ready meals and cakes? It is consumers who will ultimately influence welfare by the choices they make in their shopping basket.”

 FREE RANGE FRIDAY got off to a cracking start on Good Friday when hen- and egg-lovers rolled up their sleeves, dusted down their recipe books and got baking! Easter cakes were raffled, children dressed up as Easter bunnies and cupcakes were devoured up and down the country!

By organising a FREE RANGE FRIDAY get-together, be it an office cake bake, brunch with neighbours, tea-time pancakes or a three course dinner party, you too can do your bit to spread the word. And of course, it’s a great excuse to tuck into a bit of cake…

Did you know?   ·         3 billion eggs are processed in the UK every year (taken out of their shells and sold as liquid, dried or frozen egg to the food industry) ·         1 billion of these eggs are currently imported into the UK. Whilst British farmers have conformed to the EU regulations banning the old-style battery cages, many overseas countries are still producing eggs to lower welfare standards ·         Some EU countries, including Spain, France, Italy and Belgium continue to flout the rules and are still using the banned battery cages, putting British farmers at a serious commercial disadvantage ·         Illegal cage eggs must be sold within a non-compliant member state, but there is no law preventing the use of illegal eggs in processed foods, including ice-cream, cakes, quiche and ready meals, and being exported ·         The British Hen Welfare Trust has re-homed over 300,000 commercial laying hens to UK homes