Union, Vegetarian Society support adoption of cage-free eggs

College of General Studies sophomore Kelseanna Hollis said the ongoing campaign to require Boston University to purchase only cage-free eggs will come down to how students react to the proposal.

“The major concern is that students don’t care about this issue,” Hollis, who heads the campaign for cage-free eggs, said in a phone interview. “I don’t think people are educated enough on this issue.”

Although Student Union passed a resolution to support the ongoing cage-free egg campaign at Monday’s Senate meeting, Hollis said students will have to become more informed about the issue and supportive of a permanent switch to cage-free eggs.

Union was first contacted about the cage-free egg proposal in November, Secretary Sophie Miller, a College of Arts and Sciences sophomore, said in an email interview.

“We were approached by the student who wrote the proposal and collected the data on student support for the switch,” Miller said.

The proposal, written by the BU Vegetarian Society, called for BU Dining Services to switch from using battery-cage eggs to cage-free ones, Hollis said. Members have also surveyed students at Splash and campus about the issue regarding cage-free eggs and have met with Dining Services and Aramark, BU’s egg supplier.

Dining Services currently uses cage-free eggs by default for shelled eggs made to order at the omelet station, hard boiled eggs, egg sandwiches using whole eggs and shelled eggs served at Rhetts, said Sabrina Pashtan, Dining Services’ sustainability coordinator, in an email. Students have to request the use of cage-free eggs for omelets or scrambled eggs, which are usually made with liquid eggs.

“We feel it is the right thing to do from a humanitarian standpoint and is probably the way of the future,” Pashtan said on the website.

“The next step for this campaign is to meet with the head of BU Dining Services to discuss the matter further,” Hollis said. “Dining plans will only be raised $9 or $12 if this change occurs to account for the higher price of cage-free eggs.”

Miller said that Union plans to look at the dining plan costs that may be tied to the proposal, as well as other issues, but that Union members are supportive of the proposal.

“Another benefit of this switch is that about 30,000 animals will be saved per year if battery-cage eggs cease to be purchased,” Hollis said. “We are hoping that a complete switch will be made by the end of this academic year.”

The Aramak website said that they respect the goal of using cage-free eggs, which are produced by hens that are not contained in cages and are allowed to roam.

“For quite some time, Aramak has offered cage-free eggs to any client that wants them, and, in fact, has helped many of its clients make the switch to cage-free eggs at their locations,” the website said.

Ten percent of BU’s eggs come in shells for certain made-to-order foods, such as omelets, Hollis said. The remaining eggs are not cage-free.

Hollis said she thinks BU’s “green grade” is negatively affected by the use of battery-cage eggs.

“Our school is lacking behind many other schools in making this change,” She said.

EDITOR’S NOTE: While Hollis said BU’s green grade has been negatively affected, a BU Dining Services official reported after the article’s publication that Dining Services has received an ‘A’ for the past three years by the SEIRC. In addition, the article has been corrected to include an accurate list of items served with cage-free eggs.