FOLLOWING A RECENT petition proposed by People and Planet Society, Costcutter have agreed to explore the option of selling only free range eggs, Vision can report.
However issues of free choice have put a stumbling block in the campaign’s path.
Jackie North, Regional Operations Manager, has openly embraced the idea “providing that we don’t get people saying we’re forcing people to buy dearer eggs, and not giving them a choice.”
The coordinators of the campaign, however, take a slightly different approach.
Krysztof Garstka, a leading member of the campaign stating that “I do agree that right of choice should be respected but when this causes pain and suffering then it is an inferior issue.”
One second year PEP student disagreed with this approach, “I think that the whole idea is ridiculous, if I want to buy caged eggs or if I want to buy free range, it’s my choice – nobody has a right to impose this on me.”
Despite these concerns, North has further stated that she “can’t see a problem” with stopping the selling of battery farmed hens and that could easily be a change in shop policy very soon.
The issue is however at the mercy of a UGM proposal which calls for the union to mandate for the prevention of caged hens’ egg sales on campus.
Luke Capps, a member of People and Planet Society, does welcome the idea of hearing other people’s opinions, stating that: “It’d be great to have a debate. Debates such as ones about abortion have such strong arguments on both sides – but at the moment this isn’t much of one.”
If all goes to plan, People and Planet could see their campaign reach fruition as soon as at the end of this week, but the members are keen to state that this is only one step in their ambitious plans.
“The other big area is farmed animals such as pigs and cows that also are kept in terrible conditions,” explained Garstka. “There’s still a lot of stuff for us to do, we won’t have time to get bored!”
Voting for the UGM starts this Tuesday on the YUSU website.