EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University researchers will use a $6 million grant to improve the sustainability of egg production in the United States.
The three-year grant, which was awarded by the Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply and will be shared with the University of California, Davis, will study the sustainability of laying-hen housing and explore the interactions and trade-offs among food safety, worker safety, environmental impact, hen health and welfare and food affordability.
Information generated by the research is expected to help consumers and producers make objective, science-based decisions as the egg industry evolves in response to consumer needs and desires, said Janice Swanson, MSU’s director of animal welfare and professor of animal science.
“Our goal is to thoroughly understand the full range of sustainability factors,” she said. “We will examine seasonal shifts, bird lifecycles, bird health and behavior, environmental impacts, human health and other factors affecting the sustainability of the egg-production system.”
The study will be conducted in three types of commercial-scale buildings:
- Conventional cage housing, currently used by the majority of U.S. egg producers.
- Enriched cage housing (or furnished colony system), which provides more freedom of movement because the cages are larger than conventional cages and is also equipped with perches, nesting areas, and material designed to facilitate foraging and dust-bathing behavior.
- Cage-free aviary, a noncage system that allows hens to roam within a section of a building at floor level and vertically to perches and nest boxes.
CSES is facilitated by the Center for Food Integrity, a nonprofit organization established to increase consumer trust and confidence in today’s U.S. food system. CSES is intent on achieving a sustainable supply of eggs while taking a balanced and holistic approach to evaluating egg production systems, said Charlie Arnot, chief executive officer for the Center for Food Integrity.
“Conversations on laying-hen housing have centered primarily on one aspect of sustainability and lack adequate data,” he said. “We believe it is important to consider all potential impacts of responsible production in evaluating egg production systems.”
For more information, visit www.SustainableEggCoalition.com.
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