CURRENT SPIN FROM WEGMANS: When will they stop lying?

Wegmans Egg Farm

We’ve been concerned about attacks by animal rights activists on our Wegmans Egg Farm. We want to reassure you that in this company facility, as in all our endeavors, we adhere to the principles that have defined who we are over the last 89 years. These principles include high standards, pursuing excellence in everything we do.

Our farm started in 1967 to ensure the highest quality eggs to meet the needs of our customers. It has been managed by three generations of the Wadsworth family. We are constantly seeking the latest information to improve the operations.

We think it’s wrong to mistreat animals. It was seeking science-based animal care guidance that led us to be among the first egg farms in the U.S. to meet and exceedmeasurable standards of the United Egg Producers’ independent committee of animal science experts [this program is a consumer fraud, according to the Better Business Burea]. Those guidelines set standards for cage space, nutritious food, air and water quality, and other animal care practices. They have helped us improve, andwe will continue to use scientific information to improve.

We’re proud that others tell us we have one of the best-run farms in the entire country. Can we do even better? Of course. We’re now protecting our birds against break-ins (something that had never before happened in the history of the farm) and we’re increasing the scrutiny of every cage every day and making other improvements.

You may ask why our 750,000 chickens are in cages anyway. Up until the 1960s most eggs were produced in cage-free systems. Free-range chickens, exposed to the outdoors, have a normal mortality rate anywhere from 20 to 40% a year. We believe that our farm, with a mortality rate of less than 8%, is doing the right thing.

At our farm we provide:

• Protection from predators (foxes, raccoons, wild birds), diseases caused by walking in manure or soil, Avian flu from wild birds, climate conditions, and severe weather
• clean eggs, beginning with little or no contact with animal waste and bacteria such as Salmonella Enteriditis [note, Wegmans used to say that "Egg laying chickens in cages are not in contact with manure so these treatments don't have to be given"].
• Little need to treat chickens with antibiotics and other drugs.
• A more consistent supply of eggs for our customers.
• An affordable source of good protein.

Eggs produced by cage-free hens are available at Wegmans as an additional choice. Since they do cost more to produce, the retail price is two to three times as much as Wegmans eggs.

We continue to believe that our own farm provides the best and most affordable choice for most of our customers.

A little background...A group of Rochester, New York activists broke into our farm more than once in 2004. The activists allegedly filmed hens in one laying house during the break-ins and called on law enforcement authorities to investigate.

In the end, it was determined there was no evidence of animal abuse. The New York State Police and the Wayne County District Attorney’s office jointly conducted the investigation, and Wegmans fully cooperated. A noted Cornell University veterinarian was also asked to assess our farm. The break-ins are now a matter in the hands of law enforcement authorities.

The activists recently released a 30-minute film about our farm. Many statements made in the film are simply not true [which ones?], and we have serious doubts as to whether all the images come from our farm [which images do not come from your farm?].