Between March 28 and 30, the First European Summit of the Open Wing Alliance was held in Madrid under the presidency of Equalia, in which the problem of keeping chickens and hens in cages was discussed.
The problem is quite localized in Spain if we talk about Europe, since our country is the largest producer of caged farm animals in the EU, with about 92 million animals. Meanwhile, in other countries such as Switzerland, the Czech Republic or Germany, it is already forbidden to keep laying hens in cages.
Equalia NGO accuses Mercadona of "Welfare Washing"
Mercadona is the most important supermarket chain in our country and that is why its actions are very relevant, since they affect millions of hens and chickens.
In this way, Equalia has accused it of "Welfare Washing", a term that applies to those companies that do not comply with commitments in animal welfare, or that are not very transparent with them.
The reason is that the Valencian chain does not include Hacendado brand products in the cage-free policy, so all the eggs we buy in its stores may come from cages in which hens live in poor conditions.
It seems that right now the supermarket keeps more than two million hens caged, something that many other food brands that sell eggs from animals raised on the ground have already stopped doing, at the same price or even cheaper than those from cages.
An awareness action in Valencia
In order for consumers to know how Mercadona acts, Equalia has gone to Valencia, the city where this company was born and where it has its headquarters, in order to carry out an awareness campaign that will include a truck circulating throughout the city and billboards.
In the vehicle you will be able to see large images, which show the consequences that living in cages has on the body of hens.
The aim is for the consumer to have all the information before buying eggs in that supermarket, providing the transparency that Mercadona is not giving when explaining how they treat hens.
What do Equalia NGO and the OWA want?
The work they are doing is aimed at banning hens from being caged in 2027, for which both organizations (the OWA includes almost one hundred different organizations that want to end the mistreatment of chickens) do not rely on aggressive campaigns.
Their way of working is through raising awareness among citizens and especially collaborating with the industry, so that it is the one that gradually introduces changes, just as several food companies have already done.
As consumers we can do a lot by joining the campaign and putting pressure on supermarkets (Mercadona in this case) in order to carry out actions to improve the lives of laying hens from which the eggs in their shelves come from.
