Group Health Commits to Cage-Free Eggs
Group Health Cooperative’s Capitol Hill campus has made a commitment to using cage-free liquid and shell eggs. The hospital will be purchasing Wilcox liquid eggs and Davidson’s shell eggs. “We’ve used pasteurized shell eggs for years to avoid having to have a physician order to use shell eggs, and now Davidson’s pasteurized shell eggs are available as cage free so we’ve changed over,” says Mary Hanson, Manager of Nutrition Services.
Wilcox Farms is a Food Alliance-certified, 100-year old family farm located in Roy, Washington. Davidson’s is a national company based in Illinois. Their cage-free eggs are Certified Humane.
Group Health began purchasing the Washington-produced Wilcox cage-free liquid eggs when they became available through US Foods. “We made the change to Wilcox liquid eggs because they were a local producer.”
For the last two years, The Humane Society of the United States has sustained a massive effort asking hospitals and other major foodservice sectors to purchase cage-free eggs. In July 2011, the Humane Society of the United States and The United Egg Producers (the egg industry’s trade group) announced an historic agreement whereby both organizations will support—and work toward enactment of—federal legislation to improve the lives of the 280 million hens used in the U.S. egg industry each year. Many thanks to the hospitals and businesses whose support made this possible!
Healthy Food in Health Care: Washington’s Year in Review, December 2011