"Then, a call came through. A call that would change everything."
It’s March 2018, and a small group of The Humane League UK staff and supporters are standing outside the London office of Noble Foods - the UK’s biggest egg producer.
It’s the second day of a planned five-day protest, and it’s bitterly cold.
There’s an eerie quietness. Today, Noble Foods staff haven’t shown up to the office.
Then, a call came through. A call that would change everything.
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The call on that day eight years ago was from a journalist. They wanted us to comment on a press release Noble Foods had just put out, in which it had committed to going cage-free.
That was how we found out we had won our campaign. Millions of hens would be free from cruel, cramped cages. But not only that. In that moment, we knew the spirit of the UK’s cage-egg industry had been broken.
At the time of our Noble Foods campaign in 2018, 1 in 2 hens in the UK were caged. Just eight years later, that number is now 1 in 7. Under intense pressure, supermarkets and other big companies have been rapidly ditching eggs from caged hens.
Now, we are on the precipice of ending cages for good.
[HELP END CAGES - EMAIL FARMFOODS BOSSES]
As we await the results of the Government’s consultation on banning cages for hens, I wanted to remind you how far we have come. Every protest, every petition signature, every email to an MP, has led us to this point.
And that cold day outside Noble Foods eight years ago? It’s a reminder of the power of people like you and me, coming together to demand better for animals.
Have a moment to help bring the end of cages closer?
Farmfoods is the only major UK supermarket without a commitment to stop using eggs from caged hens. Given the progress this country has made, it is an outrage that a few greedy bosses at Farmfoods are holding us back.
Will you take one minute to send an email to Farmfoods bosses now to demand they stop caging hens?
Thank you for being part of the fight to end cruel cages. Together, we have come so far, and I cannot wait for the day when cages are consigned to the history books.
For the animals,
Cordelia Britton, Head of Programs at The Humane League UK