The University of Southern California's Dining Services is buying eggs from "battery cage" egg farms - massive warehouses where hens are confined to cages so small they cannot spread their wings and can barely turn around. They often live among the feces and waste of other birds, and their feathers are torn off from constantly rubbing against the cage bars. Because of the filthy conditions, battery cage eggs are more than twice as likely to be contaminated with salmonella. Organizations like the Center for Food Safety support a switch to cage-free eggs to protect human health.

Battery cages are so cruel they have in fact been banned as criminal animal cruelty right here in California as well as in other states. Battery cage farms have also been condemned as unsustainable by environmental organizations like the Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council because of their serious impact on air and water quality. And farm laborer groups like the United Farm Workers, Cesar Chavez Foundation, and National Black Farmers Association all encourage a switch to cage-free in order to improve the conditions for farm workers.

Hundreds of other colleges and universities have already made a switch to using only cage-free eggs, including local schools like UC San Diego, UC Irvine, UCLA, and over forty other schools in southern California.

Please sign the petition asking USC's Dining Services to switch to using only cage-free eggs!