The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate overwhelmingly passed a resolution April 7 calling for Tufts University Dining Services to switch to cage-free eggs.
Though the resolution has no legal force, TCU President Wyatt Cadley, a senior, said it sent a clear message to the university.
"The resolution just serves as a recommendation to Dining Services, who will ultimately have the final say as to whether or not they change their practices," Cadley said.
Sophomores Jeremy Goldman and Aaron Kahen of student group Tufts Cage-Free submitted the resolution.
"The measure is an important first step in taking a stand against cruelty to animals," Goldman said. "The conditions on hen farms are horrible. Chickens are confined to a tiny area the size of a piece of a paper. It is basically a terrible life."
Goldman and Kahen organized a petition drive to introduce the resolution, collecting over 520 signatures, according to Goldman.
"Speaking for myself, not a single person declined to sign the petition," he said. "We hope the Tufts Dining Services sees this as a clear demand to make the switch to cage-free eggs."
In the drafting process, Goldman said he worked closely with Jessica Popescu, a graduate student in the Masters of Science in Animals and Public Policy program at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.
"We thought this was the right thing to do, especially since other Boston area universities, like Harvard, Brandeis and Boston University were taking a lead on this issue," Popescu
The Humane Society of the United States is behind a major lobbying effort on college campuses to educate students about the conditions on hen farms.
According to the organization's website, U.S factory farms confine about 280 million hens in battery cages so small that they cannot spread their wings.
The university currently purchases 100 percent cage-free shell eggs, according to the Tufts Dining Services website. However, Popescu said there is an important distinction between whole eggs and the eggs most used by Dining Services.
"The largest portion of eggs consumed at Tufts are liquid eggs, and it is critical for the University to begin to buy them from a more humane source," Popescu said. "We hope Tufts Dining Services will agree to switch to 100 percent cage-free eggs."
According to Goldman, Dining Services estimates that the switch would cost about $30,000 more per year, or about $6 per student.
Dining Services would simply take the extra costs into account within its budget, he said. No extra cost would be passed to students.
Several national restaurant chains, including the Boston-based Au Bon Pain, have taken similar action by using only whole eggs from hens that are not confined in cages, according to Popescu.
