Emily Raap
Food Lion must be kinder to the animals in its supply chain.
The Easter Bunny photo opportunity may have been the intended focus of a local springtime event—but another animal took the spotlight instead: the egg-laying hen.
On April 5, residents of Salisbury, North Carolina attended its Ring in Spring event and were greeted by chalk messages calling on grocery chain Food Lion to do better for suffering hens in its supply chain. Food Lion–headquartered in Salisbury—has been embroiled in a public controversy for its failure to properly honor its commitment to help spare egg-laying hens from life in a cruel cage.
In seasonally appropriate pastels, protesters left messages urging Food Lion executives to keep its cage-free promise, and be kinder to hens.
Though the protest was peaceful, the response it generated seemed disproportionate: locals tried to remove the chalked messages with water bottles—another instance of disgruntled Food Lion supporters using water against protesters (earlier in April, multiple Food Lion employees splashed protesters with their car).
But the commitment Food Lion made isn’t so easy to erase or remove—especially after it was publicized by the company years ago. Unhappy customers will continue to urge Food Lion to help ease the suffering of the hens it promised to help, as its cage-free fulfillment would create a positive impact for countless hens. By working together to send a message to companies that they need to do better, the plight of factory-farmed animals becomes impossible to ignore.
