The Special Supplemental Nutrition Programs for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) of Washington, D.C. and Hawai’i are the latest to approve cage-free eggs for purchase by participants. As of November 1st, 2021, all WIC participants in Hawai’i have the option to purchase cage-free eggs, and as of October 1st, 2021, all WIC participants in D.C. can buy cage-free, organic, and free-range eggs.  

WIC is a state-run, federally funded program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that provides supplemental nutrition for low-income women and their children. Cage-free eggs have historically been excluded from WIC approved food lists (AFLs) because they are viewed as a specialty product. However, as the nation’s supply chain increasingly transitions to cage-free (up from 10% in 2016 to 29% in 2022), WIC programs are changing to keep up. Programs in states that have passed legislation banning the sale and production of eggs from caged hens such as Oregon have updated their approved foods to ensure WIC participants still have access to eggs. Several grocery retailers with cage-free commitments have cited their participation in WIC as a barrier to meeting their goal, adding pressure on WIC agencies to expand their AFLs to include cage-free eggs. The pandemic has also prompted some WIC programs to approve cage-free eggs to compensate for conventional egg supply shortages. 

Chickens raised in battery cages spend their whole lives in crowded, barren conditions with less room than a standard sheet of paper. The cages are typically stacked several rows high in large, artificially lit buildings housing thousands of birds and provide no perches, bedding, or access to fresh air. 

Compassion in World Farming USA is working to help WIC agencies add more humane egg options to their approved food lists.  Over 2.4 million women and toddlers enrolled in WIC have access to cage-free eggs thanks to changes over the last few years, but more than 2.3 million still lack access. Adding cage-free eggs to more WIC programs could not only improve the lives of millions of hens but also increase food equity, ensuring that financial status is not a barrier to supporting more compassionate purchases. Compassion USA applauds Washington, D.C. and Hawai’i for taking this important step in food justice and animal welfare. 

To learn more about Compassion USA’s WIC and other policy work, see our public policy page.

To build a compassionate food system that doesn’t rely on exploitive factory farming, we must ensure a transition that allows everyone to participate—regardless of income. Thankfully, the movement to do just that is well underway!

Earlier this year, both the Oregon and Colorado Special Supplemental Nutrition Programs for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) updated their Approved Foods Lists (AFLs)—lists which specify which foods WIC recipients can purchase—to include cage-free eggs. That means that a combined 185,000+ consumers were granted access to more compassionate egg options. That’s a win for everyone!

Compassion USA initiated dialogue with both states, as well as presented at the National WIC Association Nutrition and Breastfeeding Conference, in 2020 and we are excited to see the programs expand their egg categories in alignment with over 200 major food businesses who have committed to source and sell exclusively cage-free eggs by 2025 and eight state legislatures.

But the fight for a cage-free future that’s inclusive to all still has a long way to go. As it stands, only 18 states authorize cage-free eggs—not including the six territory and 34 tribal programs. (See our Cage-free Eggs & WIC Tracker map.)

Not only is this an economic justice concern, but it’s also a logistical challenge for national retailers with cage-free commitments. Nearly every major US retailer that has a commitment to go 100% cage-free by 2025, including giants like Walmart, Target, and Kroger, also participates in the WIC program.
Meaning, unless this obstacle is addressed through WIC, major retailers will either be unable to fulfill their public commitment to consumers or will be unable to fully serve WIC recipients. Neither of these outcomes is acceptable.

Compassion USA is committed to, and already undertaking, the work of dismantling this regulatory barrier to participation in and progress towards a more compassionate food system by working alongside retailers and the WIC program to expand access to cage-free eggs.

For more information, please see our WIC & Cage-free Eggs Fact Sheet

Written by Tyler Hazard and Katya Simkhovich

The problems in our food system have always been intersectional, and they need intersectional solutions.

As the country shifts away from the cruel cage confinement of farmed animals, with retailers working towards their 100% cage-free egg commitments and states passing legislation banning the production and sale of products from caged animals, it is imperative we foster a just transition that not only creates meaningful change in the lives of animals, but also allows all US consumers to partake in that progress.

Compassion USA firmly believes that everyone, regardless of income, should be able to make food choices that align with their values. Economic status must not be a barrier to compassionate decision-making. Unfortunately, for too many, it is.

Recent federal survey data indicates that one-in-six US families with children experienced some level of food insecurity in the past week due to lack of resources. And USDA data shows that last year, 36.7 million and 6.4 million Americans enrolled in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), respectively. From recent conversations with state WIC agencies, we’ve learned these numbers are expected to grow significantly this year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For these families, what they place in their carts at the grocery store does not simply boil down to choice, but to cost and access. While SNAP allows its recipients broad agency in deciding how to spend their benefits, the WIC program, which provides additional food assistance to support the nutrition of pregnant women, young mothers, and children, has a much narrower scope of approved foods as determined by each state—and in most states, cage-free eggs are not one of them.

WIC Approved Food Lists (AFLs) are determined with nutrition, availability, and cost in mind. However, with more compassionate food choices becoming increasingly available and affordable, we have the opportunity and obligation to expand those considerations to allow for greater and more equitable participation in a more ethical food system.

Currently, only Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Washington, and Wyoming allow WIC recipients permanent access to cage-free eggs. Other states, like Texas and California, temporarily have expanded their AFLs to include cage-free eggs only for the duration of the COVID-19 public health emergency to ensure food availability.

Not only is the prohibition of cage-free eggs an economic justice concern, but it’s also a logistical challenge for national retailers with cage-free commitments. Nearly every major retailer in the US that has a commitment to go 100% cage-free in their egg supply by 2025, including giants like Walmart, Target, and Kroger, also participates in the WIC program.

Meaning, unless this obstacle is addressed through WIC, major retailers will either be unable to fulfill their public commitment to consumers or will be unable to fully serve WIC recipients. Neither of these outcomes is acceptable.

The next few years will be a critical period, during which WIC programs across the nation will need to adapt to the changing retailer market and include cage-free eggs in their AFLs—for their recipients, retailers, and farmed animals alike. As the country deals with the economic fallout of COVID-19 in the months and years to come, and possibly more families than ever before turn to WIC for nutrition assistance, we must ensure that everyone can stand by their values while also to keeping their household fed.

Compassion USA is committed to, and already undertaking, the work of dismantling this regulatory barrier to participation in and progress towards a more compassionate food system by working alongside both retailers and the WIC program to expand access to cage-free eggs.

For more information, please see our WIC & Cage-free Eggs Fact Sheet

Tyler Hazard is the Public Engagement Manager at Compassion in World Farming USA. He holds a B.S. in Animal Science and Psychology, and an M.S. in Animals and Public Policy from Tufts University.

Katya Simkhovich is the Senior Food Business Manager at Compassion in World Farming USA. She holds a B.A. in Food Studies from New York University.