Teach You How to Pick Good Eggs! University Students Help Friendly Eggs

Reported by Reporter Chen Yi-Ching 2016/05/25 16:43 (updated on 2016/05/25 17:41)

Taiwanese love to eat eggs. Each person eats 290 eggs averagely each year. But, do we pick good eggs? In order to promote the Cage-Free eggs, CYCU students formed the “Good Egg Push Push” group and paid a visit to the stock farm to verify the difference in feeding, research the egg production and marketing process, establish the assistance plan, and unveil the secrets of eggs through the monopoly game and animation films. It has been one decade since CYCU advertising & marketing Service-Learning courses were organized. The courses worked with public welfare groups or social enterprises. The teachers and students promoted their concept to the organizations which they were responsible for after planning the activity one year ago. Assistant Professor of CYCU Department of Commercial Design, Chiu Yung-Chung, said that students should not only rely on theories. They could find out the solution only after verifying the difficulty suffered by the public welfare organizations thoroughly.

▲Photo/Chen Yi-Ching/It has been one decade since CYCU advertising & marketing Service-Learning courses were organized. The “Good Egg Push Push” group worked with Environment & Animal Society of Taiwan to promote the Cage-Free eggs. Seeing that the hens confined in cages work so hard and were so weak, nervous and molting, the “Good Egg Push Push” group worked with Environmental & Animal Society of Taiwan to research the healthy value and difference in taste from the source, namely production and marketing of eggs, and then promote the friendly eggs. According to the group’s research, many of eggs in Taiwan are produced by the hens raised in battery cages. 2~4 hens are raised in each cage occupying an area of A4 size. The depressed and narrow space makes the hens become weak and step on each other. Once one of them infects some disease, it is necessary to administer animal medicine or antibiotic. Besides, the battery cage hens are often anxious and molting, and might have defective skeletal system because they step on each other frequently. They live in the environment full of the taste of chicken shit and often have respiratory syndrome. Apparently, the hens are “unhealthy and unhappy”. Notwithstanding, there are also other alternative sources of eggs. Some domestic suppliers adopt the “floor feeding” to allow the hens to move in a space and live naturally; therefore, the hens are seldom sick. The students’ group found after the visit to the stock farm that there was an alternative approach to make the hens “happier”, namely “grazing”. The birdhouse is equipped with laying nests, perches and bedding. The hens are allowed to run and jump outdoors and, therefore, become stronger and live naturally. After the long-term research, the students sighed that “we only knew how to eat eggs, but never knew the knowledge about eggs; the taste of these eggs was really different.”

The little egg school communicates the correct knowledge about picking good eggs. Every one wishes to pick good eggs, but it is not easy to promote friendly eggs. The Good Egg Push Push group member, the senior student of CYCU Department of Business Administration, Hung Chung-Hui, admitted that “Price is the key.” Due to the different feeding cost, the price is NT$2~4 per ordinary egg. However, it is NT$10per friendly egg. Though the friendly eggs are healthy to human beings and friendly to the environment, the significant price difference causes it difficult to persuade consumers. The Good Egg Push Push plan was initiated accordingly. 15 students presented the marketing proposal, modified the proposal for 3 times, set up the exclusive FB fan page, organized the foretaste of eggs, produced the tabletop monopoly game, produced the animation film, and desired to communicate their idea through an active approach. The Group also designed the picture and text for “Little Egg School”, challenged the common myths and worked hard to communicate the correct knowledge about “picking eggs”. For example, how to pick fresh eggs? The Good Egg Push Push Group proposed three steps. The first, pick the egg with intact shell. The second, pick the medium-size or small-size egg, because most of big eggs are produced by old hens. Finally, shake the egg slightly and listen to the sound. If it is soundless, the egg is fresh. After breaking the egg, please also observe it. The fresh egg has solid yolk not likely to spread out, and there are two visible layers of egg white. By means of the young and active pictures, the Good Egg Push Push Group hopes to change consumers’ knowledge about eggs and enable the consumers to verify the difference in eggs. In the future, Environmental & Animal Society of Taiwan schedules to gather the egg farmers adopting the floor feeding system and grazing feeding system to establish the “Good Egg Ally” to work hard for the hens’ welfare and consumers’ dietary safety. The Good Egg Push Push Group also hopes to enable consumers to accept the friendly eggs and urge the egg farmers to change their feeding system, by promotion of its idea.