Bill requiring competition for cage-free eggs passes Iowa House

Iowa grocers participating in a supplemental food program would need to offer conventional eggs if they sell eggs from chickens housed in a cage-free, free-range or enriched colony cage environment under an Iowa House bill passed Monday night.

House File 2408 was approved on an 81-17 vote, sending it to the Iowa Senate for consideration.

Supporters said the legislation would apply to grocers participating as a vendors in the special supplemental food program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC The program is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in cooperation with state officials, and the bill would allow state officials to seek a federal waiver if necessary.

Rep. Jarad Klein, R-Keota, the bill's floor manager, said the legislation is intended to assure that a low-cost choice for protein is available when low-income Iowans head to the grocery store. Free-range or cage-free eggs are typically more expensive than conventional eggs from large farming operations.

Supporters also pointed out that Iowa is the nation's leading egg producer, noting the egg industry provides thousands of jobs and consumes millions of bushels of Iowa corn and soybeans.

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, an activist group that has fought large-scale Iowa farm, has opposed the House measure, calling it the "Force-Fed Factory Farm Egg bill." Adam Mason, CCI's state policy organization director, recently wrote an email to CCI supporters, citing the House bill as an example of Iowa lawmakers who are beholden to corporate agriculture.

Several Democratic House members raised questions about the concept of forcing Iowa grocers to sell a certain type of egg.

"I thought we were all about free enterprise and letting the market determine the price of things. I am in support of the small farmer in Iowa and there are many," said Rep. Sharon Steckman, D-Mason City.

Rep. Chuck Isenhart, D-Dubuque, said his guess is that as grocers request cage-free eggs in response to consumer demand, the market will begin offering those eggs at a lower price.

"I think this particular bill will turn out to be much ado about nothing," Isenhart predicted.

Klein insisted that the bill is to ensure the people participating in WIC can purchase what they need when they go to the grocery store. The legislation will also provide choice for Iowans when they shop, he added.

"This is Iowa. We can feed our people and we can feed the world," said Klein, who farms in southeast Iowa.

The bill’s provisions do not require a grocery store to stock eggs if it does not stock specialty eggs for sale or to stock conventionally produced eggs for sale if it had not stocked such eggs for sale prior to Jan. 1, 2018.