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mation about the conditions under which animals were raised. Con-
sumers who want to make choices that are more humane are often
misled by words such as “natural,” which have nothing whatso-
ever to do with the treatment of animals. Although I do not know
exactly what this program would look like, I can sketch out some
components. It would differ from existing programs such as Certi-
fi ed Humane Raised and Handled and American Humane Certifi ed.
These voluntary programs enroll producers who raise their animals
according to specifi c animal welfare standards. These programs are
well intentioned, but they do not make farming practices visible to
the consumer. For example, humane standards allow for the trim-
ming of the beaks of egg-laying hens; they use the word trimming
rather than debeaking. Although the two processes can differ, a con-
sumer could easily think that “humanely” produced eggs come from
hens who have not endured this practice at all. To make these and
other practices visible to consumers, I support a system proposed
by Jeff Leslie and Cass R. Sunstein, by which all animal products
would carry a label informing consumers of the practices used in
production. Thus, instead of having one shelf in the egg section of
a supermarket designated for “cage free” eggs, all egg cartons would
disclose the conditions in which the hens lived, using terms that
consumers could easily understand. Consumers have the right to
know that their meat, eggs, and dairy products came from animals
who lived highly confi ned lives. As Leslie and Sunstein explain:
A consumer-focused label might contain disclosure of the
frequency with which chickens suffer from chemical burns
caused by lying in unsanitary litter;... a label might dis-
close the frequency (or absence) of bruises, broken wings,
and birds that are dead on arrival at the processing plant, all
of which can result from rough handling. The label might
also disclose the extent to which the producer provides
the birds with access to straw, hay, or similar biodegrad-
able material for environmental enrichment and expres-
sion of natural behaviors. The most effective label criteria
are likely to be those that focus on health and welfare out-