Katsushika Ward Councilman Calls for Cage-Free School Lunches

On November 30, 2022, Kayoko Natsume, a ward assembly member, asked a general question about animal welfare at a regular meeting of the ward assembly of Katsushika Ward, Tokyo.

The question covered three items: the first was about TNR of community cats and the subsidy system, the second was about evacuation with pets. And third, she spoke about the introduction of cage-free egg feeding.

Citing the trend of eliminating cage keeping in the EU and the Cabinet Office cafeteria’s cage-free program as examples, she said that Katsushika Ward should also work on this as part of the SDGs and set a good example for society.

She stated “Cage-free chicken rearing with less stress will make it closer to nature, where live hens lay eggs, rather than hens laying eggs for the sake of laying eggs. In order to spread this idea, it is important to work on it in schools, where people learn the value of life. From the perspective of animal protection, we would like to ask the district’s opinion on the possibility of using cage-free eggs in school lunches.”

The Board of Education and the Deputy Superintendent of Education replied, “Stable procurement in terms of price and quantity is essential for school lunches. Cage-free eggs are expensive and their distribution is low, so it is difficult to introduce them into school lunches at this time, but we will keep a close eye on the situation.”

Katsushika Ward is actively promoting SDGs initiatives, and recently decided to introduce free school lunches from the spring of 2023. We hope that Katsushika Ward residents will take this opportunity to take a pioneering step forward, and we at the Animal Rights Center will be keeping a close eye on the situation.

An archive of Mr. Natsume’s general question can be found here. (Cage-free reference is from 26:08)
Katsushika Ward Assembly Live Broadcast (discussvision.net)