Launch comes amid major concern over pollution from chicken farms in Britain
Morrisons has launched a new line of eggs from hens fed on insects and food waste, as the retailer aims to be directly supplied by net-zero emission farms by 2030.
The so-called “planet-friendly” eggs are the first product in the supermarket’s eight-year drive to net zero, with Morrisons claiming the eggs are “carbon neutral”.
A key element of the planet-friendly egg production method is that the hens are fed a soya-free diet, and are instead fed on food waste from Morrisons’ bakery, fruit and vegetable sites, and this is supplemented with insects from an insect “mini farm” container made by UK company Better Origin, which is installed on the farm.
Better Origin claims it can produce “carbon-negative animal feed”, using up food waste, reducing the use of soya and decarbonising food production.
Of all the world’s farmed land, around 80 per cent of it is for livestock or growing crops to feed livestock. As a result, the consumption of animal products takes a heavy environmental toll.
Soya, a key livestock feed, is associated with environmental damage, particularly where it is grown in vast plantations in places such as Brazil, where global demand has contributed to clearing rainforests, and transport and shipping around the world creates further pollution.
Morrisons has reassured customers that insects are a natural part of chickens’ diets and have no negative impact on the quality, shelf life or taste of the eggs.
It also said the farm where the eggs are coming from has a large wind turbine, solar panels and a programme to offset remaining emissions, with a fifth of its land planted with trees.
A report by Cambridge University, which looks at the production of the…
