As most United States citizens already know, Vital Farms is a great egg brand that has achieved a good reputation because it claims that it provides eggs from ethically raised, happy, pasture-raised chickens, you know? But it is a lot like their ads, you know, it is not perfect just like any other big brand out there. Sure enough, with a lot of distractions on the short side of the recent year, the company is the recipient of serious backlash from a lawsuit that claims that they misled customers about the real way the eggs are produced. So, let’s just go over this Vital Farms Lawsuit and see what really is going on here.
What Sparked the Lawsuit?
So back in May of 2021, PETA, the organization that fights for animal rights along with some individual plaintiffs sued Vital Farms, and why’s that though? Well, it was actually simple, you see, they said that the company uses weasel advertising to trick customers into thinking that their eggs were produced in a humane way. And the customers were paying extra money thinking they were saving animals from cruelty. However, the lawsuit stated that Vitals Farms was casual about its promises. Like? As per the details that are already out, some of the charges included that the birds were debarked and that the males who were not laying eggs were killed, which is completely the opposite of what Vital Farms claims, don’t you think?
Then we all witnessed something else, and sure enough, the Court took this lawsuit seriously, and in 2022 a Texas Court denied the firms’ plea to dismiss the case showing that there’s enough evidence for it to proceed.
So, Are Vital Farms’ Practices as Humane as They Say?
As you might have seen already Vital Farms not only gives its eggs catchy terms like “pasture-raised” and “certified humane” but is also worried about the ethical implications of its products, right? And sure enough, when you hear this, you might assume that the terms used are indicators of real sustainability and ethical practice, but actually, this is not always true. Like, one important aspect to consider, for instance, is that “pasture-raised” merely proves the hens are allowed access to a pasture for a green outside area but does not imply they necessarily spend a lot of time there, you know? Not just that though, in the worst case, due to overcrowding, they may not be able to lay their eggs when they can’t get out of the house at all.
They denied the accusation that they do the debeaking of chickens. You know, they stated that beaks are not totally cut off but rather the tops are just rounded out so that the chickens do not injure each other. Vital Farms, however, states that it does not have hatcheries or the final say in the matter but it acknowledged the probable scenario that the hatchery which supplies it with hens is the one performing the culling.
And What Is This Social Media Backlash Scene?
It was the uproar of the masses calling for the improved treatment of animals and the reaction of Vital Farms on the TikTok platform that set the Social Media Scene kinda crazy. Like, some of the purchasers felt deceived, including those who paid more for the eggs, although others were angry. Not just that though, then there were some influencers who explained how the marketing claims did not correlate with actual farming practices by sharing their experiences.
You know, the problem that emerged was summed up in one viral TikTok: that it is very hard for customers to find out about the true origin of their food. Therefore, the pressure on Vital Farms to respond to those rising issues was increasing due to the growing online attention on them, which is pretty understandable.