Dear Editor,

UCSD college namesake Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “A nation may be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable members.” Proposition 2 is on the ballot to ensure animals are treated humanely enough to be able to extend their limbs during their lifetimes. I believe an economic impact study about the economic harm to California’s egg industry with ties to wealthy lobbyists and UC Board of Regents is about as valid as the current administration’s viewpoints on global warming or evolution. I would like to highlight a few interesting facts.

As a consumer I can expect to pay no more than $0.83 for an organic free-range grade-A egg. If I choose to eat in a restaurant, this margin is completely obliterated. The farmers/corporations that financed equipment to increase production are going to be hurt because their equipment will be obsolete. Proposition 2 legislation affects their way of life, and of course they will pull all the punches and do what they can to defeat the legislation. Any way you look at it, egg prices will increase because the industry will try to recover its costs. Farmers who have family farms and sustainable practices will be affected in the least.

With higher fuel prices, I think it would be difficult for eggs laid in Mexico to be arbitraged effectively in California for a profit. I think paying up to an additional 20 cents an egg in the future for something that was treated humanely is something I’m willing to pay with no questions asked. I mean, I’ve been paying more with no questions asked for tuition, textbooks and fuel for years now.

— Michael Nitzani
John Muir College alumnus