6 - 12 July
To coincide with its Good Egg Awards*, Compassion in World Farming, the leading farm animal welfare charity is launching Bake with Compassion week from 6 – 12 July 2009 to raise awareness for its campaign against battery caged eggs.
Compassion in World Farming supporters Brightwalton 5-12 Youth Club are hosting a good egg cooking evening on Friday the 10th of July at 18:30-20:00. We are cooking cup cakes and using our own local free range eggs for the event*.
Supporters of Bake with Compassion week include Kate Ford (Coronation Street’s Tracy Barlow), Sophie Grigson, Jo Brand, Alison Steadman, Dave Spikey, David Suchet, Paul O’Grady, Brain Blessed.
Kate Ford says: “I would encourage anyone with an interest in animal welfare to get their aprons on and get baking. When you buy eggs, you can choose what sort of life you want the hen to enjoy or endure. If you buy half a dozen eggs a week just switching from caged to free-range could set a hen free.”
“Hosting your own Bake with Compassion event couldn’t be easier. Just invite some friends round for a coffee morning or run a cake sale in the office. I have to confess that I’ve got a real sweet tooth and can never resist a slice of banana and walnut bread. Here’s my own favourite recipe. Why not give it a go.” (see recipe below)
People all over the UK are refusing to eat eggs that have come from inhumane battery cages where each hen is confined to a space the size of an A4 sheet of paper and cannot even flap its wings.
Sales of free-range shell eggs accounted for 56 per cent of the market value in the UK (TNS data).
Free range eggs have seen an 8.4 per cent growth in the volume of sales compared with a 3.3 per cent decline in the sale of battery caged eggs (TNS data).
For the first time this year, The UK’s Office of National Statistics is including large free range eggs in its 2009 Basket of Goods and Services survey.
Yet, despite increased consumer demand for cage-free eggs, 58 per cent of UK hens are still kept in battery cages.
Compassion in World Farming has produced a pocket guide which clearly explains the difference between caged, barn, free-range and organic eggs and what to look for at restaurants and supermarkets: http://www.ciwf.org.uk/egg_guide
Bake with Compassion fundraising packs can be downloaded from http://www.ciwf.org.uk/help_us/fundraising/bake_with_compassion
For further information on Brightwalton Youth Club event please contact Adrian Hollister at adrian@westberksgreens.org.uk or call 01488 639641.
For further information or to arrange interviews with Compassion in World Farming contact Valentina Moressa on 01483 521952 or 07771 926005 (out of office hours) or email valentina@ciwf.org
Kate Ford’s Compassionate Banana and Walnut Loaf
Ingredients:
90 g (3 oz) organic butter
1/3 cup fair trade sugar
1 free-range egg
1 large fair trade banana
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 ¼ cups self raising flour
pinch salt
1/3 cup plain organic yoghurt
2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts
Method:
Beat organic butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add lightly beaten free range egg, beat well. Stir in combined, mashed banana and lemon juice. Fold in sifted dry ingredients alternately with organic yoghurt. Stir in half the chopped walnuts, mix until smooth. Spoon mixture into greased and greased paper lined 25 cm x 8 cm (10in x 3 in) bar tin, sprinkle with remaining walnuts.
Bake in a moderate oven for 40 minutes or until cooked when tested. Allow cake to cool 5 minutes in tin, turn out and cool on wire rack. When cold, cut into slices, serve with organic butter.
Sophie Grison
Sophie Grigson’s Compassionate Coconut and Strawberry Cake
This is a favourite summer recipe in our family, though of course, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t make it in the middle of winter, replacing the strawberries with strawberry jam, or lemon curd.
175g (6 oz) self-raising flour
pinch of salt
115g (4 oz) unsalted butter, softened
250g (9 oz) caster sugar
3 free-range eggs, separated
160 ml (5 51/2 fl oz) o milk
85g (3 oz) dessicated coconut
pinch of cream of tartar
To fill:
150 ml whipping cream, lightly whipped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
150g (5 oz) strawberries, halved
icing sugar
Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Grease and flour two 20 cm (8”) sandwich tins.
Sift the flour with the salt. Beat the butter for a few minutes until very soft then add 150g (5 oz) of the sugar. Cream together until very light and fluffy. Beat in the free-range egg yolks one at a time. Next beat in about a third of the flour followed by half the milk, repeat and then finish with the last of the flour. Fold in the coconut.
Whisk the free-range egg whites and cream of tartar until they form soft peaks. Sprinkle over the remaining sugar and whisk again until the mixture is thick and glossy. Fold into the cake batter. Divide the batter between the two prepared tins and bake for around 30-35 minutes until just firm to the touch. Test by plunging a skewer into the centre – if it comes out clean then the cakes are done. Let them cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out and finish cooling on a wire rack.
To make the filling, whip the cream lightly with a tablespoon of icing sugar and the vanilla extract until it just holds its shape. Hull and halve or quarter the strawberries depending on size. When the cakes are quite cool, spread the upper side of one thickly with cream, then cover with strawberries. Settle the second cake comfortably on top. Dust with a little icing sugar and keep the whole lot cool until tea-time.
Jo Brand
“I'm pleased to get the opportunity to offer my support to Compassion in World Farming’s Good Egg Awards and would like to encourage everyone to support their work by joining in with their Bake With Compassion fundraising week. I think it's really important to back the production of higher welfare eggs, so please get your aprons out and bake a cake with free-range eggs.”
Alison Steadman
"I first witnessed battery hens in 1974 and the image has never left me. I couldn't believe the cruelty to these helpless trapped creatures. Since then I have never knowingly eaten battery eggs. We must continue to fight for cruelty free farming. I am delighted to support Compassion in World Farming’s Good Egg Awards and would encourage anyone with a mixing bowl and a pinny to get baking in order to help raise funds for this worthwhile cause. "
Dave Spikey
My wife and I have adopted many ex-battery hens through the years and it is one of my greatest joys to see them transform from the battered and traumatized birds that arrive, into these beautiful, inquisitive creatures scratching around my garden and bathing in the sun. I am delighted to support CIWF’s work and would encourage anyone with an interest in animal welfare to join their Bake with Compassion fundraising campaign.
David Suchet
"I hope with all my heart we can eventually provide eggs to the nation from chickens who have been given 'quality life' in return for the eggs they give us. That's a FAIR deal - isn't it?"
Paul O'Grady
"My gang of chickens will be very pleased to hear that millions of hens will live cage free thanks to the Good Egg Awards and the work of Compassion in World Farming. I love a good free range egg when I’m baking and I believe that being a nation of animal lovers – we need to remember that our farmyard friends are animals too!”
Brian Blessed
"Battery hens lead miserable lives confined in cages so small they do not even have room to spread their wings, let alone express their natural behaviours. I fully support any campaign which sets out to end their suffering and applaud those companies being celebrated by Compassion in World Farming’s Good Egg Awards. We have a duty to make sure that the animals we farm enjoy happy, healthy, productive lives. The commitment shown by these organisations is a significant move in the right direction. Please support Compassion in World Farming’s important work by getting baking this July"
Notes to the editor
High res photos of our celebrity supporters are available upon request.
High res logos for Compassion in World Farming and Bake with Compassion are available upon request.
The Good Egg Awards have been developed by Compassion in World Farming to celebrate companies that have committed to source only cage-free (barn, free-range or organic) eggs. Winners include Little Chef, Fox’s Biscuits, Starbucks Coffee Company UK, Virgin Trains and Walkers Shortbread.
The list of 2009 Good Egg Award winners in 17 other European countries is available at www.goodeggawards.com
For further information or to arrange interviews contact Valentina Moressa on 01483 521952 or 07771 926005 (out of office hours) or email valentina@ciwf.org
*egg's are provided by Adrian Hollister from 16 Nodmore, Chaddleworth from his own free range chickens
