From Farm to Table:
Videos give glimpse into "United Egg Producers Certified" program
United Egg producers is a trade association representing the majority of U.S. egg farmers who sell about 90 percent of all the eggs developed in the U.S. United Egg producers understand they have a responsibility to house and manage their animals at the highest levels of husbandry and welfare which is why the "United Egg Producers Certified" program was developed. Below are videos giving you a glimpse inside two egg producing farms, allowing you to see firsthand how your eggs get from the farm to your plate.
What is sustainability?
The word "sustain" from the Latin sustinere (sus-, from below and tenere, to hold), to keep in existence or maintain, implies long-term support or permanence. As it pertains to agriculture, sustainable describes farming systems that are "capable of maintaining their productivity and usefulness to society indefinitely. Such systems... must be resource-conserving, socially supportive, commercially competitive, and environmentally sound."
[John Ikerd, as quoted by Richard Duesterhaus in "Sustainability's Promise," Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (Jan.-Feb. 1990) 45(1): p.4. NAL Call # 56.8 J822] http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/agnic/susag.shtml
What percent of farms in the US are certified as sustainable?
Currently there is no certification process that can officially declare a farm sustainable. Although there are many farmers operating sustainably there is no way of knowing the exact number of sustainable farms. What we do know is according to the 2007 Census of Agriculture there are 2,204,792 farms in the United States and of those, 1,906,335 are family operated.
More data from the 2002 Census of Agriculture
What are the biggest environmental concerns farmers face in regards to the effect their farming practices have on pollution?
Water quality, air quality and odor are the three biggest environmental concerns for farmers. Farmers take extra care to monitor the emission of potential pollutants to the environment, for example, using composting methods. The use of natural feed supplements can reduce pollutants from farms as well, to learn how visit our "Sustainable Solutions" page.