Girl power

It’s fantastic, we have a lot of fun!

Female poultry farmers from all over the Netherlands are passionately promoting Dutch eggs and the poultry sector. ‘Wonderful to improve the image of the egg together’, says Petra Smits, chairperson of mmmEggies. The egg is back as a staple in the healthy eating guideline of the Dutch Nutrition Centre.

They are well known in the Netherlands, the mmmEggies with their pink blouses and pink eggs. ‘The beauty of it is that female layer farmers are promoting eggs together with other layer farmers from all over the country with various housing systems. Everyone does what they are good at, and together we stand side by side for Dutch eggs’, says Petra Smits, besides chairperson also layer farmer in the Dutch province of Limburg. ‘It’s fantastic to do. We have a lot of fun,

The mmmEggies: Dutch female layer farmers who promote the egg. Petra Smits is the first woman on the right leaning against the trailer.

love to start a conversation and finding a connection’, according to the enthusiastic chairperson.

Spontaneous idea

In 2014, five female layer farmers spontaneously got the idea to start promoting Dutch eggs in collaboration with the Blij met een Ei foundation (Happy with an egg). Eight years later there are thirty mmmEggies. ‘I heard of the initiative and thought: I want to be a part of that’, tells Petra. With girl power, the mmmEggies make an active, open and honest contribution to the image of Dutch eggs as a healthy product and the image of Dutch food producers. ‘Our vision is that the egg is a food of high value that contributes to a healthy life for people and that it is produced in a responsible way.’ An egg is OK every day: many consumers are not aware of this because of the old cholesterol advice. An egg is superfood, tasty and affordable for everyone, and the Dutch egg sector is among the best

I want to be a part of that

The mmmEggies handing out pink boiled eggs to participants of Nijmegen’s 4Days Marches. in the world. ‘We spread this message with female passion and a lot of power’, explains Petra Smits. This gives the female poultry farmers a lot of energy. ‘The reaction of consumers are nice. Our boiled, pink eggs are well known: everybody wants it. On trade fairs and events this leads to interesting discussions.’

Image improvement

Much has been achieved in the past eight years: the Cacklingpot with questions and facts about chickens and eggs, eggs at the National School Breakfast, the egg in the major food groups, egg promotion at consumer fairs and on social media. At the Nijmegen’s 4Days Marches they hand out boiled, pink eggs to the participants. On World Egg Day an egg hunt, donating eggs to the Food Bank. The consumption is increased from 199 eggs per capita in the Netherlands in 2014 to 204 in 2019. ‘But that can be higher if we look at consumption in other countries’, Petra laughs.

Ambitious

There now is an ambitious group of women who are full of exciting ideas. The board turns these idea into action hands them to working groups. ‘Now, for example, there is an education working group that develops educational materials that we can use on the farm and in the classroom’, explains Petra. Every female poultry farmer is welcome, either as a mmmEggie or as an assistant mmmEggie who helps with local or larger activities. And next? The world is waiting! A study trip to Canada is planned for 2023 to exchange ideas with fellow poultry farmers.

Blij met een Ei

The Blij met een Ei foundation and the mmmEggies work closely together. Poultry farmers and other companies active in poultry farming support the mmmEggies fi nancially through the Blij met een Ei foundation. Much of the material is available free of charge to schools and supporters. And the work is all voluntary. ‘The challenge is to work together to reach the consumer in an eff ective way and to make it known that eggs are an enrichment for a healthy life. Doing nothing is not an option. For € 200 per year, a poultry farmer contributes to PR for eggs. For other companies, there is a bronze, silver or gold sponsor package. Together we are strong!’ concludes Petra Smits.

André Steentjes

Migrating birds: please stay away from our farms!

In many European countries, the poultry sector suff ered from several waves of High Pathogenic Avian Infl uenza in the last two decades. The Netherlands, which had been free from HPAI since 1927(!), in particular experienced a huge epidemic of Avian Flu in 2003 starting in a very poultry dense region: 255 outbreaks, 30 million birds killed, 86 human infections, in one case fatal for a poultry veterinarian. Total costs: €500 million euro. Hard lessons were learnt about how to detect the fi rst outbreak as soon as possible to prevent the virus spreading from farm to farm and how to preventively cull large amounts of birds in a poultry dense area. Early warning became the new keyword. After this disastrous outbreak in 2003, the Netherlands stayed free from Avian Flu until 2014. But then, further outbreaks followed year after year, also in other European countries. In the winter of 2021-2022, a large part of Europe experienced a new wave of outbreaks.

Research shows that migrating birds fl ying from the North of Europe via ‘the East Atlantic fl yway’ in a southern direction after summer are the source of HPAI on commercial poultry farms, even on farms with very strict biosecurity measures. In particular some species of ducks, geese and swans that prefer to hibernate in wetlands with mild winters and, consequently, adequate forage, can act as reservoir and potential vector of the Avian Infl uenza virus.

Since HPAI not only threatens poultry businesses almost every year, but is also a risk for human health, vaccination of commercial poultry is now considered in the European Union. But also when new vaccines have shown effi cacy and safety under fi eld conditions, trade partners have to agree with this approach of disease control and have to be convinced that vaccination does not cover up the presence of HPAI virus. In the meantime, strict biosecurity, monitoring for LPAI, and early detection of HPAI are essential tools to prevent disastrous epidemics worldwide.

André Steentjes is poultry veterinarian at Veterinair Centrum Someren