Won't someone think of the chickens?

Ezra Klein looks at a recent Nic Kristof column on chickens.  

Subsequently, I came across the Humane Farm Animal Care certification on some eggs in my local Harris-Teeter. The Humane Farm certification is given to products from farms that ensure a "nutritious diet without antibiotics, or hormones, animals raised with shelter, resting areas, sufficient space and the ability to engage in natural behaviors." More information here. They're careful to say that "humane" is not the same thing as "cage free" or "organic," terms that I think have gotten mixed up with humane practices in the consumers mind. Moreover, the more of a market there is for these products, the cheaper they'll become, which will in turn grow the market, which will again make the products cheaper, and so forth. You've seen this with organics (though there've also been considerable efforts to cut corners).

Cage-free doesn't mean relatively humane?  Sigh.  They were mixed up in this consumer's mind.  I put rather little weight on organic, but guess I'll have to update what certifications I look for.  Some of them also claim to be cruelty-free.  I wonder if that's a meaningful standard.