April Fool’s gold…..

The Feathered Forager enjoys a good prank as much as anyone. But some April Fools are better than others.

The BEIC’s offering fell into the first category. The accompanying images alone were enough to bring cheer to an otherwise lacklustre Easter Monday morning.

The storyline was mildly entertaining too, claiming that scientists had developed the ultimate convenience food – an egg with an edible shell.

“While identical to a regular hen’s egg, boiling water activates a chemical process in the shell to render it palatable for the human digestive system,” it said.

BEIC chairman Andrew Joret added a further degree of credibility and gravitas, describing the development as “a significant step for the UK egg industry”.

Compare and contrast with Compassion in World Farming’s April Fool, which fell headlong into the second category.

It’s storyline that “chicken milk is the latest craze sweeping the globe” and that “chicken breast is best” was clearly ridiculous.

But the real crime was to confess half way through that it was an April Fool.

“OK, we’re joking,” said CIWF. “You probably guessed that already.” (Yes.)

“But some things in farming aren’t funny – like our broken food system,” it continued. “Those in control have been playing around for too long now, acting like there are no consequences to factory farming.

“There are. Factory farming is hurting animals, trashing our planet and ruining people’s lives.”

Having eaten too many Easter eggs, the Forager was already feeling a little nauseous. This bit of welfarist diatribe was enough to push him over the edge….