Wild Oats Natural Marketplace says it soon will be the first chain store in the country to carry eggs that have been certified by a third party that the chickens are raised humanely.

Jack Rickert, manager of the sprawling Prather Ranch in Fall River Mills in Shasta County believes treating his animals humanely is a moral and ethical obligation, but he believe there is another benefit for consumers.

Missouri is one of the largest hog-producing states in the country, partly because of the more than 400 confines with tens of thousands of hogs. They’re known as confined animal feeding operations, or CAFO’s.

Two Willamette Valley ranches now can label their meat products as “Certified Humane.”

Grocery shopping is not what it used to be. Besides making sure the eggs aren’t cracked, there’s the new sport of label checking.