Decoding Eggs

Natural? Cage free? Free range? Organic? When it comes to eggs, it has become increasingly difficult to know which dozen to choose. Welcome to the crazy and often misleading world of labeling when it comes to our food. 

For many years I bought only organic eggs and I thought I was doing the right thing. I pictured the happy chickens roaming the farm, leisurely pecking insects and worms, laying their eggs with no stress at all. If that is what you also thought, sorry to bring you some disturbing news. 

Just because a chicken is raised as an “organic” chicken doesn’t mean it is roaming freely. As with “free range” chickens, these chickens are mostly housed in windowless warehouses and are given “access” to the outdoors. This could be a small opening—and chances are, the chickens are not going to go outside at all. The conditions are crowded and these “big organic” farms are just a little better than the industrial chicken farms most of us know to be terrible for chickens—and for the quality and nutritional makeup of their eggs. 

Cage free is the same situation—the chickens are crowded, even if they are not in tiny cages. Believe it or not, this can actually be dangerous for the chickens since they often hurt each other or even kill each other. 

So what are you to do? The best thing is to find a local farmer who raises his/her chickens by pasturing them. The next best thing is to look for pastured eggs in the grocery store—our stores carry two different brands. Chickens get their protein from the insects and worms and they get their natural vitamin D from the sunshine. Real pastured eggs have much more of the wonderful vitamins and nutrients than factory farmed eggs. Eggs are chock full of vitamins A, D, E, Omega 3 fatty acids, beta carotene, good cholesterol, and good saturated fat. In addition to the nutritional boon of pastured eggs, they taste better! 

So what about the cost? Sure factory eggs are cheap—but is it worth sacrificing all of that nutrition, not to mention the humane nature of how pastured chickens are treated? Let’s do the math: In our grocery store, pastured eggs are about 6$ for a dozen. That works out to be 50 cents per egg. When you consider an egg or two is a substantial breakfast, that is not too expensive at all. You can make a frittata with 6 to 8 eggs and some vegetables and a bit of cheese, pair with a salad and feed a family of six for a hearty dinner or brunch—that meal would cost you less than ten dollars—that is a real bargain and it’s healthy. 

A great way to find a source for pastured eggs is to head out to local farmer’s markets. Talk to the farmer about how they raise their chickens, what the birds eat, and where and how often you can purchase their eggs. It might take a bit more of an effort, but pastured eggs are definitely worth seeking out.