All Eggs Are Not Created Equal
I was with my brother and sister last week when the subject of eggs came up. You’d think it was a fairly benign subject, right? Not so much. My brother, knowing who I am, was proudly telling us that he eats brown eggs. And me, being me and being the bossy older sister, said, “Well what the hell does that mean?”
To which he replied, “They’re farm fresh eggs! They have to be, they’re brown.”
This is a serious problem.
There are millions of people - you might be one of them - walking around thinking they are eating farm fresh eggs when they actually are not. And, why do they think this? Because the eggs are brown and because the carton says so, of course.
Maybe the distributor has ‘farm’ in the company name or the carton proudly states: ‘Farmer Brown’s Eggs’ or ‘Just like the ones from the farm’. Whichever it is, consumers believe it and they think that they are eating something different then white eggs.
The other problem is the confusing line between conventional and pastured eggs, cage free and free range:
Conventional: Most people are beginning to understand what conventional means. The chickens are caged, living in their own excrement. Their feed has hormones and antibiotics - possibly even animal by-products.
But then things get a little sticky...
Cage Free: This one sounds better and most people jump at the chance to eat eggs from chickens that are treated well. But, the reality of the situation is that the chickens are still in a crowded pen, not free to roam, still living in their excrement - only they aren’t caged individually so they are in each others' excrement as well.
Free Range: Is really a fancy way of saying Cage Free. These chickens, while allowed to range freely in their overcrowded, dirty pen, aren’t allowed to range in the sunshine in a clean place.
Pastured: Now this is what we’re going for. A pastured chicken is outside, running around in fresh, sunshine filled air, eating grass and plants and the bugs that live on them. Their environment is clean and they are healthy. They roam on a pasture - as nature intended.
I would encourage you to crack a conventional egg open next to a pastured egg and examine them side by side. Look at the yolk and the white and you’ll see a marked difference. The yolk of the conventional egg is light yellow and doesn’t hold its shape well, while the pastured yolk is a deep yellow, often orange like a pumpkin, and it’s firm and large. The white of the conventional egg is dull and mucous-like, while the pastured egg white is a vibrant white and very firm to the touch.
The difference is a direct result of the dietary and living conditions of the chickens. Pastured eggs have been tested to be higher in Omega 3, higher in antioxidants, vitamins and beta carotene. In 2007, Mother Jones conducted a study that broke down nutritional levels in the two kinds of eggs, proving the wealth of nutrients in pastured eggs.
All the hype about eggs being unhealthy? Those are the conventional eggs, not the pastured eggs from your local farm. Conventional eggs, with their lack of vitamins and their abundance of hormones, antibiotics and genetically modified corn, are having an ill effect. Pastured eggs are not.
So, when marketing tactics are so influential and confusing, how do you tell the difference?
- Know where your chickens live and where your eggs come from.
- Make sure the chickens are outside scratching in the dirt, eating grass and bugs and are soaking up the sun.
- Know how they’re living, if they have room to roam, if it’s clean.
Of course, this is much easier and the best case scenario when the eggs are being laid in your backyard or just down the road, as opposed to across the country. Visit a local farm or farmer’s market - or just ask around.
Find eggs that you know!
Photo Credit: Kelley DeBettencourt