Out of all the different kinds of meat (chicken, beef, pork, seafood), eggs are the least regulated industry when it comes to labeling. As the good food movement grows and consumers become more health conscious, corporations are doing everything they can to make you believe they are providing you with top quality products. With eggs, terms that generally convey quality include “natural”, “organic”, and “free-range”. Those all sound good to me, right? Unfortunately, the lack of regulation on what qualifies eggs as “natural” is such a loose term that anything that came out of an eggs bottom would qualify, regardless of food and housing conditions. So you could be paying top dollar for a dozen eggs, that is no more or less healthy that the conventional grocery store brand.
So should we just throw the towel in and say screw it? I’m just gonna buy the cheapest eggs I can since the words on the packages don’t mean a hill of beans. Hold up…don’t give up the good fight just yet!
Happy chickens!
Tyson chickens living on top of each other
The best indicator of good eggs that come from happy chickens (forager), is a dark orange yolk. Just like the one in the bottom left of the picture. This comes from a very happy chicken! Happy chickens have plenty of room to forage for grass and insects, they are not caged inside with hundreds of other chickens and their diet does not consist of soy protein. If you don’t eat soy protein (or at least you shouldn’t), why would you want to eat an animal that does?
Oh and the taste comparison between conventional eggs (yellow yolk) and farm eggs (orange yolk) is out of this world. Conventional eggs taste like…blah. Try a dozen of the farm eggs and you will hooked on the rich and savory flavor. My favorite way to eat eggs is sunny side up with a slightly runny yolk….so good!
Not every grocery store carries good eggs. The best place to look for them is at your local’s farmers market. Saturday morning from 8 to 12, the Urban Harvest Farmer’s Market has several vendors who sell fresh farm eggs. The next best place to look in Central Market or Whole Foods.
For more on eggs, check on these articles:
