http://www.care2.com/greenliving/organic-eggs-easy-greening.html
Organic Eggs: Easy Greening
By Melissa Breyer, Senior Editor, Care2 Green Living
I happen to really love eggs, love them. They are versatile, rich, delicious and uniquely nutritious. Eggs are the standard by which other proteins are measured. Egg protein has the right mix of essential amino acids that we need for tissue-building, and egg protein is said to be the highest quality food protein known, second only to mother’s milk.
Eggs provide 22 percent of the adult’s daily requirement of choline, an essential nutrient for brain and memory functions, and egg yolk is one of the few foods that naturally contain vitamin D. Eggs offer carotene, calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, thiamin, B6, folate, B12 and pantothenic acid, to name just a few of their important nutrients.
The Yolk
Although much of an egg’s protein is contained in the white, the rich flavor of eggs comes from the yolk, as does its fat, cholesterol, and most of the other important nutrients. An egg has 4.5 grams of fat, of which 1.5 grams is saturated fat and 2 grams are mono-unsaturated.
The color of the yolk depends on the diet of the hen. A diet rich in yellow-orange plant pigments called xanthophylls, will result in a brighter yolk. The blander in color the diet is, the lighter the yolks will be. A hen fed white cornmeal produces almost colorless yolks. Marigold petals are often fed to hens to produce brighter eggs, but artificial color additives are not permitted.
Cholesterol
Granted, eggs have had a bad rap in the cholesterol department. However, an increasing body of scientific research is showing that the real offender in raising blood cholesterol levels is actually saturated fat in food, not cholesterol in food. In fact, the American Heart Association has changed its guidelines on eggs to say that there is no longer a specific recommendation on the number of egg yolks a person may consume in a week. That said, as mentioned above, remember that one yolk contains 1.5 grams of saturated fat.
Brown Eggs
Some of us gravitate towards brown products because they seem less refined and more natural. In the case of the egg, it only denotes the breed of the hen. Shell color has no bearing on quality, flavor, nutrition value, cooking characteristics or shell thickness. Breeds with white feathers and ear lobes lay white eggs; breeds with red feathers and ear lobes lay brown eggs. (Who knew hens had earlobes?) The Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire and Plymouth Rock lay brown eggs (while the regal Araucana lays gorgeous pale blue eggs!).
Conventional Eggs
All of this nutrition and flavor, but factory farming gives me the major heebie-jeebies. Most conventional egg farms use confined, high-density, housing, and most laying hens are caged in houses of 40,000-100,000 birds. I won’t go into the details of cage space per bird, but let’s just say that I won’t be buying any conventional eggs. Ever. Many conventionally caged laying hens cannot engage in many of their natural behaviors, including perching, nesting, foraging or even spreading their wings.
Greener Eggs
On a chirpier note, the market for organic and free-roaming eggs is growing quickly, which means that more farms are transitioning to more humane production practices. Hurray for the hens! Almost all supermarkets are now offering some variation of eggs produced more sanely, and eggs from farmer’s markets are often truly free range. Here are what the labels mean:
- Certified Organic
Organic eggs are laid by hens fed with an all-vegetarian diet that has been grown without pesticides, fungicides, herbicides or commercial fertilizers. The birds are uncaged inside barns or warehouses, and are required to have outdoor access, although the specifics of their outdoor time are not regulated. Compliance is verified through third-party auditing. - Certified Humane
Eggs that bear Certified Humane labeling are from uncaged birds inside barns or warehouses, with no requirement for outdoor time. They must be able to engage in natural behaviors such as nesting, perching, and dust bathing, and stocking density and the number of perches and nesting boxes are regulated. Certified Humane comes from a program of Humane Farm Animal Care, and the label requires third-party compliance. - Free Range or Free Roaming
The USDA has guidelines for free-range poultry, but the guidelines are less defined for egg production. Producers labeling eggs as free range or free roaming do not need to demonstrate to the USDA that the hens have been allowed access to the outside. True free-range eggs are produced by hens raised outdoors or that can go outside daily, typically they live uncaged inside barns or warehouses and can nest and forage. This label does not require third-party certification. - Cage-Free
Most conventionally raised laying hens are kept in cages, while cage-free hens are kept, you guessed it, uncaged! (Although usually in barns or warehouses.) They are allowed to perform in natural behaviors however, the label does not guarantee that the bird had access to the outdoors. In addition, this term is not regulated by USDA, and the label does not require third-party certification. - Vegetarian-Fed
These birds are given a more natural feed than that received by conventional laying hens, but this label alone says nothing about the animals’ living conditions.
The bottom line when selecting eggs, is to opt for organic and/or free-range if they are available. They have less antibiotic or hormone residue and have a higher omega-3 and vitamin E content. They are a better nutritional choice, have better flavor and are produced by farmers who generally support the use of renewable resources. And if all that’s not enough, at least consider the happiness of the hen!
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Robyn
Melissa
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Dr. Brent
Isha
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Michelle
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17 comments
add your comment »Since my girls free range they get plenty of worms and bugs so I avoid non organic meat based feeds. Have had chickens since I was a kid, and I believe they like we, are what they eat.
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First, the NATURAL DIET for chickens is not vegetarian. They eat bugs by preference. They will eat all bugs if they get a choice.
The vegetarian feed label is a huge lie and scientifically untrue as well as unhealthy for the chickens. It is another form of cruelty.
Second, keep in mind that Free Range and the other terms about how they are housed does not mean Organic. Depending on where the chickens roam they can have access to all sorts of things which they will eat, including bugs that have been eating plants sprayed with pesticides.
Last, it is very important that people do not waste their egg shells and should compost them or return them to the farms for composting into the soil that grows feed for the chickens.
Egg shells contain a lot of useful minerals and are very good for your soil and even reduce the effects of acid rain.
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Have had my girls for years. They die from old age. And they are my natural pest controllers. And I love how in the morning they come running to see me and want me to pick them up and say hi. And yes I am a tad odd, as I have a doggie seat in my car where I put Queenie my little black and white hen when I go on errands.
She and the other girls make me smile when I see them running to me. Why? Because they look like little women running to the bus stop with two grocery bags in each arm.
~Beth~
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Ye I have my own egg layers great tasting eggs
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This is why I became a chicken free ranger! Things just taste better when you know where they come from.
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I try to only buy cage free vegetarian eggs from egg inovations, they are the best, complete diferent flavor and I read that these are truly organic certified. Also regarding organic milk, I don't know if people notice but I have..regular milk goes bad in less than a week, organic milk lasts at least 2 weeks and tastes delicious.
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To Michelle... do you put salt into the water? Whenever I boil eggs, whether soft or hard, I always load up the water with lots of salt, letting the water come to a boil with the eggs already in it. This makes the shells come off easily, in larger pieces, without shattering. If you don't have a reason to watch the sodium levels too closely, this would be something to try.
Also, I loved this article. I have been eating organic eggs from free-roaming hens we buy from the farm co-op just down the road from us. I will *never* return to the anemic, pale eggs I used to eat from the grocery store. Not only can I not support the factory farming methods, but the taste cannot compare!! Eggs from happy hens, are large and much richer tasting, with enormous golden yolks. Everyone should try them!
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Thank you for sharing this info. I have found that I do not know how to hard boil organic eggs. They don't get done properly. I have noted the stronger shell but even lengthing my cooking time didn't help. I could not peel them without tearing them up. They are a great snack for my busy grandsons. Thanks again and I'd love help from anyone with experience hard boiling these green eggs!
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cool
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I believe within the comments there are a fair percentage of those who would rather do without eggs in their daily diet for more reasons then stated.
Some people cant stand the thought of eating eggs for weakening their stomachs or other versions very similiar. Thats understandable. But to be nit picky on certification to no viable method of aceptance whats so ever, or to discredit this articale as having no verifyable information on choosing the magical egg you would wish to eat.
I had no problem with Mellisa's information. I am a lover of chickens and have always had my own hens since I was 5 years old. I know a good fresh egg from a happy hen when I see one. I believe that was discussed in this articale. And I also have to say one never stops learning, the nutrition within an egg as described in this articale is even more then I had hoped for. I trust this articale to the word.
But if you really dont have a liking for the egg, by all means dont eat it. The egg has already took more of a bashing then it deserves.
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