The trouble with Eggs

I wanted a cooked breakfast on Sunday morning, so i went to the supermarket to get the ingredients. I expect you're thinking ok, cooked breakfast, bacon, eggs, mushrooms, sausages tomato. Delicious. Yes, except I ended up leaving the supermarket without any eggs.

I spent 15 minutes trying to decide which brand eggs to buy. I refuse, absolutely to buy caged eggs. It's just a cruel, sad life for the poor battery hens, not to mention what they do to the poor unwanted male chicks. I always opt for either free range or free range, pasture fed organic eggs. However, all of the free range and organic eggs were from farms that also sell caged eggs. Dilemma!! I just couldn't buy from a farm that has caged hens. There is also the issue that the definition of "free range" might not be quite what I was thinking, a chicken running through a green pasture, with the wind in its feathers on a beautiful sunny day. Whereas the reality is, being allowed out of a shed once a day into a cramped concrete yard. I explored many other thoughts, even googling all the farms. This all started to make my head hurt!! So I didn't buy any eggs!

In terms of nutritional value, eggs from free range chickens are nutritionally far better, they have twice as much omega-3 fatty acids. Three times more vitamin E. Seven times more pro-vitamin A beta-carotene, a quarter less saturated fat and a third less cholesterol. Organic pasture fed eggs from chickens that are allowed to roam freely and eat insects and plants pass the nutritional value from this diet into the eggs. Its a tick for me too as they are also happy hens, allowed to roam free and do what they do best scratch and dust bathe.

The best eggs are from local farmers. Farmers that produce pastured free range and organic eggs will more than likely be proud of that and will promote it on their packaging. You can tell the difference as the yolk will be a much deeper yellow/orange. Buying from local farmers is great anyway as they deserve the support.

This does ultimately lead into welfare issues around all meat and fish and raises the question of whether I should become vegan, or try and be be mindful of where my meat comes from. Happy life, happy death, but that is a whole different topic for a different day!!