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Food manufacturers have attempted to demonize eggs for decades. It is infinitely more profitable to convince the public to eat Egg Beaters and processed vegetable oils than to encourage them to consume the non-patentable perfection that is the egg.
Even folks who see through the marketing hype against eggs that is cleverly disguised as “science” frequently get waylaid by the free range and organic eggs labeling on egg cartons.
The truth is that buying organic, free range eggs from the supermarket or healthfood store is no guarantee that the birds lived a healthy life. What’s more, the eggs may not even be that nutrient dense. You’re safer buying duck eggs or goose eggs as these types of birds are more resistant to industrialized living. Even when domesticated, they eat more closely to their native diet than chickens.
Let’s take a look at why organic chicken eggs are a scam.
Organic Eggs Reality Check #1
Did you know that there are no requirements for the quality or amount of time spent outside for organic eggs or even free range eggs? This means that organic eggs could actually be from hens who get basically no bugs in their diet from pecking in the ground. If the hens don’t get to peck around in the ground for grubs and insects, the eggs they produce will have drastically reduced nutritional value – organic or not.
Organic Eggs Reality Check #2
Did you know that the hens from a free range or organic eggs farm can still have their beaks cut and be subjected to forced molting which involves starving them for 7-14 days which can in some cases kill them?
Organic Eggs Reality Check #3
Organic eggs marked as “cage free” does not mean that the hens have access to the outdoors or even daylight! The hens could actually be running around inside with artificial lighting on a concrete floor and the eggs still qualify as cage free!
The only way to get truly healthy eggs where you can be sure the hens are not abused is to buy local from a farmer you trust, not organic eggs from the store!
There is no way around this folks that I have found. You must start connecting with the people in your community if you really want to source some decent eggs!
Folks in my buying club regularly tell me how shocked they are when they run out of the eggs sourced locally and buy a carton of organic eggs from the store how puny, pathetic and bland tasting they are. They are also incredibly expensive.
Not only will you more than likely save yourself some money buying eggs locally, you will also be helping a local business remain viable and improving the nutrient density of your diet all at the same time!
Organic eggs most definitely does not always mean better!
Need more egg recipes once you’ve found a quality local source? Try these breakfast egg ideas, easy lunch egg recipes, and dinner egg recipes for inspiration!
Below is a fantastic infographic on the reality behind the egg industry created by Kristin Lindquist. What factoids did you find most alarming?
More Information
Best Egg Substitute (plus Video)
Organic Store Eggs Just Don’t Stack Up
What Oxidizes the Cholesterol in Eggs?
Think You Have Fresh Eggs? Here’s How to Tell
I could not live without the pastured eggs we buy from a family friend. Our daughter eats one a day. Can’t wait to have our own chickens.
All organic eggs are not created equal. Some are better than others, but the organic eggs I buy at whole foods are awesome.
Our hens would slow down laying in the heat of the summer, too…until we started raising black soldier fly larvae and feeding them to the chickens. For the first time, the hens did not fall off in their laying.
Ok this is disheartening! I thought I was doing good just buying organic dairy- I’m in omaha and haven’t the faintest clue how to fid a farm I can buy produce from as I’m not from here and don’t know the area
http://www.certifiedhumane.org/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=38&cntnt01returnid=15 Look up the certified humane label, it can help to find better treated laying hens. For instance, they must have access to outside, not just be out of cages. They must have a basic amount of space, roosts, the ability to get outside (larger doors so that one can’t just block the way.) Beak trimming is allowed, debeaking is not (there’s reasons for beak trimming.) You cannot starve the chickens to induce molting. It’s about the best you can do in stores (which unfortunately is the only place I can get my eggs, since raising our own is outlawed here and driving out of town to try and get eggs is gas-expensive.)
Also, the more ‘certified humane’ eggs are sold in stores, the more those stores will want certified humane, and the more farmers will start to convert… and the more your local farmer will be likely to be able to sell their eggs to the big store and make their eggs available to more people. It’s the way to help your farmers and also help FAR more chickens. I’ve been a fan of theirs for about the last 10 years, and I’ve loved seeing how they’re more available now (even in Costco now! That means that restaurants can go to the better eggs!)
We rely on a local farmer and actually go to the farm as part of our errands to pick up organic flour, beef, poultry, eggs and maple syrup.
I know the fields where the grain is from, I have seen the poultry and almost ran over the chickens in the driveway.
I think that’s the only way to have confidence in the food we buy.
Hi Sarah, great post! I have always been eating local organic free range eggs because I don’t seem to find eggs from pasture raised chickens. The farm claims that their chickens live in a cage free environment (inside and outside the barn), range free on organic pasture and are fed certified organic feed that’s all vegetarian soy, wheat, buckwheat, corn and other necessary fruits & vegetables (no animal by products and GMO free). However, I know that eggs from pasture raised chickens that aren’t fed grains especially soy are better but I can’t find them where I live in Vancouver, BC Canada. So my question is, am I better off not eating any eggs at all or are these eggs good to eat?
Great article Sarah! We will start enjoying our own backyard chickens in just a few weeks and reading your article just gets me more excited than ever – Looking forward to your future posts 🙂
– Randy
The only way to really be sure is to raise your own. Second best is to get the product from someone you trust so completely that you trust that person with your life. Just as with a very few herds of grass-fed pastured beef or other meat, there are “closed flocks” where no outside birds are brought into the flock, which means no buying of day-old chicks from suppliers who for sure feed GMO’s & other objectionable substances to the parent birds. See can your egg farmer answer that question. Then you will realize that your search probably isn’t over yet.