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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
The color of the yolk and size of the egg is influenced not only by the conditions in which the chicken was raised, but by breed as well. Some chickens naturally lay a smaller and/or pale-yolked egg. We buy ours from a local dairy (also where we pick up our raw milk) where we can see the chickens running around and foraging every day. They have several varieties of chicken and for the large eggs ($4.25/doz), there is a mix of brown, white, and blue eggs. They also sell “mini” eggs for $2.00/doz from a smaller laying variety of chicken. Very cute, but I tend not to buy them because I just don’t have much of a use for them.
Unfortunately the eggs I buy are not on the cornucopia list. They must not be big enough to make it on there? I only find their eggs at Sunflower/Sprouts. Whole Foods doesn’t carry them nor does any other grocery around here.
This prompted me to do research into the organic eggs I buy from my co-op (New Century from Shullsburg, WI) and I was very happy with what I read about their methods. They have a facebook page.
i get my eggs the day they are hatched, from a Amish farm 🙂 thank God!
If I could buy fresh eggs instead of store bought, I would. (I’d rather raise my own!) I figure the organic eggs are better than the thin shelled, pasty yellow yoked, soy and corn fed, kept in battery cages eggs that sell for cheap in any grocery. Some of us have to compromise. 🙂
I wish it were so easy to say that eggs come from chickens, period. It isn’t. It’s not just a simple matter that you are what you eat. You are also what you eat has eaten. Chickens that eat what they are designed to eat and to live in an environment they were designed to live in are healthier, and they produce healthier eggs. Diseased animals produce less healthy food. While not all animals that live in factory farms are diseased, they do all live in an environment that favors disease.
Thank you, Crystal and Anna!! I actually really didn’t like this post. The tone was over the top on the “guilt out your fellow crunchy moms on how much better they should be doing”-o-meter. Organic is better than GMO, period. Organic eggs aren’t a scam; people just shouldn’t assume organic means more than it does. Maybe the title should have been “What’s better than organic eggs?”
This is interesting, but my experience is different. I do get organic eggs from the grocery store more often than not, but I have also gotten eggs from Organic pastures and tropical traditions, among other sources, that are truly pastured/soy free, etc. I am always surprised at how small the pastured eggs are, and the egg yolks are often more pale than the ones I get at the store. I expect them to be better than store bought, but I have never noticed anything better about them that I can taste or see.
Rebecca, you are SO fortunate to have the raw milk for $2!!! Where I am, it’s $8 a gallon!!! Eggs $5.50.
I wish it was more cost effective…
Yet, you are even MORE fortunate. Where I am, it’s $16 a gallon of raw milk. Eggs can be anything from $7 to $9!!
San Francisco Bay Area, CA.
Like some of your other commenters, could you please make recommendations for those of us who do NOT have access to farms and farmers? Us city dwellers don’t have the ability to “take a drive to the country” for produce, and if it is not available at the local Whole Foods or Easy Way produce store, we are forced to rely on our local supermarket giant. From what I am hearing from you, I should just quit eating eggs entirely if I have to buy cage-free, range-free, organic supermarket eggs. No more eggs for me til I buy my own farm?????
Check your Whole Foods for Vital Farms eggs. All the WFs around here (Austin) carry them, but I’m not sure about nationwide. Also, search and watch their videos on YouTube…very informative. And their website is a wealth of good info about how they treat their girls.