All in Commercial Eggs

Did My Organic Eggs Come from Happy Hens? - The Real Truth

New rules governing organic eggs have just been put into effect. The old rules were riddled with loopholes that some large producers of “organic” eggs slithered through in order to sell their eggs at high organic prices while underhandedly maintaining their flock in subpar, inhumane conditions. In this interview with Very Finest Organic Eggs CEO John Barn, we discuss the new rules, the old rules, the loopholes, slithering and underhandedness. Some would say this is the very, very best interview that’s ever been conducted.

The Humane League – Freeing Hens

Most eggs sold in the US come from hens stuffed into cruel cages. As more and more people have come to realize how badly modern animal farming has gone off the rails, a number of organizations have emerged to shine a light on abusive animal husbandry practices and work to change cruel and inhumane animal farming systems. The Humane League (THL), one of the most effective of these organizations, is hard at work to get hens out of cages.

Can I Keep Eggs at Room Temperature?  And Other Pertinent Questions

“Is it ok to store eggs at room temperature?” It’s a question that doesn’t come with a yes/no answer.
Nowadays in the US there are regulations that mandate that anybody selling eggs must refrigerate them. Why? Because of Salmonella, a bacterium that sickens and kills a lot of folks every year, and sometimes lives in eggs. Here’s the catch, though. The United Kingdom and much of Europe have regulations that mandate that anybody selling eggs should not refrigerate them. And the Salmonella rates in the UK are actually lower than in the US. Confused yet? Read this post!

A Carton of Eggs: Part 5—Vital Farms Organic Pasture-Raised Eggs

This is part five of a series about the information printed on egg cartons.  When you buy eggs with “cage-free” stamped on the carton, you probably think you’re doing the right thing.  Cage-free eggs are a huge improvement from eggs that come from hens living in tiny, cramped battery cage torture chambers. But as Vital Farms points out, hens laying cage free eggs probably live in one square foot of space in a cramped barn and never get to go outside.  Vital Farms advertises its eggs as “pasture raised” and guarantees that each hen gets 108 square feet of outdoor space. 

A Short History of Organic Eggs

You’re in the egg aisle at the supermarket and want to get eggs from hens that are treated humanely. So, you grab the eggs with the green and white USDA Organic label and put them in your cart. Organic must be good, right? But what does it even mean in terms of how the hens are treated? Perhaps not very much.

A Carton of Eggs: Part 3 - Wild Harvest Cage Free Large Brown Eggs

This is part three of a series about the information printed on egg cartons.  I’ve found you can learn from all that carton information once you figure out what it's actually saying.  And sometimes you can learn a whole lot by what it doesn’t say.   Wild Harvest is a brand aimed at consumers who prefer natural and organic products. These are consumers who expect that the producers of the food products they buy are adhering to strong and consistent animal welfare standards. Are these consumers getting what they think they’re getting when they buy Wild Harvest eggs?