Organic, free range, cage free -- what does it all mean?
If you care about animal rights (and I do), then you understand how hard it is to find a cruelty-free egg. But if animal rights aren't on your radar, you may be surprised to learn that eggs laid by healthy, happy hens are more nutritious than eggs laid by birds kept in crowded, unsanitary cages.The best way to find eggs laid by happy hens is to find a local source. You can visit the farms and see for yourself how the chickens are raised. It's less likely to be a large, commercial operation, and your eggs won't have to travel thousands of miles to reach you. But if a local farm just isn't an option, take a minute to school yourself in egg carton lingo. For instance, did you know "all-natural" doesn't really mean anything? On the other hand, if a package says "certified humane," then you know the farm has been inspected and certified by outside sources.
It's not always easy to find a cruelty-free egg, but you can't beat the benefits. Less cholesterol and saturated fat, more vitamin A and E, and more beta-carotene and omega-3 fatty acids mean more nutrition for you!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-16-2007 @ 1:39PM
Jenny said...
Your concern for "animal rights" is commendable, however, I recommend you do a little more research about the births, lives and deaths of the hens whose eggs you are eating. If you look a little deeper, you will learn that there is no such thing as "cruelty free" eggs. Even if the hens are given access to the outdoors, they are still slaughtered when they don't produce enough eggs. Most all egg laying hens come to even the smallest family farms as newborn chicks from hatcheries (usually sent in boxes through the mail, where many die enroute to the farm). The hatcheries that provide the hens identify at birth whether a chick is a male or a female. The males are discarded because they don't lay eggs and they also don't grow fast enough to be profitable for meat production. So for each egg laying chick that is born, there is a male chick who will be killed within a couple days of birth, either by being suffocated in a plastic bag full of other male chicks, ground up alive to be fertilizer, or just left to die in a dumpster behind the hatcheries.
"Cage-free" and "free range" facilities are also misleading. You can learn more about them at this link:
http://www.peacefulprairie.org/freerange1.html#freerange
You will see that, even if they are not in a battery cage, the hens still have their beaks seared off and are forever mutilated, they are still force molted (starved to the point where their body goes into shock and produces another egg laying cycle), they are still discarded when they no longer produce enough eggs, packed into crowded transport trucks where they will travel hundreds of miles in all weather conditions, and they still end up being brutally killed (birds are not even covered under the oxymoronic "humane" slaughter act).
If we truly believe animals should be treated with compassion and respect, if we truly care about their rights, then it is clear that we must remove eggs and all other animal products from our diets.
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10-16-2007 @ 5:24PM
Lee Hall said...
I have an idea for you. More than a hundred ideas, really, and they're all contained in a wonderful cookbook which includes holiday recipes, even outstanding desserts. I write with confidence because the book was tested by and received accolades from VEGETARIAN TIMES. The book is DINING WITH FRIENDS: THE ART OF NORTH AMERICAN VEGAN CUISINE. Proceeds go to advance animal rights if you purchase it from Friends of Animals. See http://tinyurl.com/y9e2jn
For international orders, or to see a lot of customer reviews, visit the Amazon page:
http://tinyurl.com/yujnfp
You might be surprised, but as you'll see, cooking without eggs is perfectly traditional -- and can be perfectly delicious.
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