Cracking Egg Labels
Pastured chickens
Do you ever wonder what is meant by all the jargon which is found on…well all food labels, but for today we’ll start with egg cartons?
If you go to any food store you’ll be presented with an array of different options.
Most commonly you’ve got cage eggs, free-range & organic. If you're lucky you might also have pastured eggs.
But what does it all mean?
Well let's start with cage eggs. This implies that the laying hen from where the egg came from spent its life in a cage, which is made from wires including the floors which is no larger than an A4 piece of paper.
It is by far the most miserable existence and inhumane of any farming method.
In addition to the cramped and confined conditions these chickens are also generally fed a diet solely of non-organic and genetically modified (GM) corn,soy and cereal grains.
These chickens will never see the light of day. In fact they will only ever be exposed to artificial lighting which is often manipulated to alter feeding patterns.
It's great to see that consumer behaviors have changed in the past few years, with more people and hospitality venues switching to alternatives, but it is estimated that around 56% of eggs consumed in Australia are from cages, and almost 80% in America 🙁
So now we have the worst of them out of the way let's move onto free-range.
Free range chickens will most often be raised in a barn or shed, and standards require that the chickens have access to the outdoors for approximately 8 hours a day*. However there is very little regulation around the quality of the outdoors area eg. Any vegetation, pastures or things to peck.
Some of the issues which arise from this farming method include overcrowding leading to injuries, disease passed from chook to chook, and unhygienic living standards. Plus often they will peck or attack one another due to stress or being understimulated (bored) from not being in their natural habitat.
These chickens will also be mostly fed non-organic GM corn and grains.
With that said you can see that free-range is certainly a step up from the cage but there are still some concerns.
Next up is organic. Sounds good, but what does that mean?
Organic eggs imply that these chickens are raised without use of chemicals. This means that the pastures which the chickens roam on must not be sprayed with any herbicides or pesticides or synthetic fertilizers, and same goes for the feed which the chickens are given. Most notably corn, soy and cereal grains which are renowned for being some of the most heavily sprayed crops.
Furthermore these chemicals are now being recognised as one of the many causes of increasing food allergies, poor gut health and inflammation which plague our society.
I'll save the whole spiel for another post though.
So back to the chickens. Good news is that these chickens are also given access to an outdoor range, and also at a lower stocking density (chickens per sq/m). On a range rotation system this is one chicken per 4 sq/m or at a fixed range standards require one chicken per 6 sq/m.
Whereas regular free-range only require 1 sq/m per chicken.
However if you are lucky enough to live near a farmers market, maybe a farmer or a well stocked health food store, then you might also see a label that says pasture raised eggs.
These chickens have been predominantly pasture or grass fed (however can also be supplemented with grains seasonally), have plenty of time outside, and generally have a much lower stocking density, usually around 1500hen per hectare (roughly 6 sq/m per chicken) but could be as low as 40 or less!
If corn and grain are included in the diet then pasture raised does not specifically imply organic so be sure to check the carton.
Something to consider further when eating eggs ethically and sustainably is consumption.
Cage egg farming began around 50 years ago in response to a fast growing demand leaving traditional farming methods unable to keep up.
So think about saving your omelet and eggs on toast for just once or twice a week opposed to an everyday affair.