Since heading back into my classroom, and getting ready to send my two girls to school for the first time, I haven't been paying much attention to the news. My mother finally alerted me several times to the massive egg recall and widespread illnesses that have been playing out in recent weeks. Wondering if you have recalled eggs in your fridge? Check this article out to find out.
My first thought is: here is more evidence that factory farming is bad for us, animals, and the environment. We've seen the spread of salmonella from irresponsible and inhumane farming conditions. Ever since I was in college, ahem, several years ago, I have known about the inhumane practices in many factory egg farms. For years, I have been buying at least cage free eggs, and some organic.
Below is an update about the recall. It makes sense right now to not eat or feed your family any eggs that are not organic.
Now I am happy to have neighbors that are our dear friends (Tangletown Farms), and also farm ethically and humanely. So I buy my eggs from them. I just saw the happy chickens that lay the eggs I eat today, running around in the yard of my friend's house. Now that is the way it should be.
If you don't have access to local humanely raised eggs from your neighbor or farmer's market, go for organic ones from the store. That way, you know they are not fed genetically modified feed, antibiotics, and are cage free. This article details the sometimes confusing labels on eggs, such as "cage free", "organic", and the ever ubiquitous and overused "natural." It also gives advice for how to select the healthiest eggs possible.
According to this article CBS news, factory farmed eggs are simply bad for us, all around. "A 2002 study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that people who ate eggs from caged hens had about twice the odds of coming down with salmonella food poisoning compared to those who did not eat eggs from caged hens, according to an article on the society's website."
But I would think we should considering buying eggs based on more than our health (although this is what is grabbing everyone's attention these days, and rightly so), including their carbon footprint, taste (organic, local eggs taste better!), and the humane treatment of chickens.
Tired parents take home message?
*buy local eggs from a farmer you know and trust (at your local farmer's market or from a neighbor)
*if not, buy organic eggs for your family at the grocery store
*avoid eating eggs at restaurants unless you know they are organic
iamge: nickwheeleroz on Flickr
1 comment:
I agree. When the recall news broke, I didn't have to think for a second about whether or not my eggs were safe. I get my eggs from my next door neighbor and I know that they are safe. I also recently wrote a post (before I heard about the recall) about another reason local is awesome- because your neighbors care about you.
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