Farm Fresh Eggs

In May I wrote a post titled Cheap Foods vs. Clean Conscience Foods. I'm trying to slowly make changes towards healthier eating while researching ways to accomplish this task and not sock it to the budget.

I'm part of a local facebook group and someone on there just posted about selling eggs. I messaged her and yesterday I picked up two dozen free range non GMO eggs only 6 miles from my house for $4 ($2 per dozen). They're really free range too. I'll attest to that. I almost ran over three chickens while attempting to pull in the driveway. Her house is on my way home from work so it's not out of my way in the least. She said that the chickens should lay eggs year round so this should be a pretty cost efficient reliable egg source for me. I'm pretty excited. The non GMO free range eggs at the grocery store are over $4 for one dozen. We cannot afford that. The regular eggs, not organic, not free range at the grocery store are $1.79 a dozen. So I'm only paying 21 cents more a dozen for WAY better eggs. Win, win, win!!!

Some egg info:
Cage-free eggs are eggs from birds that are not raised in cages, but in floor systems usually in an open barn. The hens have bedding material such as pine shavings on the floor, and they are allowed perches and nest boxes to lay their eggs.  However, they may still be at close quarters with many other hens -- just not in cages. That depends on the farm.

Free-range eggs are laid from hens that have the opportunity to go outside. Smaller farms may keep birds outside under a canopy area. They may travel in and out of a barn at free will or spend some portion of their day roaming outdoors. 

Organic eggs are laid from hens that may be kept in any kind of caging system, but generally are cage free. They eat an organic feed and don’t receive vaccines or antibiotics. In order to qualify for USDA organic certification, the grains used for the hens’ diets must be produced on land that has been free from the use of toxic and persistent chemical pesticides and fertilizers for at least three years. Genetically engineered crops are not permitted, and hens must be maintained without hormones, antibiotics, and other intrusive drugs.

Nutritional info on free range eggs:
A comparison of nutritional data for caged versus free range eggs found, on average, the free range eggs had:
Twice as much omega-3 fatty acids.
Three times more vitamin E.
Seven times more pro-vitamin A beta-carotene.
A quarter less saturated fat.
A third less cholesterol.
Other tests have demonstrated that pastured eggs have up to six times more essential vitamin D than regular supermarket eggs. They have also been shown to have significantly more B vitamins than a factory egg.

Egg yolks are also a known source of lutein and zeaxanthin, but the pale, watery yellow yolks in eggs from caged chickens, fed the waste products of the grain industry, contain very little.

Lutein and zeaxanthin are two important antioxidants for the health of your eyes. They help to protect the delicate macula region of your eye from damaging UV and high-intensity blue light.

If you’d like to protect your vision as well as improve your overall health, look for the deep yellow/orange yolks you’ll find in real free range eggs.

I googled to find the above info and I linked the sites I chose behind the text. I have read similar info in a few books. I really liked the book "The Compassionate Carnivore" by Catherine Friend. The results from studies showing free range eggs being considerably healthier than caged chicken eggs (the regular eggs at the grocery store) are due to the free range chickens being considerably healthier birds with better diets. It's pretty simple science. Well, that's one more baby step in the right direction for me. Hooray!