How to Buy The Best Eggs

July 9, 2018

We all want to buy high-quality foods for our families, but in the sea of cleverly-marketed healthy-seeming products, it can be hard to figure out just what each label is telling us.  This is especially confusing when it comes to eggs.  There is a huge difference in nutrient density between your average supermarket egg and an egg from a small, local farm.  This article will help you identify what the heck all of the terms you see on egg cartons really mean.  But first, a little info on the living conditions of chickens raised in conventional factory farms.

According to The Cornucopia Institute, a non-profit organization that defends the rights of small farmers, "Some of the factory farm operators literally raise millions of birds (both conventional and organic) with as many as 150,000-200,000 “organic” hens in single buildings (here's a short video on what that looks like)."  The laws on egg labeling are not very strict -- a company can label their eggs as "pastured"  if they have ACCESS to the outdoors -- but that access can be a 2x2-foot door in a several-thousand-foot warehouse full of chickens.  And that door may only lead out to a small porch, not onto a grassy field where the chickens can roam and forage.  The gold standard in egg production is chickens raised in small flocks (a couple of hundred on a farm, as opposed to hundreds of thousands in a warehouse) "in portable henhouses which farmers rotate in fresh pasture, often-times daily." (1)

Here are details on some of the terms you might see on an egg carton at the supermarket (well, maybe not the first one as they don't advertise that one, but it's good to see as a comparison):

  • Caged: these hens are confined to cages with a 67-square inch space each. They never see the light of day, consume a GMO-corn or soy diet and are given antibiotics routinely. Over 90 percent of the eggs in the US come from hens that are kept in cages for their entire lives.

  • Cage-Free: these hens have more room than caged hens, but each hen is still only given less than 1 square foot of space. They’re still confined to barns, consume a GMO-corn or soy diet and are still routinely given antibiotics.

  • Free-Range: these hens are given more space than their caged and cage-free peers, but it's still less than 2 square feet each. Some free-range hens rarely see the light of day and many eat GMO-corn or soy feed and are given antibiotics.

  • Organic: to qualify as organic, eggs must come from chickens that are fed only organic (non-GMO) feed (but still largely corn and soy) meaning feed that is free of animal by-products, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or other chemical additives. The chickens must only be given antibiotics in the event of an infection. And they must be given some access to the outdoors, which is great, but that access is typically just a small pen.

  • Pasture-Raised: these ladies are given at least 108 square feet each and consume some feed and lots of grass, bugs, worms and anything else they can find in the dirt. They tend to be let out of the barns early in the morning and called back in before nightfall.

  • Certified Humane: THIS IS THE GOLD STANDARD. This seal means that the farms have been inspected and meet very specific standards. The hens are allowed to roam freely on the pasture during the daylight hours. They can forage and run and do whatever they want. They are given tents for shade, water coolers and, in some cases, trees where they love to hang out. Every farm with this seal is audited by an inspector who must have a master’s degree or a doctorate in animal science and be an expert on the species he/she inspects.

  • Local Farm / Farmer's Market: these eggs won't be Certified Humane, but they will undoubtedly be from humanely raised, happy chickens (if you have time and interest, ask the farmer about his practices) -- don't worry about certifications from places like this -- just stock up!

You can find lovely eggs at Whole Foods -- Vital Farms has the Certified Humane label (or Palmer's, for those of you who live near me -- they sell eggs from Sherwood Farm). But if humanely-raised eggs (which can cost $5.00-$8.00/dozen) are not in your budget, remember that even conventional, factory-farmed eggs are a much better breakfast than Froot Loops so this egg-buying decision shouldn't be a huge source of stress. On the flip side, even the most expensive eggs are still a very inexpensive form of high-quality protein and nutrients (pastured eggs have been shown to contain much more Vitamin A, Omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin E, beta carotene, folic acid, and B12 than their conventional counterparts ) and are a great option for dinner for the family. Plus, it's always nice to support those small, local farmers with your shopping dollars -- farmers who are struggling to keep their businesses from being crushed by enormous factory farms.

Check out how your current brand of eggs stacks up with the Cornucopia Institute's Egg Scorecard! And when you have 3 minutes, WATCH THIS.