Cracking the Code
Does the type of eggs you buy matter?
In my opinion, yes and I’ll tell you why!
Pasture raised, cage free, free range, there are so many options for eggs at the store including the eggs in the styrofoam cartons that don’t say anything - they’re just “eggs”. What do these labels mean and do they actually make a difference in the eggs? Firstly, let me give you some information about what these different labels actually mean.
Pasture Raised is the only terminology on egg packaging you need to be looking for if animal welfare is your main concern. Unlike the other labels, “pasture raised” is exactly what it sounds like. The birds roam a minimum of 2.5 acres of outdoor space per 1,000 chickens where they can lead normal chicken lives. Consistent access to the outdoors allows the chickens to forage for biologically appreciate food sources like seeds, grass, grubs, worms and other bugs lessoning the amount of supplemental fed required. They’re able to just be chickens. With a minimum of 108 square feet per bird, they’re not crammed together and have the room to scratch, graze, wander and soak up the fresh air and sunshine.
Free Range might sound similar, but unfortunately that isn’t the case. The USDA requires 2 square feet per bird for chickens labeled as “free range” and they also state the chickens must have access to outdoors. However, there is no requirement that the birds actually make it outside and in most cases, they don’t. For most facilities, there are thousands of chickens in one building with a set of small doors leading to a small patch of “outside access”. So, if you’re a chicken on the far side of the warehouse, chances are you don’t even know the doors exist and if you’re lucky enough have ended up near the doors and can poke your head outside, there is no guarantee there is even grass.
Cage Free is the most misleading. My initial thoughts, like everyone else, was “oh, how great! The chickens aren’t kept in cages”, and even though that is literally true, the living conditions aren’t much better. The minimum space per bird is 1 square foot. That right, one and there is no requirement for even “access” to outside. So, they’re not in cages, but overcrowding is a massive concern. The sheer amount of birds in a confined space leads to unhealthy chickens. They have no room to spread out, to fly or stretch their wings and they can’t forage, or dust-bathe. Worst of all the mortality rate of “cage free” chickens is actually higher than that of caged birds. This is due to the stress the birds are put under, resulting in fighting and the injury of other birds. They’re also more likely to contract and spread diseases. Worst of all, as these barns are difficult to navigate, the birds that have passed away often don’t get found and removed in a timely manner and what happens then? Cannibalism, I wish I was joking. As you can imagine, their general nutrition isn’t great, and as horrible as it is, another dead bird is probably more protein and nutrients than they’ll ever get from their usual feed.
Caged Chickens are undeniably the saddest form of egg production and majority of the eggs found in the United States are what they call “conventionally raised” eggs. The cages are small, barren, dirty and over crowded. On average, each cage has 67 square inches of cage space per bird. For reference a standard sheet of paper is 93 square inches. Typically the floor of the cages are sloped so the eggs roll into a collection trough. Some floors are solid with at least some sort of bedding or nesting material, but a lot have a wired bottom with no bedding at all. These birds will spend almost their entire lives, outside of transport, inside of these cages. Not only incapable of the obvious, like foraging, flying, stretching out or you know, just being a chicken - but the living conditions and malnutrition even resulting in osteoporosis, a condition that involves the progressive loss of structural bone during the laying period.
If animal welfare isn’t enough to make you think about the type of eggs you’re bringing home, maybe the general nutritional value is. I’ve heard a ton that the type of eggs you buy doesn’t matter. At the end of the day an egg from a pasture raised chicken and a caged chicken have the same nutrients. However, research has shown this not to be true. According to a 2003 study from Pennsylvania State University, a pasture-raised egg contains twice as much omega-3 fat, three times more vitamin D, four times more vitamin E and seven times more beta-carotene than eggs from standard conditions. You can see this in the eggs themselves when you crack them open. The darker the yolk, the healthier and happier the chicken that the egg came from. If you think about it. this makes sense. How can chickens that are barely alive produce nutrient dense eggs? They don’t have the nutrients to give. This is also why there are so many chickens in the “cage free” and conventional industry. Happy and healthy chickens naturally lay eggs, on average 5-6 per week resulting in around 300 eggs per chicken per year, but this isn’t the case for sick unhappy chickens. They lay much less, so they need more chickens to produce a substantial amount of eggs for the human consumption market.
Animal welfare, nutrient levels, what about the environmental impact? Not only are pasture raised eggs better for the birds and more nutrient dense, they’re better for the planet. As pasture raised chickens graze and forage for food, they’re much less dependent on food provided from the farmers. This in turn causes the farm to use fewer antibiotics, pesticide, and herbicides. Most traditional animal feeds are based with soy or corn, crops that require treatment from pesticides, herbicides and the use of synthetic fertilizers. All of which end up in the chickens and subsequently the eggs (and meat) you’re eating. Pasture raised chickens also contribute to the ecosystems in the fields by spreading their manure, acting as a natural fertilizer and the birds aerate the soil from pecking and scratching at the ground.
While slightly unrelated, I also want to briefly mention the term “vegetarian fed chickens”. I see this mostly on meat products like chicken nuggets, but it makes me so mad when I see it. All I think when I read it on packaging is “chickens raised on a biologically inappropriate, nutritionally inadequate diet resulting in a less nutritional meal for whoever eats this product”. At this point, I think we’ve covered what a chicken should be eating in order to live a happy healthy life, but just as a reminder, chickens are omnivores. Meaning, they require a combination of animal based proteins and plant food sources. Feed containing animal based protein like insects would be much more expensive than the previously discussed corn and soy based feeds. So much like other buzz words used on basically everything, “vegetarian fed chickens” is just a marketing ploy to take money from people who don’t know any better. Unfortunately, most people don’t know better and assume if it’s on the packaging, it’s probably a plus. Otherwise, why would they make it seem like a beneficial aspect? This is super common in pet food, which I’ll probably talk about more in another blog post.
Like I said in the Deep Dive post about quail eggs, eggs are a great add-on to any diet, yours or your pets! I love quail eggs, but chicken eggs are still an amazing choice. All things considered, I hope we’re all on the same page that regardless of what bird the eggs come from, pasture raised is the way to go! Just keep in mind, they are typically more expensive and if your options are cage free, free range, conventional eggs or not using eggs at all - use whatever eggs you can. The beautiful living conditions are amazing, but that also increases the price substantially. Not everyone can or wants to spend $7+ on a carton of eggs, and that’s totally reasonable. Conventional eggs are still a great addition and I’d rather those, than no eggs at all.