Local Free Range Eggs

Eggs are the quintessential food. They are perfectly shaped. Beautiful. The shells are smooth and multicolored. Have you seen the light green eggs? Or the brown, slightly pink eggs?

Eggs are a perfect protein food. In nutrition terms, they are the reference protein. Quality of protein in any food is derived from comparing it to an egg. With a high level of protein, and then plenty of iron in the yolk, we do well as humans by eating eggs. Cholesterol? Well, it’s there, but most of us don’t eat enough eggs to make our cholesterol levels increase. Eating high amounts of saturated fat (hardened animal fat) is the main culprit in that process.

Not too long ago, the egg was demonized. Luckily it’s making a comeback. This is because the number of uses in cooking for eggs is endless. We simply are unable to cook without eggs. Omelettes, pancakes, over easy, scrambled, cakes, meringue. The egg is an essential ingredient that enables food chemistry to do its thing. If a recipe calls for eggs, it’s inadvisable to skimp. Disaster will loom.

Eggs are also the perfect food to buy locally. For only about $1.50 more, you can buy the healthiest, freshest eggs produced by happy chickens. Why does this matter?

Sad chickens are the ones kept in stacked cages their whole lifetime. Their only purpose is to lay eggs. They are fed antibiotics to prevent disease. Joy Mench, Professor of Animal Science at UC Davis, writes that when eggs are hatched to make more egg layers, the males are culled by grinding them alive. The male egg laying breeds are not useful for either laying eggs or meat.

Chickens in our industrialized food system are egg machines. Perhaps the preferred method in our technologically savvy world is to develop a machine that will manufacture eggs. Leave the chicken out of the equation. Most people would not know the difference, and if they did, they probably would not care. For now, this is the most humane answer. Then again, some people would be outraged and indignant if we could no longer get eggs laid by chickens.

Buying eggs from local people who raise chickens that live most of their life in a yard, moving about freely, eating table scraps and grains is simple. You need to look around a bit to find people who raise chickens like this (also know as “free range chickens"). But if you look, you shall find. My Sister’s Farm is a new local foods buying club. They have started an indoor farmer’s market on the fourth Thursday of every month from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Moorhead Center Mall. Here, on occasion, you will find local egg producers.

Chickens are not partial to laying eggs in the winter. So, sometimes eggs are unavailable at the once-a-month indoor farmer’s market. That is why it’s important to connect with someone who raises chickens. Even in the winter chickens will lay eggs, they just need more intensive care as they are kept inside in a coop. Building a personal connection with a farmer, backyard hobbyist, or even a 4H youth chicken producer will enable you to get the freshest, healthiest, newly laid eggs on a weekly basis.

Matt Carlson works for Microsoft. On the side, he raises free range chickens for eggs. Admittedly, not a money making venture, he says he does it more for personal reasons such as providing an opportunity for his kids to learn about food and farming, learning how to produce his own food, and knowing exactly where the food his family eats comes from.

In the winter, Matt’s chickens are not caged; they are in a coupe with plenty of room to nest and roost, and free access to food. Matt’s chickens are healthy as compared to chickens raised in typical factory farm conditions with bad air and neglect. His coops are open and well ventilated. The air a chicken breathes has a lot to do with its health. Eating physically healthy animals inevitably translates to human health.

Other benefits of buying local eggs? The money stays in the local economy because often producers buy local feed and equipment. Even electricity stays in the regional economy. Environmentally, no significant fuel consumption is used for shipping, and pollution from excess chicken droppings is virtually nonexistent. Droppings are randomly scattered around the yard in the summer. Coop droppings can also be composted and put on vegetable gardens.
Free range eggs are both healthier for humans (higher in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins A and C and lower in cholesterol and saturated fat) and for the environment.

Maybe if you have trouble finding a local egg producer, you can raise your own chickens. Rick and Gail Luttman in their book “Chickens in Your Back Yard,” make it seem so easy. They say, “As long as the chickens’ needs are met there’s no one way of doing things,” suggesting that necessary equipment could be found in your garage.

Look into finding a local egg producer or raising your own chickens. No matter what you do, a connection will be made between you and where your food comes from. Eggs are one of the simplest and most humane foods to start eating locally.