The Ultimate Guide to Understanding the Value of Farm Fresh Organic Farm Eggs Over Store Bought

Why choose farm-fresh eggs and why are they so much more expensive? These are two of the questions that I have gotten asked a few times. Well, the short answer is, you're paying for the quality and nutritional value of the egg. The eggs you see at the store that are extremely cheaply priced come from chickens that live on wire floors, in small cages, and are usually subjected to the lights being on all the time. They are usually debeaked to prevent them from pecking each other and are "spent" by the time they turn 2 years old. Do you think a healthy egg can be produced in these conditions?

Well, what about cage-free eggs? You got me there! Those chickens are living a better life because they are kept in a pen and not in a cage. But do they? Let's investigate closer. Cage-free hens are kept in pens on the ground, but they are packed so tightly in those pens that they can not do the things a normally happy chicken can do. The majority are also debeaked to prevent them from pecking each other. The pens usually get very hot and hens will die from heat exhaustion. Disease also runs rampant inside those pens because of how tightly packed they are. From what I have read, the employees do try to pick out any dead or dying birds daily, but we are only human and I am sure a chicken carcass gets missed occasionally. The egg quality is not much better than the caged birds. They may get a bug or two here and there but the majority of their diet consists of pelletized food that is dictated by the people who contract the farmer.

There are also cage-free, pasture-raised, or free-range eggs out in the stores now and they are about the closest to what you would get from your local farmer. Chickens are omnivores and the more variety they have in their diet, the more nutrition they will pass down to their eggs to ensure that their eggs have everything possible to ensure the survival of their hatchling. Chickens on a free-range or pasture-raised farm usually live a lot longer than two years and enjoy living, rather than just surviving.

Now that the drastic difference between store-bought and farm fresh makes sense, why do some farmers price their eggs at $2 per dozen, while others price them at $5? Why such a drastic difference? It all comes down to the quality of the feed. A lot of farmers in our area supplement their chicken feed with various leftovers from different produce stores and bakeries. Supplementing is great, but you have to keep in mind that the chicken lays what she eats. If the farmer is supplementing heavily with carbohydrate-rich foods, for example, baked foods and bread, it is equivalent to you feeding your kids McDonald's three times a day with the occasional salad thrown in. Sure they free-range and eat bugs and grass but chickens will always fill up on the food easily accessible. The farmer that charges more for their eggs most likely supplements very little and invests in purchasing quality feed for their hens and watches how much of what they supplement to make sure that adequate nutrition is met and supplementation is only a snack.

All this might sound all well and dandy, but does the above matter that much? Let's break it down into numbers. Fresh eggs that come from happy healthy hens who have been fed a nutritionally rich diet have:

• 1/3 less cholesterol

• 1/4 less saturated fat

• 2/3 more vitamin A

• 2x more omega-3

• 3x more vitamin E

• 7x more beta carotene.

(cited: www.facebook.com/homefarmideas)

That is only the nutritional benefits. It is also worth noting that farm fresh eggs are usually unwashed, meaning that the flora which is deposited by the chicken during the laying process to seal the pores and prevent bacteria and viruses from getting in, is still intact and protecting the egg. You are also buying an egg that was laid no more than a few days prior. Eggs that are mass-produced go through a rigorous washing cycle which destroys the protective film on the outside. They are then sealed again with a synthetic product. The eggs were probably laid weeks to months before hitting the store shelves. I have heard horror stories about how long commercial eggs are left out during processing before hitting the shelves. A friend told me that someone she knew worked at a commercial chicken farm. They had a conveyor belt that would move the eggs from the cages through the washing processes and then into the packaging facility. One day something broke and the conveyor belt would not move. The eggs that were on the belt and the eggs that were currrently undergoing the washing and chemical dunk were left there for four days before the belt was fixed. Once it was fixed, the eggs were processed as usual and packaged for shipping to the store.

So the choice is completely up to you where you prefer to purchase your eggs. Just keep in mind, are you nurturing your body or are you just sustaining life?