Now are we really naive enough to believe that those bright orange yolks
that stand right up don't taste any different? How do they explain the
co-hesiveness of the free range eggs? What are they smoking in their pipe
up their at the land grant in NC? I see about half a dozen pastry chefs
each week that would get a huge laugh out of the poultry extension
specialists comments. The true proof is in the pasta, merangues, or ice
cream. Not to even mention the extra effort to scramble them for the best
tasting breakfast around.
Before I discredit them too much I should attempt to explain their
discrepency in not being able to taste the difference. It probably boils
down to the USDA definition of free range eggs. Its possible to put hens in
barns with "proper" square footage and call the eggs free range. We all
know that is not free range and I wouldn't doubt for a minute that eggs from
uncaged hens don't taste much different than caged eggs when they are raised
in identical barns.
It is shame that we have reduced agriculture to the production of bland,
lifeless commodities such as caged eggs and then try to convince people that
these products are identical to the products from more natural and humane
production systems. Its even more pathetic that the public believes it
because of a very well orchastrated speech sponsored by our tax dollars.
Fresh air and sunshine let alone green grass drastically change the flavor
and nutrient content of foods. I think Wisconsin University did some work
on CLA's in milk and eggs. I also think I am paying my hog tax (checkoff)
to fund research at Iowa state to figure out what to put in hogs diets to
increase CLA's in pork as this supposedly increases shelf life. I would
suggest green grass, clover, and alfalfa. I don't think that will grow on
their concrete in their sunless barns. :)
Isn't it amaizing how the problems just disapear when we start to realise
there is a bigger picture? Cages and concrete cause animal and human health
problems. The realistic alternative should be to get rid of the cages and
concrete not figure out how to spend more money to cure the ever increasing
problems that un-natural systems create. What is the odds American
livestock production ever pursues a truly sustainable direction?
Best wishes,
Greg Gunthorp
I was free range when free range wasn't cool!
-----Original Message-----
From: Donna Fezler <gcr@rhealiving.com>
To: Sustainable AG list (E-mail) <sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu>
Date: Tuesday, October 19, 1999 2:25 PM
Subject: Free-range eggs and nutritional differences #3
>Answer #3 from the poultry med list.
>
>Donna Fezler
>GCR
>Jacksonville, IL
>
>http://www.rhealiving.com
>
>> the free range chickens will eat. These include grasses, wild plant
>> seeds, and insects which have high levels of
>> <color><param>0100,0100,0100</param>Xanthophyls which are
>> the orange pigments in the feed</color>. These pigments can
>> actually be
>> added into commercial diets so that the eggs produced look
>> identical to free range produced eggs. Second, is the shell
>> thickness or strength issue. Most free range chickens are those
>> which produce brown shell eggs, it is widely known that brown
>> shell eggs have tougher shells. The shell itself is not thicker but
>> the membranes are thougher and subsequently influence the
>> impression of stronger shells.
>>
>>
>> One other trait you mentioned was taste of the free range eggs.
>> There is no difference between the taste or nutritional value of free
>> range or commercially produced eggs. The impression that the
>> free range egg has a richer flavor is due to the perception of the
>> individual eating the egg. The appearance of the egg will influence
>> the way it tastes. I happen to produce my own eggs since my
>> daughter has some pet chickens and the eggs from them taste just
>> like those you buy in the store. Nutritionally eggs are produced by
>> the hen for the purpose of reproduction. Therefore, since the
>> development of a chick embryo requires the same nutrients no
>> matter where the hen produces the egg the nutrients the hen puts
>> in are the same.
>>
>> > I have also seen prices of $4/doz for fertile eggs. The $6/doz for
>> green Araucana eggs I don't know about. However, nutritionally on
>> a volume to volume basis there is no nutritional difference between
>> any of the eggs you mentioned.
>> >
>> Ken Anderson
>
>> Kenneth E. Anderson, Ph.D.
>> Associate Professor and Extension Poultry Specialist
>> Poultry Science Department
>> North Carolina State University
>> Scott Hall, Rm. 237
>> Box 7608
>> Raleigh, NC 27695-7608
>>
>> Office: (919)515-5527
>> FAX: (919)515-7070
>>
>> ken_anderson@ncsu.edu
>>
>>
>
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