With the current salmonella outbreak of factory farmed eggs, I wanted to talk about the quality and cost of eggs today. When I tell people that it costs me $7.50 per dozen for pastured eggs, people are always surprised and a bit shocked with the high price. I then proceed to ask, “Do you know how your egg became so cheap?”
The reason is factory farming, a way of cramming tens of thousands of birds under one roof. They are feed antibiotics in their feed to grow bigger and faster, while staving off diseases in these unhealthy environments. These antibiotics make up 70% of the antibiotics in use and are implicated in causing the antibiotic resistant bacteria we now face. Feed is cheap and there is no need for expensive land for them to graze on since they are kept in confinement. They are artificially stimulated with light to produce eggs around the clock.
According to David Kirby author of Animal Factory, the national average for a dozen eggs is compared with $1.56. Hence, the surprise that my eggs cost $7.50. By the way, I’m in San Francisco, it’s less in other parts of the country.  However, this is only 63 cents per egg. Yes, it costs me $50 more per egg.
However, I think it’s important to point out that the omega 3 and vitamin E found in pastured eggs is 5-10 times as high as in conventional eggs. You’d have to eat about a dozen for the nutrition found in one or two pastured eggs, so really nutrient per dollar, pastured eggs are cheap! Also, chickens raised in this healthy environment are rarely sick, and when they are, there is not a recall of 380 million eggs.
We need to do something about this. The best thing we can do is vote with our dollar and buy pastured eggs.
Recent Comments