The incredible, edible egg. Maybe

Many people are familiar with this famous saying but I am willing to bet you a million bucks only a handful have every stopped to think about it.  Errrrr, are the eggs you are eating really edible?  Alright, technically they are edible but in my book barely, just barely.  My last post was about omlettes and now I feel it's only right to provide my take on eggs.
Three years ago in my college speech class, I chose to research the meat and egg industry and I was instantly horrified. My family has always been a bit persnickety about the meat and eggs we consume--my mom gets our beef from an old neighbor who raises his own grass fed, free range beef and we often get eggs from local farms.  We are actually going to get our own egg layin' chickens now that we live in the country and have somewhere for the chicks to hang out.  My dad hunts and fishes like its his job (sometimes we wonder if he ever goes into work during the summer and fall)  providing us with fresh, top quality, minimally processed, antibiotic and growth hormone free meat and fish.  I never truly understood why my parents made these choices, but after my research project, it is crystal clear.   I could go on and on and on and on and on about the meat industry, but I'm going to focus on eggs in this post.  I'll save the meat story for another day---don't want to upset your stomach too much.
In the past, eggs have gotten their fair share of negative attention and a bad rap- many people hear the word egg and immediately think cholesterol.  Yes, eggs do have cholesterol, but if you eat a well balanced diet, paying attention to the other sources of fat and cholesterol you consume,  the amount of cholesterol in one egg will not have any negative effect on your health.  In fact, the egg is packed with 6 grams of protein, 9 essential amino acids and other healthful fats. The nutrients found in eggs help keep your eyes healthy, as well as your hair and nails. Clearly, the egg is quite incredible. Where the problem arises is in the production of eggs for local supermarkets-where most of us tend to buy our eggs. There are many studies that have been conducted, as well as on going studies, that claim that free range chicken eggs are nutritionally superior to eggs from chickens raised in cages at massive egg farms.  I have read many of these studies, and can truly see why chickens who are allowed to graze, get exercise, and see the sun produce better eggs.  Some people disagree with and disregard these claims.  I am not going to attempt to untangle the results of these studies, however, I do think that a bit of common sense can go a long way.  Just stop for a moment and think.  Would you rather eat eggs laid by a chicken who has spent her entire existence in a cage no bigger than a shoebox, surrounded by millions of other birds who have never seen a second of daylight?  They can barely stand up in their cages, let alone get any form of exercise.  Chickens are supposed to be able to roam around and eat a variety of grains, fresh greens and insects.  Egg farm chickens are fed the same grain everyday and therefore produce a lower quality of egg, lacking many of the valuable nutrients found in a free range egg.  Free range eggs have been tested and have 30% less cholesterol than factory raised eggs, as well as double the amount of vitamins A, E, and D.  If a chicken's diet is lacking essential nutrients, it only makes sense that the eggs it lays are also going to be lacking these nutrients.

A standard egg farm

I do not need any scientific studies, facts, or conclusions to know that I do not want to eat eggs from chickens raised under these conditions. (animal cruelty is another major concern that I'm not going to tackle today either)   I value my body and health and I see a direct relationship between what I put into my body and how I feel and preform. Many of my friends chuckle a bit when we are making cookies and they find brown eggs in my refrigerator. They don't understand why I pay an extra dollar or two to get free range organic eggs.  I am not criticizing anyone who buys a dozen sunshine farms eggs for $1.39, many of us have never been prompted to think about the conditions under which our eggs are produced; I am simply encouraging you to think about the eggs you eat. Unfortunately, we cannot mindlessly assume that the food stocked on the supermarket's shelves is safe to eat.   Many of you who are reading this are college students and we are all on a tight budget.  I highly doubt that you are going to break the bank by spending that extra dollar on free range eggs.  Hey, you could even buy one less beer at the bar this weekend and spend that money on eggs.  Now there's an idea.

A lovely nutrient packed free range organic egg that I enjoyed for lunch