Many of us do our best to make good decisions at the supermarket. We choose organic produce over conventional, grass-fed meats when they’re available, and organic dairy products. If we’re able to, we’re willing to pay a premium price for our food because we trust that the money is supporting sustainable agricultural practices.
Take organic eggs. When you buy a carton of organic eggs, you’re expecting that the chickens that laid those eggs are fed organic diets and given free access to the outdoors. We know that chickens living in factory farms face squalid conditions confined to cages they can’t even move around in. When we pay a premium for organic eggs, we are, in our own way, trying to buy a better life for the chickens that produce them.
But when the Cornucopia Institute did a wide-ranging investigation of organic egg producers, they found that many chickens were living in huge chicken houses with access to a very small, caged-in outdoor area. The amount of outside space was severely inadequate for the high number of birds packed into the chicken houses. What they found at many of these farms was nothing more than glorified factory farming, wrapped up to look prettier for the consumer.
Store Brands Consistently Get Low Marks
Many grocery chains are getting into the organic egg market, recognizing that they can charge a premium for them. Of course, with a big chain, all that really matters is the bottom line, and it shows in how many of the farms that supplied the organic eggs treated their chickens.
Whole Foods, Walmart, A&P, Costco, Meijer, Safeway, and Trader Joe’s store-brand eggs all received the lowest possible rating in Cornucopia’s study. Their “one egg” rating means that these eggs “…are generally produced on industrial-scale egg operations that grant no meaningful outdoor access. “Outdoor access” on these operations generally means a covered concrete porch that is barely accessible to the chickens. Means of egress from the buildings are intentionally small to discourage birds from going outside, and make it possible for only a small percentage of birds to have “access” to the outdoors.”
Small Family Farms = Higher Standards
The highest rating on Cornucopia’s scale was the “5-egg” rating. Farms earning this rating provided their hens with ample access to pasture or housed their flocks in movable “chicken tractors” so that every few days, the birds would have access to fresh land. The family farms tended to sell their eggs locally at independent shops, farmers’ markets, and co-ops.
To find farms that earned a four or five egg rating in the study, visit Cornucopia’s website. You can also find out how your local or store brand rated.
