Source: rwmalonemd.substack.com
Not all eggs are created equal. That is a fact that the mega corporations who own about 99% of the egg production in the USA don’t want you to know.
How large are these companies? Here the numbers of hens that the top five egg producing companies own (data from 2021):
- Cal-Maine Foods, 44.26 million hens
- Rose Acre Farms, 27.60 million hens
- Versova Holdings L.L.P., 20.06 million hens
- Hillandale Farms, 20.00 million hens
- Daybreak Foods, 15.00 million hens
Now, people who want humane eggs, often buy “cage-free” but that means little, in terms of humane treatment. “Cage-free” is defined by having the cages removed from their crowded living conditions.
So, free range can be a little better. The USDA has some criteria for what is free range.
The USDA’s (and industry standards’) definition for “Free Range” is that birds must have “outdoor access” or “access to the outdoors.” In some cases, this can mean access only through a “pop hole,” with no full-body access to the outdoors and no minimum space requirement. Basically a hole in the wall – from which they can stick their heads out of. Sort of.
But all this jargon skirts around the bigger issue, in terms of human wellness and eating eggs. We know that there is a huge difference in egg quality from laying hens that have access to better quality foods and forage.
As much as our government would like to support the large egg producers, the truth is that small farms and “backyard” (at least from those hens that have access to pasture and better food) chicken eggs are healthier.
Recent peer review papers support this:…