Your Green Tip: Egg-splanation
Posted By Dee Stofko on September 1, 2010
Perhaps you have heard—more than 1,000 cases of salmonella caused by tainted eggs has been the latest failure of the FDA to keep our food supply safe. Over half a billion of these eggs came from two Iowa factory farms where hens live in cages so small they can barely move. These farms have had numerous violations in the past few years for sanitary reasons as well as for animal cruelty. In the past two years alone, the U.S. consumer has had food recalls involving beef, spinach, peanuts, lettuce, jalapeno peppers and tomatoes, just to name a few! Hopefully, all of these monumental failures will be an impetus for the FDA to make improvements where they need to be made or for lawmakers to pass legislation to ensure the safety of our food.
For many years, regulators have been attempting to put temporary band-aids on many of the problems in our food supply. In 2008, the government allowed spinach and iceberg lettuce producers to “irradiate” their products in order to kill the E. coli and salmonella lurking within them. There is some speculation that eggs will follow a similar path. Instead of forcing farmers to “clean up their act”, the FDA may allow eggs to be chemically-treated—a process that kills not only the culprits but much of the nutrition as well. These band-aids allow chickens to live and lay their eggs in the worst possible conditions while producing eggs that still meet government standards.
The best way for you, as a consumer, to protect yourselves against salmonella-laced eggs is to buy locally. Most local farms raise chickens in small quantities whereas commercial farms may house as many as 500,000 chickens. The more chickens and the closer the quarters, the greater the opportunity for disease. Also eggs from local farmers are fresher and more nutritious. When hens are allowed to roam and forage for insects, their eggs are richer in protein and their yolks are bright orange. Farmers’ Markets are an excellent way to buy local eggs. Meet the farmers and ask to see their operations. Make sure their hens are being treated humanely and fed an organic diet. Or check out the website of UUCOC members, Diane and Aaron Mitschke, and buy your eggs from them. Go to One World Farm for more information.
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