Socrates said, “The Unexamined life is not worth living.”

When starting the project of Egg Cracker I would never have thought how far the rabbit hole would go with EGGS. It’s allowed me to keep investigating on a small scale into an industry that used to have little or no interest to me. My thoughts prior to Egg Cracker were Eggs are Eggs, eat them and go to work. In my opinion after studying the egg industry for the past five years is that it’s a racket of inhumane farming practices and catchy names that cover up the high demand for eggs.

I love eating eggs so what is an egg lover to do. Luckily for me I’ve stumbled onto PNS Farms and Alice Pena. She represents the Reigning Champion of Egg farming. Because of her stand to deliver high quality eggs I’ve been introduced to the stamp Pasture Raised and Animal Welfare Approved. They will be my next two new areas of focus to promote high quality farm practices.

PNS Farms

They have a waiting list for their EGGS. The hens die from natural causes on her farm. I pay $8.99 for a dozen of PNS eggs or another way of looking at it is you can buy two Starbucks Frappaccino’s for the same price. The restaurant Michaels Genuine Food in Miami procures their EGGS from PNS farms. To give you an idea of Michaels Genuine Food, this establishment promotes high quality farm food to table for guests. I have only eaten their once and can’t say much about it. I only remember enjoying my lunch with a friend and the place was busy.

Cage Free Eggs

Couple of things to consider, if you’re buying Cage Free eggs start looking for another label. When I first bought Cage Free eggs I thought I was getting a great egg. It turns out the label Cage Free is a little misleading. Can you blame them? Every business has to make profits to keep the doors open. Most large egg hatchery’s that sell to major retail food chains like WalMart, Publix, Jewel, Domanick’s, or Food4Less have to feed the demand of EGGS. So that mean hens have to suffer our demand for eggs by living in a packed cages or cramped open pens, shorten life span, no sunlight, and snapped beaks to stop from killing one another.

Local Breakfast House

How about those eggs at your local Breakfast House? Not too many places spend the extra money for quality Pasture Raised eggs. Not a chance. More than likely they buy the cheapest EGGS from Sysco. (Sysco Corporation is involved in marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, hotels and inns, and other foodservice and hospitality.) Gotta keep the Cost of Goods Sold down and keep the doors open!

Here’s how it works for Batter Caged Hens vs Cage Free Hens:

Battery Hens – Take hens and stuff them in a cage. This is (What’s Crackin) in the United States. A herculean amount of eggs are produced this way.
Nobel Prize winner Dr. Konrad Lorenz, said:
The worst torture to which a battery hen is exposed is the inability to retire somewhere for the laying act. For the person who knows something about animals it is truly heart-rending to watch how a chicken tries again and again to crawl beneath her fellow cagemates to search there in vain for cover.

Cage Free Hens – Open up the cages.
Stuff more hens into a pen or open space with a small box for them to go outside that is bottlenecked.
1. 24 hours a day of lighting to produce more eggs and shorter life span.
2. Snap beaks to stop fighting for space.
3. Eat decrement on floor of other hens.

These are the eggs consumed by most of America.

What is weird to me is the world doesn’t have the same view of eggs or hens. In Europe eggs are not put in the refrigerator section of the grocery store or markets. That’s because Europe recognizes that EGGS produce a natural protectant around the EGG and they’ve spent the money to immunize the hens from Salmonella. In the United States they’re required to wash the EGGs and remove the natural protectant or film from the EGG. I have no idea who’s correct America or Europe? When in the states refrigerate and when in Europe buy from store and refrigerate.

In Conclusion
The key for me is quality eggs from a quality farm like PNS. Take your time and spend 5 minutes of your day researching the eggs of your local farmer or market that provides hens with a quality life that is worth your consumption. We are what we eat and a healthy egg can go a long way.