Eggs

[onthemove]

We’ve moved and it’s harder to buy things that were the easy choice before.

What would you do if cost is not a factor, do you buy:

organic/pasture raised eggs that are in theory better for you and maybe better for the chicken, but come in plastic (definitely will not be recycled)

Or

“Cage free” eggs that are in cardboard (may be recycled, but not a guarantee)??

[karinothing]

I tend to buy the cardboard. It seriously drives me nuts that the organic pasture eggs are in plastic. WHY?@

Anyway, to be honest I am not sure the chickens are being treated that differently no matter what the packaging says.

[pixy0stix]

Yeah, fundamentally chickens in commercial settings are still chickens in commercial settings. So I'd buy the cardboard over plastic.

www.eater.com/2019/7/17/20696498/whats-the-difference-cage-free-free-range-pasture-raised-eggs

[chedifuen]

cardboard over plastic but here is my plug to get a couple of chickens. We've had chickens for 12 years and haven't had to buy eggs that whole time. Plus, blue eggs are so pretty

[AJL]

How have organic pasture raised eggs been shown to be better for you? I mean it seems like it's better for the chicken, but is there any appreciable nutritional difference in protein, fat, mineral content of a organic/pasture raised egg vs a conventional "cage free" egg? 

As for packaging, I like a recyclable option, but there is a lot you can do with egg cartons. The plastic ones can be used to start seedlings and you later replant. You can make shrinky dink art from them. You can use them to store hard boiled eggs (just label them). I use the cardboard cartons to start seedlings for sure and I also donate them to classrooms that need craft supplies. 

Honestly, I'd look at price. I had been paying around $7/dz for organic pasture raised eggs. But then I switched to store brand, 18ct eggs for $3.00. My kids love eggs and were going through them like crazy. So yeah... cheaper option won out for me.

[wanderingback]

I try to buy mostly organic stuff but try to avoid plastic whenever possible. I would buy the eggs in the cardboard.

[al dente]

Cardboard.

But also I think organic is basically a marketing scam at this point. Organic farming is still using pesticides and the large commercial organic farms are no better then conventional farms.

[UMaineTeach]

I’d get the cardboard box. I’d buy plastic before foam.

I hate whatever brand it is that has like a triple layer plastic box. Open the lid and there’s another plastic lid.

I also don’t know why there has to be so much plastic with organic food. Almost all the organic produce in my store is wrapped in plastic. As if the conventional produce will give it cooties.

[al dente]

Oct 5, 2023 18:22:11 GMT -5 UMaineTeach said:

I’d get the cardboard box. I’d buy plastic before foam.

I hate whatever brand it is that has like a triple layer plastic box. Open the lid and there’s another plastic lid.

I also don’t know why there has to be so much plastic with organic food. Almost all the organic produce in my store is wrapped in plastic. As if the conventional produce will give it cooties.

Basically, yes. I use to work at Whole Foods back in the day and the training was if organic produce touched conventional it couldn't be placed back with organic, it had to be changed to conventional.
Meanwhile people cough and drop and touch all over everything, but organic making contact with conventional and it was contaminated!

[basilosaurus]

Organic doesn't necessarily mean better, and it definitely doesn't mean better for you. Cardboard.

This is a quick run-down of the egg label meanings or, in some cases, non-meanings.
www.insider.com/what-different-egg-labels-really-mean-2019-1

[carmenere]

If cost truly isn’t a factor, I’d buy them at the farmers market or from someone local who keeps chickens - a lot of those folks tend to use recycled egg cartons.

[audette]

Oct 6, 2023 8:06:06 GMT -5 carmenere said:

If cost truly isn’t a factor, I’d buy them at the farmers market or from someone local who keeps chickens - a lot of those folks tend to use recycled egg cartons.

Now my brain is thinking of a model for selling eggs where they are sold in those rigid egg cases you can get for camping (to protect eggs in a cooler), which are made of hard plastic, which can likely be bleached/sanitized.  They could be priced like getting growlers of beer - it's $20 for the first dozen, but $15 of that (or whatever, I'm using round numbers) is for the case.  It's yours to keep, or it can be returned/refilled/etc.

[loira]

Eggs aren't packaged in plastic here. I try to buy free run in the supermarket, but it's pretty expensive. My H kept getting suckered by the "veggie fed" eggs because it sounds healthier, but I'm pretty sure that means the chickens aren't let out because their natural diet would involve insects, which are not vegetables. I will buy them from farmstands occasionally.

[devonpow]

Cardboard. We go through 3-4 dozen eggs a week so I consider my eggs deeply lol

[basilosaurus]

Oct 6, 2023 11:15:09 GMT -5 loira said:

Eggs aren't packaged in plastic here. I try to buy free run in the supermarket, but it's pretty expensive. My H kept getting suckered by the "veggie fed" eggs because it sounds healthier, but I'm pretty sure that means the chickens aren't let out because their natural diet would involve insects, which are not vegetables. I will buy them from farmstands occasionally.

The link I posted addressed this. Chickens are not vegetarian, so they need supplementation if they're in a veggie only diet. Apparently they can start attacking each other if not given enough protein. Sounds rather cruel

[stemmie]

I'd do cardboard if I couldn't buy locally.

I used to get my eggs from a hobbyist (his wife homeschooled and the chickens were part of the curriculum) who frequented a local bar where DH and I would grab a beer and burger on Monday nights. COVID killed the bar, so now I buy them from some crazy dude who sells them in the cooler of the place where I buy beer. They're pricey but really good-- plus he accepts and re-uses random cartons when I remember to bring them in.

AJL, I don't know if the eggs are superior in nutrition, but the local eggs I get do taste better and are fresher (which can make them hard to peel, btw). The yolks are way deeper in color than commercial eggs and unwashed, they can be stored on the counter. Eggland's Best, which are packed in foam containers, are supposed to be "better" nutritionally. My aunt's ophthalmologist encourages her to eat that brand for her AMD.

[onthemove]

Thanks everyone.

I found a few different studies saying free range hens produce a healthier chicken and egg (and actually decreases egg production because they don’t consume as many calories as caged chickens on an industrial diet). www.psu.edu/news/research/story/pasture-ized-poultry/#:~:text=“From%20this%20study%20we%20confirmed,an%20effect%20on%20the%20eggs.

But most of the eggs in the store even if “free range” are on industrial style farms where as people have pointed out, are probably not getting the same QOL and nutrition as the ideal scenario.

I will see what I can find that might be local, and stick to cardboard-stored eggs. I don’t think I will ever live somewhere where I can have my own hens, but it’s a thought!

[sadlebred]

Recycled/reused cartons containing my neighbor's chickens eggs. More expensive, but the girls are happy! (and I buy eggs rarely, so I am happy to help support my neighbor--she sells extra eggs to help buy the girls' feed.)

I can recycle the plastic, Styrofoam, and cardboard in my city, so it doesn't matter what I buy. It all gets recycled.

[basilosaurus]

Oct 8, 2023 22:56:13 GMT -5 sadlebred said:

Recycled/reused cartons containing my neighbor's chickens eggs. More expensive, but the girls are happy! (and I buy eggs rarely, so I am happy to help support my neighbor--she sells extra eggs to help buy the girls' feed.)

I can recycle the plastic, Styrofoam, and cardboard in my city, so it doesn't matter what I buy. It all gets recycled.

even if it's all recycled that doesn't mean equivalent impact