Organic Eggs Don't Always Come From Happy Chickens

When most folks think "organic eggs," they likely conjure up images of plump chickens strutting around in the sunshine, pecking at fresh grass, insects, and worms. In reality, not all organic chickens — and organic eggs, for that matter — are created equal.

The Cornucopia Institute, a non-profit, recently completed a two-year investigation of certified organic egg operations in America. Researchers visited 15 percent of the country's certified organic egg farms, checking in on operations ranging from small, family-owned farms to industrial-scale hen houses. Researchers presented their findings in a new report titled "Scrambled Eggs: Separating Factory Farm Egg Producers from Authentic Organic Agriculture." Some of the supposedly "organic" operations researchers visited are truly horrifying.

Eighty percent of organic eggs on the market are produced by only a handful of farms, most of them industrial-scale factory farms. Though the operations claim to employ organic practices, they look strikingly similar to farms like Wright County Egg, one of the factory farms fingered for the country's recent salmonella outbreak. These "organic farms" house hundreds of thousands of chickens that literally sit on top of each other in crowded cages. While chickens are supposed to spend time outdoors in order for eggs to be labeled as "organic," Cornucopia Institute found that industrial-scale producers often cheat the system. "Many of these operators are gaming the system by providing minute enclosed porches, with roofs and concrete or wood flooring, and calling these structures 'the outdoors,' Charlotte Vallaeys, a farm policy analyst and the lead author of the report, said in a press release. "Many of the porches represent just three-to-five percent of the square footage of the main building housing the birds. That means 95 percent or more of the birds have absolutely no access whatsoever."

While keeping birds in cages is undoubtedly cruel, more and more studies show that eggs from cage-free birds are actually safer and healthier, too. Cage-free eggs are less likely to contain salmonella than eggs that came from birds kept in battery cages (as Wright County Egg and Hillendale Farms can attest). Some research also suggests that cage-free eggs have about one-third less cholesterol and one-quarter less saturated fat than regular eggs, and boast higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin A, vitamin E, and beta carotene.

While Cornucopia Institute came down hard on industrial-scale organic egg producers, the report said that the vast majority of small- and mid-sized organic egg producers were doing things the right way. Some operations even went above and beyond organic requirements, rotating hens' grazing areas or keeping them in mobile hen houses to ensure that their area is clean and fresh. Most of these types of producers sell their eggs at farmers' markets, food coops, and roadside farmstands, proving that buying from small, local farmers really is the best choice when it comes to food.

Based on results of the report, Cornucopia Institute produced a handy dandy Organic Egg Brand Scorecard, which ranks egg producers from "exemplary" to "ethically deficient" based on their hen-rearing methods. "Just as with our dairy brand scorecard, our goal is to empower consumers and wholesale buyers with information to make good, discerning purchasing decisions — rewarding the heroes and sending a strong message to the bad actors," Mark A. Kastel, Cornucopia Institute's codirector, said in a press release.

Shoppers can access the Organic Egg Brand Scorecard here. You can also help demand more ethical and safer egg production from all producers by signing our petition asking the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to mandate that all eggs be cage-free.

Photo credit: CALM Action via Flickr