The World is Going to Hell in an Egg Carton
High on the list of “things that make me nuts” is the packaging of mainstream eggs. I know that I am dating myself here, but I remember when most all eggs, brown or white, came in cardboard-like egg cartons. They were obviously a paper product; recyclable and no-doubt biodegradable. This was before our culture was concerned with, or even more then moderately aware of, the importance of recycling and the use of biodegradable packaging. But now that we are all keenly aware of the harm we humans are causing this beautiful planet we call home, it has become nearly impossible to buy eggs in anything other than a styrofoam or three-layer plastic container. Does anyone besides me find this completely ironic, not to mention arrogant and ignorant?! (Have you ever noticed how often arrogant and ignorant go together?!)
I enjoy eggs – great source of protein, lots of ways to prepare them and no one had to die for me to eat an egg. And years after all that bad press, now the FDA has come out to say that it turns out they don’t really have all that cholesterol they used to warn us about. (Makes you wonder if it’s true or if the corporate egg producers bought off some high official at the FDA?!) So I have been buying eggs for many years (even back when they were high in cholesterol); usually brown eggs – because I bought that advertising gimmick about how “brown eggs are local eggs, and local eggs are fresh” – not that it mattered, most of the dozen was going to sit in my fridge long enough to not be fresh by the time I ate them no matter what color they were! Then a few years ago I started noticing the label “cage free” – oh I liked that! Happy little free chickens running around a barn yard laying eggs – happy chickens must lay happy eggs! These were the eggs for me! And then for a short time I was conflicted about “cage free” eggs vs. “organic” eggs. Hmmm – well I like the idea of organic, but if it was a caged organic chicken then it was not necessarily a happy chicken, and then I felt like I had to choose between my organic preference vs. the quality of life the chickens had who laid the eggs – and for me, the chicken won. (For reasons I can’t explain, I have never seen an egg carton marked “organic AND cage-free.”) So it’s cage-free for me.
But a year or so ago I faced a more serious problem when searching the egg department of my grocery store – it had nothing to do with what color they were, or whether there were hormones involved, or how happy the chickens were. No, it was a much more serious problem – it was all about what the eggs were packaged in. Practically over night all of those cardboard egg cartons were replaced with styrofoam cartons – one of the most environmentally toxic packaging materials known to man. Even McDonalds had already stopped packaging their burgers in it because it is SO bad for the environment. A product that has been banned from use in several California cities because it is so evil! And there my happy chicken eggs were, all looking up at me from underneath this horrible layer of expanded polystyrene. There was one other option – there was one company (who happens to offer cage-free eggs) that packages in a carton that consists of THREE layers of molded plastic. Which is also bad, and a rediculous amount of packaging, but at least it was recyclable.
I am sure that those styrofoam and plastic egg cartons, save the big corporate egg producers big bucks in the long run - maybe they are 2 cents cheaper to buy or use; maybe they have 5% less breakage. But what about our planet?! Don’t they care that they are breaking our planet?! But they are not the only guilty party – don’t forget all the consumers who find the convenience of purchasing their eggs in the grocery store more valuble then the world they are leaving behind for their children. There are alternatives to buying big-time coproparate eggs – you can get fresh eggs from farmers markets, food co-ops, CSAs, and local farmers, if you are willing to go out of your way.
So, my point is, forget the old philosophical debate about the chicken and the egg – we need to work on the packaging!
I enjoy eggs – great source of protein, lots of ways to prepare them and no one had to die for me to eat an egg. And years after all that bad press, now the FDA has come out to say that it turns out they don’t really have all that cholesterol they used to warn us about. (Makes you wonder if it’s true or if the corporate egg producers bought off some high official at the FDA?!) So I have been buying eggs for many years (even back when they were high in cholesterol); usually brown eggs – because I bought that advertising gimmick about how “brown eggs are local eggs, and local eggs are fresh” – not that it mattered, most of the dozen was going to sit in my fridge long enough to not be fresh by the time I ate them no matter what color they were! Then a few years ago I started noticing the label “cage free” – oh I liked that! Happy little free chickens running around a barn yard laying eggs – happy chickens must lay happy eggs! These were the eggs for me! And then for a short time I was conflicted about “cage free” eggs vs. “organic” eggs. Hmmm – well I like the idea of organic, but if it was a caged organic chicken then it was not necessarily a happy chicken, and then I felt like I had to choose between my organic preference vs. the quality of life the chickens had who laid the eggs – and for me, the chicken won. (For reasons I can’t explain, I have never seen an egg carton marked “organic AND cage-free.”) So it’s cage-free for me.
But a year or so ago I faced a more serious problem when searching the egg department of my grocery store – it had nothing to do with what color they were, or whether there were hormones involved, or how happy the chickens were. No, it was a much more serious problem – it was all about what the eggs were packaged in. Practically over night all of those cardboard egg cartons were replaced with styrofoam cartons – one of the most environmentally toxic packaging materials known to man. Even McDonalds had already stopped packaging their burgers in it because it is SO bad for the environment. A product that has been banned from use in several California cities because it is so evil! And there my happy chicken eggs were, all looking up at me from underneath this horrible layer of expanded polystyrene. There was one other option – there was one company (who happens to offer cage-free eggs) that packages in a carton that consists of THREE layers of molded plastic. Which is also bad, and a rediculous amount of packaging, but at least it was recyclable.
I am sure that those styrofoam and plastic egg cartons, save the big corporate egg producers big bucks in the long run - maybe they are 2 cents cheaper to buy or use; maybe they have 5% less breakage. But what about our planet?! Don’t they care that they are breaking our planet?! But they are not the only guilty party – don’t forget all the consumers who find the convenience of purchasing their eggs in the grocery store more valuble then the world they are leaving behind for their children. There are alternatives to buying big-time coproparate eggs – you can get fresh eggs from farmers markets, food co-ops, CSAs, and local farmers, if you are willing to go out of your way.
So, my point is, forget the old philosophical debate about the chicken and the egg – we need to work on the packaging!
posted by 10-8-ious | 7:21 PM
1 Comments:
Ok, so a few comments here. First, Cage free chickens aren't organic cause they will eat just about anything the can stick their beaks into. When I was growing up on the farm we bought eggs from the neighbor, and the taste of the eggs would very to what was in season, sometimes they were yellow yolked, sometimes orange, sometimes with a green tinge. they would taste like squash or cabbage or alfalfa. in the winter they guy would throw kitchen scraps to them and so goodbye organic.
Who says caged chickens aren't happy anyway? Sure they can't get out, but the dog can't get in either... And their is room service as far as food goes.
And as for brown eggs, well 95% of chicken breeds have eggs that are NOT white. But you see, some of dem city slickers think brown eggs are caused by chickens who don't wipe. I actually think that brown eggs aren't as runny.
Finally, we often by eggs in paper cartons. They are two dozen in a package. We feed the paper cartons to our crickets which are boxed, not caged, which in turn we feed to our fire bellied toads which aren't free range, but kind of got their own indoor water park complete with live plants and a water fall.
Maybe the chickens would like an indoor water park too?
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