Standards Matter - Unscrambling Egg Carton Marketing
Standards matter.
It is our belief that there is a direct relationship between the quality of your health and the quality of the food you eat. With that as our key assertion, we developed a set of standards that guide all of our buying decisions. We read all of the labels and do the research before an item is allowed on our shelves. Eggs provide an example.
Shopping for eggs can get confusing. It used to be that when you went to the grocery store to buy eggs, it was pretty straight forward. Eggs in a carton, usually a dozen. Now, you have all kinds of options: conventional, pasture-raised, free range, organic and local. Knowledge is power, but what does it all really mean? We have done the research to help us determine the best options to offer customers. Here’s a little egg-splanation (LOL) of what we look for when it comes to eggs.
Top Choices You Will Find at Choices:
Local Eggs from Dykstra Farm in Thomson, IL- We have known Ann Dykstra and her daughter, Rachel, since we bought the store in 2014. They raise and feed the hens with the humane care and attention they deserve. Hens have the run of the pasture.
Certified Organic Eggs: When you see the USDA Organic seal on eggs, you can be confident that the farms producing the eggs are meeting animal welfare standards and the feed is free from harmful pesticides and/or insecticides and GMOs.
Pasture Raised eggs with the Certified Humane seal: The term “pasture raised” is not a regulated term, but when you see the Certified Humane seal combined with this wording, there is a definition that must be met in order to use “pasture raised” on the carton. The definition that Certified Humane uses requires at least 6-hours of outdoor space and 2-square-feet per bird.
Click the following link to see the standards - https://certifiedhumane.org/decode-egg-labels/
What You Will Not Find at Choices
Conventional Eggs
These eggs are the most common found in conventional grocery stores.
What we don’t like about them: They come from large commercial farms where the chickens are housed in cages that only allow for minimal movement. The conditions in which these chickens live are often overcrowded and inhumane. The chickens are usually fed a diet consisting of grains, soy, and other conventional feeds, that are often grown from GMO seed. You will also notice the color of the yolk tends to be lighter in color. It is widely accepted that the brighter the yolk, the healthier the hen was that laid it.
At Choices, we believe that the living conditions and quality of feed are crucial factors in bringing our community the best eggs possible. Conventional eggs do not meet our standards.
Cage Free Eggs without Third Party Verification
These are a small step up from regular conventional eggs. This terminology indicates that the hens are not in cages, but hens may still be housed in large, often overcrowded, warehouse facilities with little room to move about. Feed is similar to that of conventional eggs. For cage free eggs to make it into our cooler, we would need to do follow up work to determine the living conditions and whether hens were fed a Non-GMO diet.
Free Range Eggs without Third Party Certification
Free-range eggs come from chickens that have some access to the outdoors, although the amount of time and quality of outdoor space can vary significantly. This claim can literally mean there is a door to the outside that may, or may not, be opened to allow freedom of movement outside of the facility. For free range eggs to appear in our cooler, we would need to do follow up work to determine the living conditions and whether hens were fed a Non-GMO diet.
Eggs are just one example of how we screen products we offer. Standards matter. We do the homework so that you can shop with confidence, knowing that products on our shelves have been screened and studied to provide you with the highest quality available.
Resources if you would like to read more:
https://www.awionline.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/FA-AWI-Food-Label-Guide-Full.pdf
https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2016/09/13/usda-graded-cage-free-eggs-all-theyre-cracked-be