Are they really "cage free eggs"? Read this article.

[blmkid]

I remember reading an article, probably on line, several years ago about "cage free" or "free range" eggs. Article said that small openings where provided to give the chicken "opportunity" go to outside to "free range". The chicken had the opportunity to "roam free". So I'm guessing, there must have been guidelines to go by for a seller to qualify for selling "cage free eggs". Which of course means more cost to consumer. Does $$$ turn honest folks into dishonest folks? Well, some may say, "They are just bending the rules to compete in this vicious dog eat dog world". What are we teaching our kids? Maybe we need more re-runs of the Andy Griffth show?: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Andy_Griffith_Show[/SIZE]

The article is from One Green Planet website:


http://www.onegreenplanet.org/anima...free-range-and-cage-free-chicken-think-again/

 

[frater secessus]

Yes, there are. Usually on the side of the road where someone has a sign out, but there are commercial entities that do a good job. They definitely cost more.

For homedwellers it is simple and rewarding to keep a few backyard hens. People who have never seen a chicken up close are often surprised at how beautiful they are when not crammed into industrial barns.

 

[John61CT]

But annoyingly stupid creatures, almost as much so as sheep.

Both of which due to our interference, I'm sure the original versions were cleverer.

 

[jacqueg]

Well, mine are sure smarter at being chickens than I ever could be!

But I will say that chickens are proof positive that you can have an active and fully engrossing social life w/out being cerebral.

And therefore those cheap W*Mart eggs come at a significant non-monetary price.

 

[DuneElliot]

I always buy cage free...and always free roaming. I look for little country stores that carry local eggs from farms and homesteaders. They cost more but they sure do taste better and they come without the hefty moral price tag. I am of the same mind about pork and chicken meat also and never buy the cheap meat from Walmart.

 

[blmkid]

I am of the same mind about pork and chicken meat also and never buy the cheap meat from Walmart.

Definitely. I do not buy any meat,pork,poultry or fish from Wally World. I'll pay the extra and go to the Publix store. I get my eggs at Publix also. They are mostly in the SE, USA. Used to shop Kroger when I lived further north, Atlanta area. Kroger's all out West of the Missisippi. 

 

[DuneElliot]

Definitely. I do not buy any meat,pork,poultry or fish from Wally World. I'll pay the extra and go to the Publix store. I get my eggs at Publix also. They are mostly in the SE, USA. Used to shop Kroger when I lived further north, Atlanta area. Kroger's all out West of the Missisippi. 

Walmart in my home town does have a very tiny section for chicken that is free-range (true free-range, not "cage free") although I haven't checked the one where I am now. I rarely buy beef but less concerned about that since I am a rancher and know how the cattle industry actually works. I'll buy some meat from Walmart, but it has to be free-range.

I don't eat fish unless it's sustainably fished (ie line caught). Pork is the big one IMO and I'm very picky about eating it and where it comes from. It's not something I eat often but I'll occasionally pick up some pork chops to do.

 

[musicman]

Plenty of cage free eggs in the mid west as well as organic fed chickens and beef.
I buy my fish from the fish market thst sells fresh fish. It helps being on the banks of mississippi river.

 

[DuneElliot]

Bear in mind, cage free isn't the same as free range.

 

[wasanah2]

I always buy cage free...and always free roaming. I look for little country stores that carry local eggs from farms and homesteaders. They cost more but they sure do taste better and they come without the hefty moral price tag. I am of the same mind about pork and chicken meat also and never buy the cheap meat from Walmart.

One of the great things about traveling around is that you can go into the country and buy fresh eggs.  And you're right, they do cost more but the egg tastes better if it comes from a happy hen.  I remember a Mennonite store in PA that I went to that had everything fresh and they did their own butchering.  It was great to go there and the prices were low and the food way better than mass marketed groceries.

 

[wasanah2]

Plenty of cage free eggs in the mid west as well as organic fed chickens and beef.
I buy my fish from the fish market thst sells fresh fish. It helps being on the banks of mississippi river.

Pardon me if I'm wrong (and that's happened a time or two) but I thought no one ate fish out of the Mississippi River.  Is it clean enough to eat the fish out of it?  Last time I was in St. Louis, I was appalled at how polluted it was.  Granted that was 15 years ago, maybe they cleaned it up?

 

[John61CT]

First world problems.