Not sure if you saw this but thought i might pass it along to you.
“Major Investigation Exposes The Truth About One Of America’s Largest Organic Egg Brands”
People buy organic for a large number of reasons, Health, Animal Welfare, Environment, or other reasons
In the case of EGGS, it is a safe bet that the smaller the farm the better the quality of the eggs! “Pastured eggs from small family farms are usually your best bet for all of of your “organic” needs”.
Rillato park “farmers market” every Sunday is a safe bet here in Tucson.
I am sure there are lots of farmer markets near you.
This report was published in the “Washington Post” and looked at only one of the organic farms raising chickens for eggs. The Saranac, Michigam Eggland’s Best production facility. Yes it is a HUGE part of the organic market for eggs. There are 1.6 million chickens at this one farm. It is estimated that 1 of every 10 organic eggs sold in the US come from this farm.
The article goes on to say what the consumer thinks of when they think of organic is a small “ma & pa” farm that is producing their organic eggs.
In the case of this one farm that is not the case.
The chickens can not go outside, which is one of the requirements of calling an egg organic. “it houses more than 1.6 million hens and they are held in close proximity to each other with no ability to set foot outside” according to an un-named source.
The farm says that, “the birds are said to be held at over three per square foot of floor space”.
Katherine Paul of the “Organic consumer association” says, “this is not at all what consumers expect of an organic farm”.
USDA requirements for organic livestock are outdoor access, direct sunlight, and fresh air, while prohibiting “continuous total confinement” of any animal indoors. They are supposed to be able to be in their “natural behavior”
Greg Herbruck, the president of Herbruck’s poultry ranch in Saranac which is part of the organic egg operation, said that the entire operation is organic. He also called the Post report misleading.
He also declined a Post reporter’s request for a visit saying that it could “possibly” infect the flock with a disease.
But focus on the over all picture please
“While there are benefits to buying even large-scale “organic” eggs like “Eggland’s Best”, namely the lack of GMOs in their organic feed. The message seems clear: Buy at your own risk.”
If you would like to know which egg producing operations are the best in terms of categories like animal welfare, family or corporate farm status. and more you can also check out the “Cornucopia Institute’s Organic Egg Scorecard” By clicking this link here Click here
If you would like to read the entire article from the Washington Posts article click this link here Washington Post Article
Just thought you might want to know
-Dr T