Eggs had an undeserved reputation for decades as advocates of the now discredited lipid hypothesis cast them as little cholesterol-laden time bombs. Maybe you can eat one egg twice a week they would say, lest your arteries clog and cause a heart attack. Now we know better, thanks to the work of Sally Fallon, the Weston A. Price foundation and others. An egg can be an incredibly health-promoting nutrient dense food that supplies high quality, sulphur-containing amino acid proteins and fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, K2). Of course the emphasis in the previous sentence is on the word "can". The health promoting properties of eggs are severely compromised in factory-farmed eggs, which are the only ones that shoppers are likely to find in conventional supermarkets.
The best eggs come from chickens that live outside--rotated around the farm on fresh grass where they can enjoy the life a chicken was designed to live. Outside is where the sun shines, where the chlorophyll-rich grasses and weeds grow and where the tasty and nutritious snacks that chickens relish (called bugs) creep, crawl and fly. The best eggs come from small, family farms that tend flocks of a no more than several hundred--not from agribusiness flocks of thousands crammed into huge barns where the sun never shines.
Harvest Market is committed to selling only the highest quality, most nutrient dense eggs available. Every single fresh egg that we have sold since the day we opened in 1995 (more than two million all together) has come from an un-caged chicken. But that is our minimum standard. Most of our eggs are from pastured chickens that are outside on grass during the day in all but the coldest weather. These chickens are given a much higher quality feed than conventional chickens and this feed is often supplemented with extra nutrient containing foods like kelp and alfalfa. These extra nutrients get passed on to the egg and ultimately to you. All of our eggs come from local or regional family farms.
Robin and Mark Way and their children operate Rumbleway Farm in Conowingo, MD. This is what Robin has to say about their operation: "On our farm we practice sustainable agriculture. We utilize what nature has provided. We allow the animals to live and grow in as natural a setting as possible. We use all natural products to feed our animals and do not use hormones, antibiotics or pesticides. Animals are meant to live and grow outside with fresh air and grass and not in confined housing. We provide a healthy and happy environment for our animals." Rumbleway eggs are so popular at Harvest Market that the Ways' chickens are unable to lay enough eggs to supply our demand.
Country Meadows eggs come from the farms of the Lapp brothers in Quarryville, PA.
Amos and Rueben and their families tend to their flocks in much the same way their grandfather did more than 70 years ago. They cite not only the exceptional nutrition of their eggs themselves, but also the more humane, family and neighbor-friendly, and environmentally friendly nature of their farm. With a larger flock than the Ways', Country Meadows is able to keep us supplied with their nutrient dense eggs most of the year.
Harvest Market also carries eggs with our own "Lancaster Grass-fed" label. These eggs come from Amish farmer Jacob Zook and several of his Lancaster County neighbors. The chickens that lay these eggs are given a special nutritional supplement imported from Europe in addition to their regular mash and unlimited outside forage.
Jacob's chickens produce a very high percentage of jumbo eggs.
Our newest line of eggs is from Alderfer Poultry Farm in Telford, PA. These are the only certified organic eggs we carry and replace the Happy Hen organic white eggs, which are no longer available. Even though our other farmers use highly sustainable and ecological practices, choose to be certified organic. We therefore offer the Alderfer eggs for those people who insist on the certified organic label. Unfortunately certified organic regulations do not require that the chickens actually forage outside on grass. Alderfer chickens are housed inside in large barns year round. Though they are not stacked in cages as is the case with so many "factory farms", they do not benefit from the nutrition of sunshine, bugs and green grass.
One final note about our eggs, except for the Alderfer eggs, whose yolks will be a consistent yellow color year-round, our other eggs will change color as the seasons progress throughout the year. During the winter, the yolks of all our eggs will be a "normal" egg-yellow, though the Lancaster yolks may be a bit darker due to the special feed. As the grasses and weeds begin growing in the spring the yolks start to color up and will be more orange in color. A bright orange yolk is a sign of maximum levels of carotenes and fat-soluble vitamins. The more orange yolks will persist into the fall and then begin to fade, as the weather gets colder. Thanks for supporting local, family farms by buying nutritious eggs at Harvest Market.
Bob Kleszics
For more information on eggs as nutritious part of a health-promoting diet, please see:
"Principles of a Healthy Diet", a free booklet published by the Weston A. Price Foundation and available
on the shelves to the immediate left of our front door.
Nourishing Traditions, The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition
and the Diet Dictocrats by Sally Fallon, $27.00.
www.westonaprice.org
