Posted by kathryn in Ethics & Sustainablity

When shopping at the supermarket it’s easy to become overwhelmed by all the the choices. I’m an avid food label reader, but even I’ll admit it sometimes takes too long to make an informed decision. It’s easy to be overwhelmed and end up buying the cheapest item, or the one you always buy.

If you’re in any way concerned about animal welfare, one of the tricky decisions can be in the egg aisle. Eggs are no longer just eggs – instead we now have cage eggs, omega eggs, free range, barn laid, vegetarian, organic and even biodynamic.

Paula Goodyer’s Chew On This blog has a good round-up of the differences and how to make the best choices for both you and the chicken. She also makes a good point about the relative cost of different types of egg:

the next time you’re trying to decide what comes first – the hen or your hip pocket – consider that even at $5.50 or $6.00 for a dozen free range or barn eggs, they’re such a good source of protein and other nutrients that they’re still a bargain compared to many other less nutritious foods for the same price.

Eggs are little nuggets of nutrition. They contain good quality protein (about 6g per egg), magnesium, potassium, vitamin A, thiamin (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), folate, B12, vitamin E and iron. While they do contain some fat, it’s a mixture of poly-unsaturated, mono-unsaturated and saturated fats. There’s more about egg nutrition, including the issue of eggs and cholesterol here.

28 February, 2007