Is it the chicken or the egg?

Well we don’t know, and we don’t really need to know either. What we do need to know is where the eggs come from. Not which particular chicken, but where the chicken lived, and how. Factory farms treat their chickens as if they are egg machines rather than living creatures. They are stuffed into cages and cramped spaces, and that doesn’t just mean that the animals are suffering, it also affects the quality of their eggs. Most factory-raised chickens eat GMO-feed, are fed antibiotics, and live a very stressed life. How would their eggs—and the eggs’ affect on your health—not reflect that?

So what really does come first: how we choose our food resources? What we eat? Or how well we feel? How do our choices affect not only our health but also the ecosystem and global animal welfare? I am happy that consciousness about all of this is growing, and more and more people are aware that their choices about where they get their food matter. The care for animals, their health, and quality of life is in direct relationship to the health of our global and local systems—and of us as individuals.

Hall and Michael with two of their “chicks”

There is, thankfully, a movement towards smaller farms coming back and people choosing to have their own chickens. This is happening both in urban and rural areas. The most immediate reward is the amazing tasting eggs! We get our eggs from different neighbors, who have their chickens roaming freely. Some young couples are now making a go for it to farm for a living, but some also raise chickens simply because they are amazing and beautiful little creatures that also give you great eggs.

Just look at the colors of the eggs here. The happier the chickens, the more plentiful and delicious the eggs: a friend left the radio playing in the chicken shed over the winter and the hens laid fresh eggs all winter!  On factory farms there is no such thing as a season, nor day and night, so the chickens cooped up there produce eggs all the time. But wouldn’t you rather have music and the care of the farmers be the reason?

One of my favorite ways to eat eggs is how we did it back home (I grew up in Denmark): Soft-boiled eggs and a piece of rye bread. You can find the recipe in the recipe section.