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Living Maxwell

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All Organic Eggs are NOT the Same – Here’s How to Buy the Best

If you walk into the supermarket and are confused about which organic eggs to buy, it is important to understand a few things.

First, not all organic eggs are the same. In fact, there are massive differences in organic eggs, particularly in regards to how the birds were raised.

Second, don’t select a carton of organic eggs simply because it has the nicest, most attractive packaging. That doesn’t tell the whole story.

Lastly and most importantly, the Cornucopia Institute, one of the organic industry’s most important non-profits, has just put out an updated version of its Organic Egg Scorecard, and this should be a must-use reference guide when shopping for organic eggs.

The Organic Egg Scorecard is part of Cornucopia’s incredibly important report called Scrambled Eggs: Separating Factory Farm Egg Production from Authentic Organic Agriculture.

In this report, Cornucopia highlights the disturbing conditions under which industrial organic egg producers are operating. While substituting conventional for organic feed and not using synthetic inputs, such as pesticides or antibiotics, some of these large-scale operators provide incredibly cramped, double-story conditions, limited access points to the outdoors, and covered concrete porches instead of adequate space on grass fields.

(Cornucopia’s aerial investigation of industrial-scale organic producers, such as Herbruck’s Poultry, pictured above, revealed that many confine their laying hens rather than provide outdoor access, as required by organic regulations. This operation, likely the largest “organic” egg farm in the country, is located near Saranac, Michigan.)

On the other hand, many small organic family farms go well beyond what the USDA requires and provides ample indoor space and outdoor pasture, allowing the birds to exhibit their natural behaviors, such as foraging, scratching, and flapping their wings.

The Organic Egg Scorecard classifies each brand into one of five categories:

“5-Egg” Rating: “Exemplary” – Beyond organic

“4-Egg” Rating: “Excellent” – Organic promoting outdoor access

“3-Egg” Rating: “Good to Very Good” – Organic, complying with minimum USDA standards

“2-Egg” Rating: “Fair” – Some questions remain concerning compliance with organic standards

“1-Egg” Rating: “Industrial Organics – No meaningful outdoor access and/or non-transparent”

Fortunately, concerned organic consumers are lucky enough to have amazing organizations such as Cornucopia, which has done extensive homework as to the farming practices of each organic egg brand.

Due to Cornucopia’s exhaustive research, shoppers can now make more educated egg purchases in the supermarket. This not only provides our families with healthier organic eggs, but it also allows us to support organic egg farmers who are doing things the right way.

Organic Egg Scorecard

Photo Gallery: Industrial-Scale Egg Production—Masquerading As Organic?

A message from E3Live

"My Everyday, Must-Have Green Organic Aquabotanical"

The best testimonial that I can give is that I drink this every single day, as it impacts my mood in an incredibly positive way.

E3Live + BrainON is certified organic, fresh-frozen AFA (Aphanizomenon flos-aquae) with a concentrated, aqueous, organic extract of Phenylethylamine and Phycocyanin.

Learn more.

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Living Maxwell

Must-Read

Another Reason to Eat Organic – Toxic Flame Retardants Found in Conventional Food

I almost fell over in my chair the other day when I read this one in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

In nearly half of the samples tested, researchers found traces of hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) in peanut butter, cold cuts, turkey, beef, and other fatty foods.

So what is HBCD exactly?

It is a flame retardant commonly used in the foam insulation of building walls, upholstered furniture, automobile interior textiles, car cushions and electronic equipment.

How toxic is it and who is concerned about it?

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A message from Tradin Organic

How Tradin Organic is Helping Coconut Farmers in The Philippines

For more than a decade, Tradin Organic has been working with local partners in The Philippines to bring a diversified range of organic products to the market, such as coconut oil, tropical fruits and even cocoa.

The company is helping to support local farmers by assisting them with technical support and organic certification, in addition to paying Fairtrade premium on top of the organic premium.

Learn more.

Organic Insider

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NYT: Pesticides are Making the Water in California Undrinkable, Citizens Must Buy Bottled Water

All we hear from the chemical industry is that synthetic pesticides are safe to consume, and they will go to any length to make sure that Americans are exposed to as many chemicals as possible.

Here are a few examples.

* A pro-chemical group called The Alliance for Food and Farming attacked the Environmental Working Group‘s Dirty Dozen list, the list of the most pesticide-laden fruits and vegetables, and demanded that the EWG stop publishing it.

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Organic Insider

Must-Read

GMO Impossible Burger Tests Positive for Glyphosate

As Beyond Meat’s very successful IPO is bringing a lot of attention to the alt-protein category, it is important to take a look at what exactly are in these food products.

One popular name in this space is the Impossible Burger, a product we first wrote about in 2017 when Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents uncovered that the FDA disagreed with the company’s safety assessments of the burger’s main ingredient — soy leghemoglobin. However, the company continued selling it to the public anyhow without informing consumers about the FDA’s very serious concerns.

The issue this time around with the Impossible Burger is the amount of glyphosate that it contains.

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livingmaxwell: a guide to organic food & drink