Free Range Eggs and More: What You Need to Know

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• Rich dark brown: Barnevelder, Marans, Rhode Island, Welsumer
• Light brown: Buckeye, Chantecler, Plymouth Rock, Wyandotte
• Cream: Ancona, Andalusian, Dorking, Dutch
• White: Appenzeller, Buttercup, Hamburg
• Blue or blue-green: Ameraucanas, Araucanas
  

Lesson 3: Eggs are Healthy

Since the late 1950s, eggs have had a bad rap for their potential to cause heart disease. But many new studies are now turning the conventional advice to avoid animal fats and cholesterol on its head. It would seem that dietary fat and cholesterol do not cause heart disease.

Not only are eggs not bad for you, but they are great for you. Eggs are a nutrient-dense food, providing a complex array of both macro- and micro-nutrients. And new research into the differences between eggs from hens raised naturally on pastures rather than in factory farmed cage operations has revealed a host of other nutritional plusses. Pastured eggs are higher in lutein and zeaxanthin; folic acid; vitamins A, B12, D and E; beta carotene; and omega-3 fatty acids. Learn more about the health benefits of eggs in Meet the Real Free-Range Eggs and at Eat Wild.

Lesson 4: Eggs are Legislated

The differences between true pastured operations and factory farms cannot be overstated. Real “free range” or “grass fed” eggs come from birds that run around outside, in sunshine and on fresh grass; have room to move around, flap their wings and get exercise; eat a diverse diet of grasses, weeds, bugs, seeds, etc.; and behave, well, naturally. Some egg producers say their eggs are free range, because labeling regulations simply require that they provide a little door at the end of the facility to give the birds access to the outside, which may or may not feature any grass at all, or enough room for all the birds to wander freely. You can learn more about the differences between industrially produced and naturally produced eggs in the following articles:

How Do Your Eggs Stack Up? 

Free Range vs. Pastured: Chicken and Eggs 

Good Eggs Come From Good Farms

Simply knowing that you want eggs from happy hens with plenty of pasture under their feet may not be enough to help you find them in the grocery store, given the complexity of claims on egg cartons these days. (See How to Decode Egg Cartons.) But the best way to be sure you’re getting eggxactly what you want is to talk to the people who produce the eggs. And of course the best way to do that is to buy directly from farmers!

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