On Ideal Bite and Cage-Free Eggs

Ideal Bite is a popular website that "offers bite-sized ideas for light green living." I receive their daily tips by e-mail, and they consist of a factoid about something you buy or do, followed by a list of alternative things you can buy or do to make your life a little greener. It is not for the savvy environmentalist or anyone who doesn’t think consumerism is going to solve our environmental woes.

There have been many times since its inception that I’ve received a daily tip that contains something that is misleading or incorrect. And I usually let it go. But the women behind Ideal Bite were on the cover of Vanity Fair (that green issue) with George Clooney and Julia Roberts, and they do have a huge readership, therefore it is worth the time it takes to educate them about what they’re educating other people about.

The subject of today’s tip is "The Cage-Old Question," and here’s most of what’s on the page:

Which came first: the chicken, the egg, or the antibiotic?

The Bite
We wish we knew the answer, but one thing’s certain: Antibiotics fed to caged laying hens in factory farms end up in their eggs. Opt for pasture-raised or free-range, organic eggs for happier chickens and drug-free omelets.

The Benefits
*    Healthier hard-boileds. Residue from growth hormones and other chems fed to conventionally raised chickens may increase the risk of breast and prostate cancer.
*    Egg-static chickens. Pasture-raised and free-range hens often have access to outdoor areas and many eat only organic, non-GMO feed. (Note: While the word organic is federally regulated for eggs, the terms pasture-raised and free-range aren’t, so you gotta investigate yourself to ensure your eggs are truly humanely sourced.)
*    Antibiotic-free egg salad. Antibiotics given to poultry contribute to the problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which make diseases harder and harder to fight.

Personally Speaking
Jen took free-range and organic to the next level by adopting seven chicks and building a coop in her backyard. See the chicks gobble some organic grapes with Jen’s grandma, here.

Wanna Try?
*    Organic Valley – a network of small farms across the country with consistently good eggs ($3/dozen).
*    Local Harvest – locate a nearby farmers’ market for the freshest eggs you can buy.
*    BackyardChickens – learn how to raise your own chickens.

There are lots of links in the above, and there are also factoids and other interesting tidbits. Go to the actual page for all the details. There is a blog that accompanies the tips, and it does take comments (I left one!). This is your opportunity to tell the "Biters" that the day-old chicks that are tossed into a woodchipper probably aren’t "egg-static chickens" or "happier chickens," neither are the spent hens who are slaughtered when they are no longer useful. Point them to Peaceful Prairie’s Free-Range Myth, or anywhere else that tells the real story about so-called "humanely-produced eggs." 

I’ve noticed that people really want to eat eggs and they’ll cling to any shred of potential evidence that doing so doesn’t involve cruelty and slaughter, either of the hens or the male chicks. But there’s no way out. There really is no such thing as a humanely-produced egg once you factor in everything that occurs to produce it.

UPDATE: There is some serious misinformation in the comments so far, particularly from Jessica, who thinks United Egg Producers Certified is the best way to go and that chickens are NOT social creatures and need to be de-beaked (among other things she has wrong). I already commented. PLEASE set this woman–and the other readers–straight.