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When it comes to making healthier choices about the food we eat, it can be difficult to know where to start. What does organic mean? Should we choose grain fed or grass finished beef? Free-range or free-run? What’s the difference anyway? Melanie Epp, a freelance writer who works in agriculture, will bring the answers to these questions and more, directly From the Farmer’s Mouth.
In the old days, eggs were just eggs. You went to the grocery store, stole a peek inside the carton, grabbed the best one and placed it in your basket without a thought. Today, eggs come in a variety of forms, from free-range to free-run.
While we want to be sure the choices we make support our health - and the health of the chickens who give us those delicious delicate ovals - we’re understandably confused. We’ve asked Vera Top of Magda Farm to help clear up some of the confusion.
In Canada, most laying hens are raised in cages. As descendants of jungle fowl, they’re used to living in small groups and prefer enclosed spaces (it actually makes them feel safe and protected). It’s also normal for chickens to peck at one another – it is, after all, where the term “pecking order” originated.
Free-range chickens are chickens that are raised in large, open henhouses with access to outdoor runs. Free-run chickens on the other hand, are raised in an open barn or layer house where they can roam freely, but don’t have access to the outdoors.
Vera raises free-range chickens on a small-scale farm near Rockwood, Ontario. “Free range to me always meant, until recently, that they can go wherever they please,” she says. “It’s the stereotypical old farm scene where you drive up the driveway and see chickens pecking around on the lawn. That’s what I’ve always understood free-range to be, and that’s what our chickens are. It's complete free range.”
While allowing chickens to run free-range makes sense on Vera’s farm, it doesn’t make sense on a large-scale farm. “It’s just not realistic for all farmers,” she says.
Allowing chickens to run free range does have its downsides though. It elevates the dust and ammonia levels in the hens’ lungs. In the open, hens tend to be more vicious, and they’re vulnerable to predators. Some free-range hens lay wherever they want, and as a result, eggs tend to get lost.
Besides making choices based on how the chickens are raised, many of us make choices for our personal health as well. So which egg is the healthiest?
“I’ve read stuff that says when you have free-range hens, and they’re getting access to vegetation and bugs and stuff like that, their eggs are naturally higher in Omega-3s without having to supplement their diet with a flax-based ration.”
Mother Earth News agrees; they recently reported that free-range eggs are more nutritious. They say they’re lower in cholesterol and saturated fat, but higher in vitamin A, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E and beta-carotene. With that said, if given a flax-based ration, caged hens can produce equally nutritious eggs, plus they live without the added risks of being outdoors.
The choice is clear to Vera, though. “Just knowing that the chickens are allowed to fully express their chicken-ness,” she laughs. “They’re basically allowed to do exactly what they want to do, that and a more diverse diet probably leads to a more nutritious egg, but definitely to a more flavourful egg.”
As the old egg-spression goes, “Be a good egg” and make the choice that’s right for you.
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Check out Magda Farm’s blog.
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Melanie Epp is a freelance writer, amateur locavore, passionate foodie, novice gardener, and beginner triathlete. She writes about agriculture, real estate, and health & wellness. Visit her at melanieepp.com.
