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Eggs vary in price and nutrition, but are a delicious locally grown food across Northern New York. I’m fairly passionate about eggs. On our small family farm, we raise our own. Our hens feed on plenty of grass, seeds, and other herbaceous material around the farm, plus insects and kitchen scraps. We supplement with some commercial feed. The coop is enclosed in a spacious fenced-in yard that’s half grassy, half forested, but our clever birds regularly escape and truly free-range around the farm.
We are addicted to our fresh eggs, rich with flavor and yolks so deeply orange the hue is startling to the uninitiated. I am a firm believer in the benefits of consuming eggs from true free-range laying hens. Take note: commercial claims of “free-range” do not guarantee access to the natural smorgasbord listed above (although the hens likely have more space and your conscience can relax about the “humane” treatment).
Having long ago abandoned mass-produced supermarket eggs for homegrown, I pay little attention to the price. However, a colleague, who’s a terrific supporter of our farmers, was astonished to find local eggs priced at $4.25 per dozen while commercial eggs hover around $2.00 per dozen.
Why are local eggs so expensive? Are they worth the extra money? I assert that they are more nutritious and delicious depending on what the hen is consuming. Brightly orange yolks indicate increased beneficial nutrients such as beta-carotene and xanthophylls like lutein. Various studies carried out in the past ten years confirm that true free-range laying hens produce eggs that have significantly higher quantities of nutrients we want: vitamins A, D, E, B12, folic acid, omega-3 fatty acids, and beta-carotene and less of the stuff we don’t want such as cholesterol and saturated fat. The more pasture grazing (read: greens, bugs, seeds) the hens do, the more healthful the eggs and the deeper the “egg flavor.”
Why are these eggs so expensive though? I mean the food in the pasture is free, right? There are many costs that go into producing eggs: chicks, bedding, heat, waterers, fencing, and housing to name a few. It takes about six months for a hen to reach “laying age” during which time there are not any egg sales to offset costs.
The largest cost, by far, is the feed. The grass and bugs are not supplying all of the calories needed to sustain the hens. Supplemental feed is necessary, and feed costs have more than doubled in the past decade alone. When the math is done, the small farmer cannot afford to charge much less than $3 per dozen just to break even. And that doesn’t include labor. For more insight, read Josh Vaillancourt’s blog at wovenmeadows.com about “Small-farm egg-onomics” on his family farm in Saranac.
This pricing issue is a good lesson for any of us when we try to compare local market prices to supermarkets: small farms are not operating on economies of scale. Our local farmers desperately do not want to price themselves out of the market, but they are also trying to make a living. If we prefer that our local farms stay in business, we must be prepared to pay a bit more for the products they sell. Healthy, thriving farms enhance our communities, and help preserve the way of life we value here in the Adirondacks.
Photos: Eggs above courtesy Ben Wever Farm, Willsboro; chicken below courtesy Harmony Hills Farmstead, Malone.
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Laurie, this is all so true. Many of us loose sight of the true cost of our mass consumption society. Just in the transportation of foodstuffs across wide geographic areas, the environmental costs to our food, the carbon footprint placed on the environment to get it to us, is really cost prohibitive as a society and a planet. We become used to the loss of quality in the foods we eat and even accept some ingredients that are detrimental to our health. I spent part of my childhood growing up on my grandparents farm (when not in school in NYC) and I realize the contribution this experience made to my well-being both physically and intellectually. In my opinion, much of our problems have solutions resting in making efforts to return to community based sourcing. It will be better for our planet, our country, ourselves, our children and our grandchildren. The next time any of us wish to complain about the price of locally sourced food, we should first ask ourselves what all of this is worth. Thanks for doing what you do, Laurie!
HA! We only charge $2/dozen for our backyard eggs. We have a running joke that we would have to charge $17/dozen to just break even- and I doubt even that would do it. But you can’t beat ’em. Well, you CAN beat ’em if you like….
I don’t eat eggs every day,sometimes only once a week,but I always keep a dozen eggs in my refrigerator no matter what. When I buy eggs I buy the free range ones,or the ones the local farmers sell,the ones without the antibiotics or hormones.They do cost more but I am used to paying more and believe I am the better for it because.Paying more for good food is cheaper than paying doctor bills.A dozen eggs at four dollars is cheap when you consider eating breakfast out cost more than that and generally you only get two eggs when you eat out.
It matters what we put into our bodies I am convinced. I hard-boil my eggs more than I cook them in a frying pan,and lately I find myself eating hard-boiled eggs more than a few times a week.They’re supposed to be better for you this way.Besides,there is nothing like a hard-boiled egg,and when they are boiled just right (not over-cooked) there will be a moistness and maybe a wee tad of yolk that drips when you bite into it.I shake salt and dulse on my eggs and thinking about it now there is a hankering in me for one or two these moments.