Picture it: you\u2019re standing in the dairy aisle at the grocery store, about to grab a dozen eggs. It should be an easy item to check off your list\u2014but you\u2019re quickly overwhelmed by what feels like a million options. Suddenly, it seems like you\u2019re taking a test you didn\u2019t study for instead of picking up a weekly staple.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve certainly been there. If you know me, you know I love eggs, and eat them whenever the opportunity arises (aka almost every day, sometimes more than once). I want my eggs to taste great, and I care that they were humanely raised. But even with love and good intentions, I don\u2019t actually know which labels mean that I\u2019m getting what I want. So I decided to find out.<\/p>\n
To get started, I talked to Kevin Phelps, VP of Farm Operations for Nellie\u2019s Free Range<\/a>, which is part of the Pete & Gerry’s family of brands. I asked: is there some kind of shortcut I can use when I buy eggs? What are the magic words to look for?<\/p>\n \u201cThe \u2018Certified Humane\u2019 label paired with the term \u201cfree-range\u201d is the sure-fire way to track down humanely raised eggs,\u201d Kevin told me. He explained that, while the term \u201cfree-range\u201d is federally regulated, the USDA\u2019s guidelines are not detailed enough to trust those words alone. That\u2019s why a third party certifier, like the \u201cCertified Humane\u201d label, is the best way to know you\u2019re really getting free-range eggs. \u201cWithout a strong third party certifier\u2026hens can be confined to screened-in porches or cement and still be considered free-range,\u201d he said. He went on to explain that all of the farmers in the Nellie\u2019s and Pete & Gerry family of brands follow the Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC) Certified Humane Pasture-Raised or Free-Range standards\u2014and that they were actually the first egg producer in the country to attain that status, way back in 2003.<\/p>\n So far, I got it. My next question was about cage-free. Is that no good? Turns out, not really. \u201cCage-free hens, typically housed in large industrial structures containing hundreds of thousands of hens, live inside steel aviary systems and do not go outside,\u201d Kevin said. \u201cFree-range hens, on the other hand, have \u201cfree range\u201d to move about both inside their barns and outdoors in the pasture.\u201d<\/p>\n I loved the sound of that. Even more, I loved that he referred to the hens as \u201cour girls,\u201d and told me that, because they\u2019re outside at least six hours a day at a bare minimum<\/em> (excepting extreme weather, of course) and can engage in instinctual behaviors like scratching, taking dust baths, and foraging for worms and grubs, they end up happier, which in turn produces thicker shells, bright orange yolks, and viscous whites in their eggs.<\/p>\n Finally satisfied that I knew what to do in the egg aisle, I said goodbye to my new farm friend and went back to the store. As a quick experiment, I picked up Nellie\u2019s Certified Humane Free-Range eggs as well as another carton that was labeled only \u201ccage-free.\u201d I cracked both eggs alongside each other, mixed them both into omelets, and sure enough: Nellie\u2019s yolks were brighter, and when they were ready to eat, they had a richer taste.<\/p>\n Nellie\u2019s and Pete & Gerry\u2019s family of brands has more than 200 family farms across 14 states\u2014all small enough for each family to manage the operations on their own. I think that might explain the use of \u201cour girls\u201d: these farmers really care about their livestock, and they produce a better product because of it.<\/p>\n If all this delicious, free-range egg talk has you craving an omelet, well, same. Here are some recipes to get you started\u2014including a few of the non-omelet variety, too.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n <\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
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\nAn enthusiast for better eggs and activists for higher animal welfare standards across the entire industry, Nellie\u2019s Free Range<\/a>, a Certified B Corp, furthers its mission by considering people, planet, and profit in all their decisions, leading with kindness at every turn.<\/em>
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