Monday, August 30, 2010
Egg quality
Some are asking whether eggs have gone too far down the road of low cost and mass production.
It's a good question.
First, we certainly pay less for eggs now than in previous decades. See this picture of a 1950 store. The best eggs (toward the right) are 49 cents a dozen, which inflates to $4.32 in today's cash. Safeway's eggs today cost less than half that.
Second, even aside from the lack of FDA inspection, the quality has definitely dropped. I started cooking for myself in 1970. Since I was a hippie-dippie vegetarian at the time, I fried a lot of eggs. Through the '80s I didn't cook much; I was busy and had plenty of money, so I mostly ate in restaurants. Around 2000, belatedly realizing the benefits of a good breakfast, I started cooking eggs again and immediately noticed a difference from the previous eggs. [Comparison is always easier across a gap than through a continuous period.] The 1970's eggs had consistently hard shells; I could always break them cleanly. The post-2000 eggs are much more fragile and inconsistent; it's way too easy to leave bits of shell in the pan.
Would I pay twice as much for better eggs? Yes. ¶ 6:19 PM
It's a good question.
First, we certainly pay less for eggs now than in previous decades. See this picture of a 1950 store. The best eggs (toward the right) are 49 cents a dozen, which inflates to $4.32 in today's cash. Safeway's eggs today cost less than half that.
Second, even aside from the lack of FDA inspection, the quality has definitely dropped. I started cooking for myself in 1970. Since I was a hippie-dippie vegetarian at the time, I fried a lot of eggs. Through the '80s I didn't cook much; I was busy and had plenty of money, so I mostly ate in restaurants. Around 2000, belatedly realizing the benefits of a good breakfast, I started cooking eggs again and immediately noticed a difference from the previous eggs. [Comparison is always easier across a gap than through a continuous period.] The 1970's eggs had consistently hard shells; I could always break them cleanly. The post-2000 eggs are much more fragile and inconsistent; it's way too easy to leave bits of shell in the pan.
Would I pay twice as much for better eggs? Yes. ¶ 6:19 PM
