Friday, January 02, 2015
Egg quality 2
Reprinting a 2010 item:
= = = = = START REPRINT:
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. = = = = = END REPRINT. Now Calif and several other states have taken steps toward more humane chicken farms, basically cranking the process back to the 1950 level. Not free-range; still mass production; but a less intense production that gives the birds some room to walk around and socialize. Prices have already risen dramatically, though not quite to 1950 levels. Bravo! Have to literally put my money where my mouth is! ¶ 5:21 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. = = = = = END REPRINT. Now Calif and several other states have taken steps toward more humane chicken farms, basically cranking the process back to the 1950 level. Not free-range; still mass production; but a less intense production that gives the birds some room to walk around and socialize. Prices have already risen dramatically, though not quite to 1950 levels. Bravo! Have to literally put my money where my mouth is! ¶ 5:21 PM
