Civil Eats

A reader recently asked me if I could expand the post I did last year on “choosing the right milk” to include eggs, another food for which there a lot of confusing buying options. Although there are more details below, the short answer is that you should look for eggs that are “pasture-raised” from a farm near you. Pasture-raised is pretty much what it sounds like — they are eggs laid by hens that are raised with open access to pasture where they can scratch, peck, bask in the sun, eat and run around to their hearts content.

Unfortunately, “organic”, “cage-free”, and “free-range” classifications/certifications do not guarantee that the birds are fed a natural diet or that they live the life of a normal chicken, complete with keeping their beaks (egg-laying hens raised in factory farms routinely have their beaks cut off–a truly horrible practice that is done to prevent them from hurting each other in their extremely close living quarters), having enough room not just to turn around but also to run around in, as well as unlimited access to the real outdoors and all the sunlight, yummy grass, and nutritious bugs they desire. Read More

Although it is hardly a novel technique, our new, modern wood-burning stove has opened up a whole world of culinary experimentation to me. Before now the click of a knob or turn of a dial seamlessly preceded any cooking task, but with the crackling wood and cozy smoke scented aromas that fill our living space, I feel inclined to utilize the raw heat for more than warmth. It has defined true slow food, really driving home the concept of weaving time, energy, labor, and craft into a wood fired meal while consolidating our resource consumption instead of compiling it. It is the ancient practice of hearth cooking in today’s modern America, and anyone who still heats their house with fire can easily incorporate it into their daily food preparation plans. Read More

IHOP tells its customers to “come hungry, leave happy,” but an increasing number of its customers are hungry for something that’s not yet on the menu—animal welfare improvements.

Unlike many other major restaurant chains—including Denny’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Quiznos, Hardee’s, Carl’s Jr., and Red Robin—every single egg IHOP uses comes from a hen confined in a cage so small, she can’t even spread her wings. That’s right: 100% of the eggs IHOP sources come from battery cage confinement operations. Even more, IHOP’s primary egg supplier, Michael Foods, was just exposed by an undercover investigation that documented particularly egregious acts of animal cruelty. Read More

Just like every other year, parents are shelving traditions of dyeing and hiding Easter eggs. And just like every other year, post-Easter egg demand is inevitably declining, leaving producers with a surplus. To ease the financial burden of this annual drop in egg consumption, the American Egg Board declares May “National Egg Month” and attempts to woo food editors and morning talk shows into promoting eggs.

But one thing the egg industry likely won’t trot out in its PR effort is its sordid animal welfare record. Read More

Walk into any McDonald’s in the UK, order an Egg McMuffin, and you’ll be served a cage-free egg. And by next year, all of the whole eggs sold in every McDonald’s in the European Union will come from cage-free hens.

On this side of the Atlantic, however, the story is a bit different. Read More