Civil Eats

I’m an eggnog addict. No joke. If there was a 12-step program for virgin eggnogaholics, I’d be its premier member. My addiction is such a problem that I wait until after Thanksgiving to begin consuming the luscious sweet creaminess, even though I know it appears on supermarket shelves around Halloween. My favorite brand–and believe me I’ve tried them all–is Clover’s Organic Eggnog. It has just the right blend of thickness, creaminess, and spice. At five dollars a quart for organic, that’s one pricey habit. So this year, having raised goats and chickens, I figured I was supporting an eggnog factory in my backyard. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Read More

Our North Berkeley neighborhood is a haven for chicken fanciers. I’ve counted at least six coops within a three-block radius of our house! And we’re fortunate enough to live right next to one of them. Our lovely back neighbors, Fran and Chip, have three young hens in their backyard. In addition to entertaining Will, who now says “buck, buck” and heads for the back door whenever we say “chicken”, we also receive delicious eggs with brilliant orange yolks from the girls next door. Read More

A recent Associated Press article about one researcher’s effort to breed “gentler” chickens is getting a lot of attention. Agribusiness representatives have seized the article to defend the cruel practice of confining hens in cages (claiming that most egg-laying hens are, by nature, too aggressive to each other to let them live in a cage-free environment). A closer inspection of the issue leads to a different conclusion. Read More