Farm Fresh Eggs

On my husband's side of the family, I get made fun of for my egg fetish. I always bring deviled eggs at Easter, potato salad for big get togethers and when we go on vacation, I am usually scrambling eggs for the whole family. I love eggs.

When the salmonella scare happened last year, I had to rethink where I was getting my eggs. Did I know the farm where my grocery's eggs came from? No. Does that matter... well, in my opinion, it should.

Just recently I have reconnected with a high school friend who happens to live right down the road from me, on a farm, but she also happens to have lots and lots of fresh eggs to sell. They are quite beautiful. Large and brown with little spots... just gorgeous. Oh, and the yolks are perfectly golden as well.

It is quite a nice thing to know where your eggs are coming from and to know those chickens have free-range and get nice fresh air. Commercially grown chickens are raised in over-crowded conditions and hardly ever see the light of day (check out this movie if you can stomach the cruelty done to commercially grown chickens). When chickens are allowed to roam around on a real pasture and eat grain, little insects and green plants their health and nutrition is superior which means THE best eggs for you, the consumer.

I stumbled upon an article saying that farm, fresh eggs actually have added health benefits over those sold in the grocery. When I found this out, on top of them being fresh, local and free-range, it made the extra dollar I spend on them SO worth it. Check out these benefits of farm, fresh eggs:

1. Less cholesterol... I know a lot of people are scared of the cholesterol content in eggs, but according to a 2007 study, free-range eggs have 1/3 less cholesterol than commercially sold eggs.

2. 25% less saturated fat... the Standard American Diet (SAD) is really full of too much saturated fat from animal products. One way to cut down on those bad fats and gain other health benefits is to choose farm raised eggs.

3. More vitamin A, D and E... all these vitamins are needed in our diets to help several systems to operate smoothly, especially the skin, eyes and immune systems.

4. Twice the Omega-3 Fatty Acids... I've mentioned this before, but we can only obtain these essential fatty acids (EFA) from diet or supplementation. They are brain boosters... and most of us are sadly, very deficient in them leading to behavioral and mood disorders. Eggs are a great way to add more EFA's in our diet.

Ok, so go out and ask around and see where you can find your local farm, fresh eggs. Or if you live by me, I can give you the name of my friend who has more than she can handle!