Major Investigation Exposes the Truth About One of America’s Largest Organic Egg Brands

 

 

 

Everyone buys organic for their own unique reasons, whether that may be health, animal welfare, environmental, or other, but it’s important to know that each individual brand and type of organic purchase has a different impact.

In the case of eggs, it’s generally safe to say that the smaller the operation, the better: “pastured” eggs from small family farms are usually your best bet for all of the above categories, although organic is generally far better than anything “conventional” you can buy.

Recently, the operations of the largest organic egg producer in the United States have come under scrutiny, and it has many people wondering why the consumer should be forced to pay more for a product that straddles the line of what it means to be “organic.”

 

 

Is One of America’s Top Organic Egg Producers Actually Organic?

The report, published in summer 2017 in The Washington Postfocused on the Saranac, Michigan Eggland’s Best production facility, where an estimated 1 in 10 organic eggs sold in the United States come from.

While most people picture small-scale idealistic farms when they think organic, this facility is anything but according to the investigation: it houses more than 1.6 million hens and they are held in close proximity to each other with no ability to set foot outside, according to unnamed sources.

The sources were people familiar with the operation, and the building plan, as cited in the Post report.

The birds are said to be crammed into spaces  just over three per square foot of floor space, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they had not been authorized to speak about the company.

The USDA requirements for organic livestock are outdoor access, direct sunlight, and fresh air, while prohibiting “continuous total confinement of any animal indoors.” They are supposed to be allowed to engage in their “natural behavior,” and if the reports are true than that is simply not the case at this farm, as chickens naturally enjoy roaming outside for food in pastures.

According to Eggland’s Best website, the hens are free to roam and they are given organic feed. But their website does not address the seriousness of the allegations, which critics say are not becoming of an organic farm at all.

“This is not at all what consumers expect of an organic farm,” said Katherine Paul of the Organic Consumers Association. “It’s damaging to the image of the entire industry. People will wonder, ‘Why the hell am I paying more for this?’ ” Katherine Paul of the OCA said.

 

The Eggland’s best “organic” eggs contain this symbol and are sold at many major grocery stores.

According to Greg Herbruck, the president of Herbruck’s Poultry Ranch in Saranac which is part of the operation, the entire process is organic.

He said that the Post report was misleading because there are metal shelves that have been constructed to add more space to the area where the birds are kept, but he did not dispute the number of hens per square feet and the size of the barns.

He also declined a Post reporter’s request for a visit saying that it could “possibly infect the flock with a disease such as avian flu” according to the article.

This article was originally written for the website March Against Monsanto by the author. It was later republished on WiseMind, Healthy Body

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About Nick Meyer

Nick Meyer is a journalist who's been published in the Detroit Free Press, Dallas Morning News and several other outlets. He founded AltHealthWORKS in 2012 to showcase extraordinary stories of healing and the power of organic living, stories the mainstream media always seemed to miss. Check out Nick's Amazon best-seller 'Dirt Cheap Organic: 101 Tips For Going Organic on a Budget' by clicking here, as well as its sequel Dirt Cheap Weight Loss.