I subscribe to a great list serve, the Organic Consumers Association, that gives me a weekly alert. This one is about Factory Farms, Eggs & Food Safety:
The recall of a half-billion eggs from two mega-farms in Iowa is accelerating the call for government action on food safety, while news reports are confusing consumers over the safety of organic eggs.
There are many news reports are suggesting that organic eggs are no safer than conventional brands. It's fairly easy to rebut this argument. One can start with the fact that no USDA certified organic egg producers have been caught up the recall. There's also loads of evidence that factory farm practices that are banned in organic, including battery cages and
feed contaminated with slaughterhouse waste and manure, are the cause of disease outbreaks.
The full article is here:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_21522.cfm The eggs were recalled from Iowa's Hillandale Farms and Wright County Eggs. The eggs recalled Friday were distributed under the brand names Hillandale Farms, Sunny Farms, Sunny Meadow, Wholesome Farms and West Creek. The new recall applies to eggs sold between April and August.
Hillandale said the eggs were distributed to grocery distribution centers, retail groceries and food service companies which service or are located in fourteen states, including Arkansas, California, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin--luckily Montana is not on the list, but alert your friends and relatives if they live in these other states.
I had never tried farm fresh eggs until I moved to Missoula. They are just incredible, but I wish I new of a source I could get them from on a regular basis (when the farmer's market isn't going on.) Does anyone know of a place to get them during the week?
