Eggs: Not All They're Cracked Up To Be...
Scrambled, boiled, fried, raw, or in a recipe, why the egg industry is sad and gross.
First of all, eggs are the female chicken's menstrual cycle. Soooo.... There's that. Chickens have one hole-the Cloaca, it's where the poop, pee, and eggs come out of their bodies. I'll just leave you to let that settle for a bit... then you can read on.
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EGGS ARE NOT HEALTHY
Eggs contain loads of saturated fat and cholesterol. *In fact, the USDA restricts egg companies from claiming that the egg is a "diet food" or "nutritious", because of this. One egg has the same amount of cholesterol as a Big Mac and 60% of it's calories are from fat...GROSS.
Salmonella: Yes, you can get it from many foods, but eggs are a big culprit. *Actually, over 100 thousand people in the U.S are sickened by salmonella poisoning from eggs every year. So not only are eggs unhealthy, they're unsafe, regardless if you get them from your neighbor's chicken coop or from the grocery store.
FREE RANGE EGGS
Ah, this excuse is one of my favorites! When people tell me "but I buy free range eggs, so it's much healthier and the chickens are happier". WRONG. When you pick up a package of eggs labeled "free range" or "cage free", you pay nearly double the price and leave with a clear conscious. Here are what your free range, cage free eggs look like :
Not exactly what you were thinking, is it? Free range or cage free means egg farms can just cram more hens into a warehouse. Still have a clear conscious? Read on...
CHICKENS MAKE EGGS ANYWAYS, SO IT'S NOT CRUEL TO EAT THEM
Wrong again. **In a natural habitat and with natural breeding, a chicken lays between 10-15 eggs per year, because of the energy that goes into creating the egg shell. To make the calcium-rich shell, a chicken's body steals the calcium from it's bones. If the egg isn't fertilized, a chicken will eat the egg to replenish it's body with the calcium.
Hens want to have a "clutch" of eggs (anywhere from 6-12 eggs), so they will lay an egg every 26 hours until they achieve their clutch. In a farm setting, humans take away the eggs as soon as they're laid, so the hen continues to produce eggs to reach her desired clutch, forcing her to lay 250-300 eggs per year. Her body suffers greatly, and her health rapidly deteriorates. By the age of 18 months, hens are usually "spent" and sent to slaughter (a wild hen can live up to 20 years!). This meat is usually what ends up in chicken nuggets or chicken patties.
So how do we keep replenishing the hens that are "spent"? We keep reproducing them. When chicks are born in hatcheries, they are sorted between male and female. The females, or hens, are sent to egg farms where they suffer the same horrible fate of their mothers. The male chicks are either thrown in garbage bags where they suffocate to death, or are thrown into a powerful grinding machine while still alive. Yes, babies are being suffocated and ground up. Think about that for a minute. Female babies are held up to machines that burn off their beaks so they don't peck each other to death from stress in their new "home", and their toes are cut off to avoid fighting each other. Often times, chicks starve to death from the inability to eat from the pain and shape of their beaks.
It's super horrific, cruel, and disgusting. There's no nutritional need for eggs, so all of this happens to these creatures for you to eat something that is not necessary.
BAKING WITHOUT EGGS
Yes, it's possible! Baking does not require eggs. Here is a table that shows how you can replace eggs in recipes! For sweets, I like to use applesauce or bananas, and for a less powerful flavor I use flax eggs!
IN CONCLUSION
Ditch the eggs, friends. I have a few great egg-less recipes on my blog, like the delicious Tofu Scramble (it tastes just like scrambled eggs, but without the cholesterol and fat!). Or check out these amazing Chocolate Chip Cookies if you need a treat!
Keep cooking, friends! (Just without the eggs!)
-Kristin
Sources:
*https://nutritionfacts.org/2015/03/26/peeks-behind-the-egg-industry-curtain/
