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Introduction
I presented this mini essay on The New VI TV station Speakers’
Corner where you can create a 2 minute video for a dollar.
The Case for Free Range Eggs.
I know some people who hire sadists to torture
chickens.
The sadists break off their beaks. They pack them in tiny cages so tightly they cannot
even turn around. They wire their feet to the floor.
Do you know who these people are? — people like you, too cheap to buy free range
eggs. They buy factory eggs to save a buck. In the process
they torture the chickens who provide the eggs.
The motive is not sadistic pleasure, but merely to compete with the cheapest possible
eggs.
If that dollar extra is too much, try shopping in Cook Street village (in Victoria BC
Canada) where free range eggs cost only
a dozen, the same as factory eggs. On 2012-04-26 when Burger King announced it was switching to cage-free (free run, but not free range) eggs, they the eggs would cost them only 1% more. Why are people exactly such cruelty on chickens for such trivial
economic benefit?
Chickens are not the brightest animals, but if you get to know them, they have
personalities. They are affectionate. They have emotions. They don’t deserve this
disgraceful treatment from you.
Finally, free range eggs are better for you. Chickens grubbing in a field are far
healthier than ones trapped in filthy disease-ridden cages. It will be blindly obvious if
you buy half a dozen each of free range egg and factory eggs. The free range eggs have
stronger shells, are less runny, with firmer yolks, brighter colour and taste much
better. A cage egg tastes watered down. You won’t want to go back even if you relish the thought of making chickens
suffer.
The Meatrix: a takeoff on the
movie the Matrix about the propaganda that holds factory farms in place.
free range eggs
aka pasture eggs, free range eggs are eggs from
chickens that are permitted to run around outside. This is the Canadian term. In the
USA the term free range has no official meaning, so farmers
can sell you anything they want and still label it free range. Buyer beware. Ditto
for the terms cage-free, free-roaming and yard eggs. They should have
noticeably yellower, firmer yolks than regular eggs. You can recognise them by their
thicker shells, brighter, firmer yolks and thicker whites. Some companies such as
Island Gold here on Vancouver sell a variety of types of eggs. These companies have
no conscience. Free range eggs are just another profit line. They have no interest it
reducing cruelty. You want to find a source that produces only free range eggs.
Otherwise it is a bit like buying your free range eggs from Hitler. You don’t
want Hitler to prosper in any degree.
free run eggs
free run eggs are eggs from chickens kept in cages where they have enough room to
turn around. Ordinary eggs come from chickens caged so tightly they can’t even
turn around. This is the Canadian term. Helman’s mayonnaise advertises they use
free run eggs, while depicting chickens running freely in a turn of the century
barnyard. It is a term used by scoundrels to deceive. Free run eggs look like
ordinary cruel eggs.
cage free eggs
Aka cruelty-free eggs. Come from chickens kept in
barns, packed cheek by jowl, not permitted to go outside. Chickens are never kept in cages, so this means nothing.
organic eggs
from chickens raised without pesticides in their food, not that the chickens were
necessarily treated humanely. These look and taste almost identical to ordinary
eggs.
veggie fed eggs
from chickens were deprived of eating their natural diet of insects pecking in
the grass and forced to eat only grain.
home grown eggs
aka yard eggs. Raise chickens in your back yard
allowing them plenty of room to dine on living weeds and bugs and kitchen vegetable
scraps. This is chicken heaven and produces the highest quality eggs. You will find
neighbours raising chickens will be more than willing to help you get started.
hormone-free eggs
By law, all eggs in the USA and Canada may not contain hormones, so this means nothing.
Free Range Eggs Nutrition
According to Mother Earth News free range eggs are much more nutritious than factory eggs.
1/3 less cholesterol
1/4 less saturated fat
2/3 more vitamin A
2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
3 times more vitamin E
7 times more beta carotene
Roedy’s Politically Correct Free Range Scrambled Eggs
Rhode Island Red free range brown eggs
Rhode Island Red free range brown eggs
Here is my time-tested scrambled egg recipe. I have
been making it since I was about 9. (I’m now 70 years
old.) I
have gradually embellished it over the years from a simple recipe that came with the
family’s indestructible Sunbeam electric frying pan.
Mandatory Ingredients
6 large free range (not free run) eggs. I prefer rich brown ones even though
scientists say there is no difference.
6 tablespoons organic milk or cream.
1 to 2 tablespoons butter, depending on how decadent you are feeling.
fresh ground black pepper to taste.
half-salt (half potassium, half sodium) or sea salt to taste.
Optional Ingredients
Canadian porcelain garlic
Canadian porcelain garlic
2 fat garlic cloves. Regular consumers of the recipe get addicted and ask me to
keep upping the garlic content. Locally grown, organic have the best flavour.
Herbes de Provence (a mixture of southern French herbs
(majoram, rosemary, thyme, sage, savory, lavender, anise) blended by McCormick).
a copious quantity of grated cheese, any kind, even Parmesan. Please no process
cheese or that plasticised stuff that looks and tastes like Silly Putty. Mozzarella is
a little too chewy, but even it will do. If the cheese tastes pleasing on its own, it
will almost surely work well in this recipe. If you want something tame, try Monterey
Jack.
canned asparagus
steamed chopped asparagus (4 minutes in the
microwave).
chopped pre-cooked bacon
chopped mushrooms
chopped peppers (red, green, yellow, orange)
chopped pepperoni or similar ready to eat sausage.
chopped tomatoes
chopped olives
smoked wild salmon slices
finely chopped onions
chopped avocado
sliced artichoke hearts
just a pinch of turmeric, even better best fresh-grated from the root, or saffron,
to enhance the yellow colour
By varying your choice of optional ingredients each time, your family will eagerly
anticipate the surprise every time you serve it. Not only does this taste delicious, it
fills the air with delightful odours of anticipation. It is a bit like making a
pizza.
Method
Trudeau garlic press
Trudeau garlic press
Put the butter in a frying pan and heat to medium. For an electric frying pan, set
it to 160°C(320°F). I use a large, conventional, non-stick TeFal pan.
Either peel and finely chop the garlic cloves or squeeze them through a garlic
press (I recommend the Trudeau soft handled, heavy duty garlic press. It is reasonably
sturdy and easy to clean.). Brown the garlic and fill the house with anticipation of
glories to come.
Brown your optional ingredients with the garlic, except the cheese!
Get some multigrain toast going and some fresh ground coffee.
Mix the eggs, milk, salt and pepper in a bowl. To catch the splashing, put the bowl
in the sink and whip with a Braun
multimix until bubbly. For extra fluffy eggs, whip the whites and yolks separately
then fold together.
Pour the egg mixture into the butter and garlic. Keep scraping the mixture off the
bottom of the pan and turning it over using a Teflon egg flipper. Don’t be too
compulsive about this. The more relaxed you are, the more generous the chunks of egg
will be and the more likely they will be lightly browned. You mainly want to avoid
burning.
Alternatively, if you are in a hurry, you can cook the mixture in a microwave in
two batches for about 2 minutes. This creates a fluffy but leathery result.
Just before the eggs are ready, toss in the grated cheese. If you put it in too
soon, it will make the eggs lumpy. If you wait too long it won’t have time to
melt. You will just have to learn by experience to get the timing just right. Err on
the side of too late to start.
Don’t wait until every last drop of the liquid has congealed before taking
the pan off the heat. It will continue to cook of its own accord even on the plate. It
is best to serve the eggs slightly too sloppy than slightly too leathery.
Turn out onto buttered multi-grain, oat or flax toast. You can cut the toast up
into 1 inch squares for children or to pamper adults. Serve with a mug of freshly
ground fair trade
coffee and some exotic juice.
This makes enough to serve three adults if no one has seconds. Don’t be afraid
to vary the proportions, particularly the egg-milk ratio. Try this recipe just once and
compare it with restaurant scrambled eggs made with anemic caged eggs. I think the taste
difference will convince you to switch to free range, even if you don’t care about
the animal cruelty issue.
KCTS TV decided to include my recipe in their KCTS 9 Cooks With Cheese cook book. They sold
it for
and also offered it as an incentive for pledges. Unfortunately it is no longer in
print.
DVD referral for We Feed The World
recommend DVD⇒We Feed The World
DVD
by
Erwin Wagenhofer [director]
asin
B001URA66U
upc
698452207230
isbn
00698452207230
German with English subtitles. They speak extremely clearly. I found my year of high school German flooding back. This is a very low budget film. It is a gentle look at the crazy things humans do to produce their food industrially, like discarding mountains of bread each day that is still completely edible, creating genetically modified foods without flavour, but look spectacular, covering the land as far as the eye can see in greenhouses in Spain, manufacturing chickens with crowding, assembly lines and automation on a scale that beggars the imagination, burning wheat and corn, letting fish age for months until it is soggy, putting African farmers out of business then exploiting them when they head north to seek work. It depicts European practices which are considerably better than North American. Corporations consider nothing but increasing profit. This leads them to do bizarre, cruel and foolish things. The film also points out that there is an abundance of food in North America and Europe. We don’t need to sacrifice food quality to get sufficient quantity and sufficiently low prices.
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