A Feather On Every Egg - Green Living Tips

Little reminders can help us better connect to our food. A stronger connection to what we consume can help raise environmental and animal welfare awareness.

I source my eggs from someone just up the road who keeps chooks. This may sound a little weird, but I always really look forward to opening up the reused carton to examine the bounty it contains. The eggs are different colours, the sizes vary greatly as does their shape – it’s a bit like Forrest Gump’s proverbial box of chocolates.

In one batch was an egg that weighed 82 grams. I pitied the poor chook that laid that one.

Their perfection is in their “imperfection”.

Each time I use an egg, I marvel at the rich yolk. Because they are so fresh, they seem to keep forever (up to 3 months I’m told) – what an amazing packaging material nature came up with.

In a recent dozen I received was an egg with a small reddish-brown feather on it. I smiled when I saw it and immediately visualised the bird it came from. That single small feather helped connect me more to my food.

I’ve read accounts of children who don’t know where eggs come from. I find this unsettling and rather sad. I wonder how many people consider the hens when they crack an egg – and unlike the hens that provide my eggs, many of those birds are kept in less than ideal conditions.

There should be a feather in every dozen to remind us.

Egg trivia: when eggs are washed at commercial operations, it removes a protective protein based coating on them called “bloom” that seals the pores of the egg; preventing outside contaminants from entering the egg. Removal of this coating decreases an egg’s shelf life. Unwashed eggs keep longer, but should be kept separate from other foods and washed just before use.