Buying "better" eggs?

lite-bright

So one of the things I'm trying to do this year is to continue a gradual shift toward more healthy/eco-friendly/cruelty-free/natural/organic products. In baby steps -- like, I buy organic milk 99% of the time now. 

One of the things I'm try to figure out is what to look for in eggs. It seems like the labeling may not actually mean very much when it comes to things like "cage-free", "natural", etc. and that "organic" doesn't necessarily mean that the chickens are treated any better. 

I think vegetarian feed is a minimal step up from conventional eggs, and I definitely want that. Then there's chickens who actually get to eat bugs and such. There are a lot of factors -- does anybody know of a hierarchy of egg info, like something that ranges from conventional/commercial to raise-them-yourself so I can figure out something in between? 

I'd really prefer a brand I can get at the store (I usually shop at KS and SuperTarget) rather than make a special trip to WF or somewhere else. Like I said, this is a baby-steps kind of thing.

WineCat

I know that Grant Family Farms offers egg shares so you could do that if there is a convenient pick-up location.  I'm guessing other CSAs do as well so there could be something really easy. 

One thing to look for is the term 'pasture raised.'

I'm not familiar with the brands at Target and Kings just because I hardly get to shop there these days.  

There's the Cornucopia Institute  and other organizations that offer good info.

http://www.cornucopia.org/organic-egg-scorecard/

Pesky

Ugh, only brand I know of like that is at WF.  Other option is to ask around -- we often get eggs from neighbors of DH's aunt and uncle who live in larkspur.

sara_c

I like the Costco Eggs.  They are fresh- the yolk is nice and orangish and they come from a farm in CO.    Could be a good comprimise for you if you don't want to make a special trip to WF.

Kmac-06

"Free range" or "cage free" is better than the ones that don't say anything, which you can assume are caged 24/7, but they are still factory chickens that are packed into very small spaces and may never go outside. Certified organic eggs have to come from cage-free chickens, but cage-free don't have to be organic.

Like Winecat said the term to look for would be "pasture-raised" for chickens that roam more freely outside to eat bugs and stuff. Unfortunately I have never seen this type of egg at a traditional grocery. You can get pasture-raised from the Grant Farms CSA, I was thinking about doing that this year.

schoolsoutbride

Do you get milk delivery?  I know Longmont dairy offers egg delivery too, but I don't know anything about the place where they get their eggs, other than its local.  Worth a call!  They do cheese too, and the cheese place is down the street from my ILs

taratru

I don't know about brands. I buy our eggs from our milk company...they're locally raised and HUGE.  So that's all I really care about. 

Do you have milk delivered?  Have you looked into eggs?