A few weeks ago my husband and I were whipping up some veggies and eggs for breakfast. We finished off one carton and started digging into the second, cracking the eggs into a bowl. What a stark contrast! Eggs from one carton had flattened into low, pale-yellow yolks with thin, runny whites. The eggs from the other carton looked “perkier.” The yolks had more height and were golden, almost orange. The whites looked thick, milky-white, and just more appealing.

I double-checked the dates on the cartons, and they were both fresh, organic, and free-range. I thought the eggs I had purchased were similar. So what made the difference? What DO all of those labels mean on an egg carton? Is it worth the extra two or three dollars to get the most expensive variety?

Fried, broiled, braised, or grilled: chicken is the world’s favorite meat. But is it really the healthiest?

Most of us eat a lot more chicken than we used to as its popularity has grown significantly over the years. In 1960, Americans consumed an average of about twenty-eight pounds of chicken per person each year, and that number has steadily risen with each passing year. Estimates for 2021 show us favoring this meat to the tune of ninety-eight pounds per person each year – more than triple what it was just 60 years ago!

Is that a good thing? Well, as I often say, it depends. And one of the main things it depends on is how those chickens are raised.

So let’s explore how most chickens are raised, why it matters, and how it affects your nutrition. In the end, I hope you’ll want to pay an extra five dollars to buy a pasture-raised chicken.