How are the egg-laying chickens treated?
Our farmer’s chickens are entirely freely roaming. They spend their lives in the yard and on the fields, eating bugs and weed seeds. In fact, this is one of their primary functions on a farm! Beyond their own foraging efforts, the chickens are fed only locally raised foods. He buys grains from a neighboring farm, believing the higher expense is far outweighed by the benefits. The chickens also eat damaged produce that would otherwise end up in the compost pile. This wide range of diet is not only healthier for the chickens, it also gives the eggs a greater depth of flavor.
The eggs, which are also available year-round from his stall in the Ditmas Park Greenmarket, are packaged in standard cartons of six or twelve. Subscribers are encouraged to return empty cartons each week as they pick up the share.
So are there any drawbacks?
Actually, yes. If you return to supermarket eggs in the winter, the thickness of the shells of Jorge’s will have spoiled you, and as you crack the thinner mass-produced egg, you’re likely to smash it and make a mess.
-S. Daniel Ackerman
