A while ago a new supermarket opened.
It has an automatic water mister to keep the produce fresh.
Just before it goes on, you hear the sound of distant thunder and
the smell of fresh rain.
When you pass the milk cases, you hear cows mooing and there is
the scent of freshly mowed hay.
In the meat department there is the aroma of charcoal grilled
steaks with onions..
When you approach the egg case, you hear hens clucking and
cackling, and the air is filled with the pleasing aroma of bacon
and eggs frying.
The bread department features the tantalizing smell of fresh baked
bread and cookies.
I don't buy toilet paper there anymore..

Funny.

I recall a cartoon where a tooth brush and a toilet paper roll are discussing who has the worst job in the world.

The toilet paper roll sarcastically replied, "Yeah, right!"

I have that T-Shirt

Stew Leonard's?

OMG! I remember Stew's from my childhood. They used to sell basically dairy products before branching out. (This was way back in the day before Stew Sr. went to jail.)

I have that T-Shirt.

Nice. The misting has the added advantage to the store of adding water weight to the price ....

I prefer my eggs brown and poo free

The only difference between a brown and white chicken egg is the color of the chicken laying it. And for the inside, their diet, which is not vegetarian.

buhahahahahahah

If only true witness of the actual process were displayed (really)

I get my eggs from a local chicken farm. birds that run around and eat bugs make the best eggs.

I always shake my head when I see the "Our chickens are only fed vegetarian diets." This is the most unnatural thing for a chicken: they are omnivores. They love mice!

And bugs! I was a vegetarian who would only eggs from omnivorous chickens!

And slugs!

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

"vegetarian diet" is a marketing way of making a bad diet sound good.

The "vegetarian diet" claim is to allay consumer concerns about chickens being fed slaughterhouse byproducts. Other than fish proteins, which can affect the taste of an egg, the only animal proteins available are slaughterhouse byproducts. "Vegetarian fed" doesn't necessarily mean hens are not allowed access to bugs and rodents outdoors, that would depend upon the specific production system, e.g., organic, cage-free, or caged production.

Exactly. It means they're eating corn.

Not necessarily. A basic ration would be corn and soybeans, the most common feedstocks. We produce organic eggs and the hens are "vegetarian fed" a ration of corn, soybeans, field peas, wheat, barley, and alfalfa meal, along with access to pasture. The National Organic Program does not allow avian or mammalian byproducts to be fed to hens under the program.

Thanks. Good to know!

How are *bugs* considered *byproducts*? They're the the perfectly normal natural, preferred (by the chickens!) chicken feed.

You'll have to reread that... My point was that the label "vegetarian fed" does not necessarily exclude bugs and small critters from their diet. It indicates that the hens are not fed slaughterhouse byproducts.

Chickens can do fine on veggie diets, especially when supplemented with fresh fruits, veggies and nuts. No need to feed mice. They can get bugs from outdoors if they want, but it's best to keep mice away from chickens.

I don't think you understand what having free-range chickens roaming outdoors means.

I didn't mean to say I was a proponent of "feeding mice to chickens"...just that chickens are omnivores and WILL eat a mouse if they see one. And, if they get bugs from outdoors, then they aren't actually vegetarian. :)

I watched a small flock of wild turkeys crossing my yard last fall and one of them managed to snag a field mouse out of some leaves up against the neighbor's fence. She struck it on the ground twice and then she just tipped her head back and swallowed it head first!

They do love mice. Our chickens, if one was lucky enough to snag a mouse, will all go in hot pursuit of her to get it. Too funny to watch.

I used to bring tomato hornworms off my tomato plants for my backyard hens. The chickens found them a treat.

Thanks, I just KNEW there had to be a use for those icky things !

very nutritious hen feed--and free!
somewhere I read about leaving a light inside the henhouse
and a small hole for moths to come in. Again, more free protein
and natural food for a hen. My brother used to have guinea hens,
noisy things, but kept they ate all the deer ticks that infested his place
(deer ticks can cause Lyme Disease).

They make beautiful butterflies.

Sphinx moths.

They turn into Moths I believe so they already have a use.

I left pieces of plywood laying flat on the ground so field crickets would collect under them. All I had to do was call the chickens and they'd come running!

A listeria outbreak tied to cantaloupe killed 33 people in 2011. The deadly bacteria wasn't in the fruit it was on the rind. I always wash everything thoroughly before putting it on the cutting board.

I hate a lot of the cooking shows for a variety of reasons, but one of my pet peeves is how they never show people compulsively washing their hands, the knives, the boards, the product...

Yes, wash everything. Always. Utensils should be washed before and after.

Nuke it all with vinegar.

I plan on investing in an autoclave, myself.

I watched a show where a chef was touching raw chicken then touching many other things. It was hard to watch!

Because that makes for entertaining food tv... watching someone compulsively wash the dishes instead of focusing on, you know... the recipe.

Don't wash the chicken you buy (or raise). That just spreads whatever is on the chicken. Cook it to kill whatever is on the bird as now recommended instead of washing it.

Susan Sumner, professor at University of Nebraska, developed a process I've found to be the most effective way to disinfect: a spray bottle of vinegar and another spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide. I've been using it for years and continue to be impressed with the way it disinfects, cleans, and deodorizes. Actually sometimes there is a little bit of vinegar taste on fresh greens, tomatoes, or other raw produce but this can be removed by washing or rinsing it off before eating. There are several websites that discuss the effectiveness of this combination but the basic "rules" are:

1. You need two separate bottles, one vinegar and the other 3% hydrogen peroxide. Don't mix them into one bottle.

2. Spray one then the other (it doesn't matter which is first).

3. Leave the solution on for a minute to allow it to kill any bacteria, fungus, mold, etc. Then it is safe to eat without washing.

I also use the combo on my sponges, sink, cutting board and any where else in the kitchen. I've been known to use it in the bathroom and washing machine also.

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMS...

My chickens are the best Black Widow control team. They swallow them whole!

I had heard for months from a friend about the difference between farm fresh eggs and supermarket eggs. He raved on and on about the bright orange yolk that was richer than any he had ever had. He went so far as to say, "these eggs will change your life." As an egg lover, I was sold. But to confirm, I did a blind taste test between the $1.50/dozen supermarket variety and the $6/dozen farm fresh variety from the local farmer's market (which claimed to to supply all of the top restaurants in Chicago, including Alinea). I brought them to my mother's for breakfast, and she prepared them both on the same griddle in the same way. Not a soul, including myself, could tell the difference when it came to appearance and taste. I might try it again with a different batch of farm fresh eggs, but ever since I decided it wasn't worth the trouble or money to get the local kind.

If you can't tell the difference in taste, you might at least be concerned about the difference in conditions for both humane and health reasons.

I pay the family that owns the chickens 2$ for 18 eggs collected from under the birds that day.
no middleman, when you know where the food comes from it will taste better.

I have three backyard hens that give us (on average) three eggs daily. I can definitely tell the difference in taste between their eggs and store bought! When we have overnight guests and I prepare breakfast with our girls' eggs, they rave. I also like that fact that I know what they eat and what goes into their eggs. Come on over for an omelet and I'll make a believer out of you. :)

I can definitely taste the difference. Part of the question may be time of year you did the taste test (winter eggs are decidedly less tasty than late spring, for instance). Also, what they were fed -- did they have access to (and actually USE) a free-range environment, at least during the day, when they are feeding? (Being closed up at night time protects them from predators, and that's not their prime feeding time, anyway.) They need to eat worms, insects, and real vegetation, with limits on grains.

I, too, have done the same thing and cannot tell a difference. I like the idea that somehow the free range egg is superior in taste or quality but I eat eggs all the time and I can't tell the difference.