Eggs, that essential, always-on-hand source of usually inexpensive, high quality protein and quick easy meals, are having a moment and it's not a good one. In fact the egg industry is bit scrambled. Due to a widespread outbreak of avian flu more than 58 million chickens in the US have died resulting in a severe egg shortage. This had led to an increase in the price of eggs and unreliable supply chains, sigh. But don't despair: we've still got eggs! If you love baking and want to conserve eggs, scroll to the bottom for an eggs-ceptional Vegan Lemon Cake recipe.
Our long-time supplier, Pete & Gerry’s in Monroe, NH, recently let us know that they will unfortunately no longer be able to deliver their eggs to us. As a result, going forward, we've been stocking a variety of high quality organic eggs, rather than sticking with a specific brand, in order to ensure we can fulfill our customers' requests.
Rest assured we will only source certified organic eggs and prioritize brands from the greater New England area, that, like Pete & Gerry’s, rank at a minimum of "Very Good", that's "Four Eggs" or "Excellent", "Five Eggs", from the Cornucopia Institute. The Cornucopia Institute considers several criteria including: commitment to organics, amount of indoor and outdoor space per bird, ownership structure, flock size, feed sourcing, exposure to natural light plus other factors. Learn more on their website.
Our non-brand specific dozen eggs are available as add-on item and all egg subscribers have been automatically switched.
One brand we've had good access to is Handsome Brook Farms. in New York. In addition to having eggs-ellent eggs the pretty cartons are readily compostable! Our half dozens are coming from Nature's Yoke. Availability may change at any time. You may notice that these brands have yolks of a slight different color than you have seen with Pete and Gerry's. Please know that yolk color is a reflection of the chicken's feed, a diet of yellow corn and marigold petals will result in a more orange yolk than one of white corn and wheat. There is no difference in nutritional value.
Newly hatched chicks take about six months to become "layers". Perhaps some easing will occur in the fall - provided migratory birds do not infect these new flocks of layers. We'll continue to share any updates with you.
If you're looking for a way to conserve eggs while baking try this eggs-traordinary recipe for Vegan Lemon Cake.
