Got EGGS?

Went into the supermarket the other day and needed some eggs. I usually buy my eggs straight from the farm in St. Cloud, but couldn't get out there that day. I don't know about you, but the egg bins in grocery stores are becoming very confusing... you've got the traditional corporate farmed egg, free range egg, vegetarian egg and then those who are marked with other statements that make you scratch your head.

Just for the record, a TRUE organic egg, comes from a TRUE organic chicken. What's a TRUE organic chicken? Well, I'll give you a hint, so far I've not found ONE in any of the typical grocery stores.  Let me share with you what I found...

Cornucopia.org: I have found an organization that's the watchdog when it comes to keeping businesses from straying away from the true definition of Organic and you can find them here: http://www.cornucopia.org 

Cornucopia.org is a great place to find the list of those companies that are TRUE organic chicken farms and I would definitely check their scorecard to pick the right eggs. http://www.cornucopia.org/organic-egg-scorecard/  Amazingly, Florida only has Whole Foods that  locally sells them. PNS farms in South Florida is on the list, but it doesn't say if they are available in Central Florida. HOWEVER, I just found VITAL FARMS in Whole Foods in Orlando and I checked them out and found they raise TRUE organic chickens that are pasture raised. PASTURE RAISED is the key phrase to look for when trying to find a TRUE organic egg. You can see for yourself at vitalfarms.com . They're located in Texas and I believe you'll see why I would choose them when shopping in Whole Foods.  


Now the term ORGANIC implies more than just pasture raised... but in my research, pasture raised is as key phrase to look for when investigating chicken farms. These are chickens that live free on the land, not cooped up in barns, living on top of one another and who never seethe light of day. They roam freely about on the land, eating from the land as their main source of food. There's a whole list of items that TRUE ORGANIC egg farms adhere to and you can find all the information you need on Cornucopia.com.

FLORIDA NEEDS CHICKEN FARMERS! As someone who has a vital part in the organization, Osceola County Grown, I'm interested in learning how many people have an interest in raising chickens and becoming a part of the growing number who want locally grown food. Based on what I can learn from our readers interest, I'll be going forward to learn what we can do to make this a reality for those who live in Osceola County, FL. GOT CHICKEN? 


Let's put our heads together to see how we can put Osceola County on the map as being the #1 producer of foods!!!