The Incredible ‘Inedible’ Egg

In the last few days the federal government has expanded a recall of eggs potentially contaminated with salmonella. More than 380 million eggs, produced at a farm in Iowa, have been deemed possibly dangerous and blamed for illnesses in California, Colorado and Minnesota.

Earlier this month, Fresh Express, a subsidiary of Chiquita brands, recalled a salad product for the third time since May for possible Listeria contamination. Listeria causes a bacterial infection. Based on my research, it probably won’t kill a healthy person but it doesn’t sound too fun.

In July, the center for disease control announced that 136 outbreaks of food-borne illness from guacomole and pico de gallo (avocado and tomato). These 136 reported outbreaks included 12 pathogens such as salmonella, E. coli O157:H7, shigella, hepatitis A and norovirus. Researchers found three deaths associated with the outbreaks.

In May, bags of sprouts in ten states were recalled due to Salmonella contamination. No deaths, but there were 22 reported illnesses and four hospitalizations.

In April, the US Department of Agriculture’s inspector general admitted the government wasn’t doing its job to protect us from contaminated meat. The study cited a 2008 load of beef that Mexican officials wouldn’t let into their country because if didn’t meet their standards. It could have been, and very well may have been sold here.

Last year the CDC announced its list of the ten most dangerous foods for food-borne illness.

The list included these foods:
1. Leafy Greens
2. Eggs
3. Tuna
4. Oysters
5. Potatoes
6. Cheese
7. Ice Cream
8. Tomatoes
9. Sprouts
10.Berries

What? The most dangerous foods in America aren’t Cheetos and Pepsi, but veggies and eggs.

But we know that is not the case. All of our superstars of the food-borne illness world – mad cow disease, e. coli, salmonella –  they all developed in factory farms and processing plants. They simply don’t exist in local pastoral systems.

Right now, in in the American food revolution, Michael Pollan is the man. He has written numerous essays, reports and books, including In Defense of Food and The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Nationally he is considered the “voice” of the local food movement. In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, he wrote:

Every government study to date has shown the reasons we are having a epidemic of food-borne illness in the country is centralized production, centralized, processing, and long distance transportation of food. You would think therefore that they would want to decentralize the food system … they’d much rather irradiate everything instead.

I am no expert on food production. I’ll leave that to the farmers, the ranchers and investigators like Pollan. I have, however, been on a few local farms and even participated in the process. What I saw was animals living the way it seemed like they should. It didn’t stink, the animals could move around.

In the human world we know it is unhealthy for too many people to live in a small house. Too much waste, germs etc. in too small an area. We wouldn’t expect people to live healthy lives if 50 of them had to share a single family house. One would imagine the same goes for animals and plants. Take a drive past the cattle feed lots on Interstate 5. If you have kids you will hear lots of complaining about the odor.

Time magazine recently published an article asking the question of whether “organic” eggs were any healthier. Based on the nutritional make up of both types of eggs, the answer was no. Pollan looks at it a bit differently when asked if “organic” is better:

Better for what? Is it better for the environment? Better for the farmers who grew it? Better for public health? For the taxpayer? The answer to all three questions is an (almost) unqualified yes. To grow the plants and animals that made up my meal, no pesticides found their way into any farmer’s bloodstream, no nitrogen run off or growth hormones seeped into the watershed, no soils were poisoned, no antibiotics were squandered, no subsidy checks were written. If the high price of my all-organic meal is weighed against the comparatively low price it extracted from the larger world, as it should be, it begins to look, at least in karmic terms, like a real bargain.

He brings up another point: Cost. I am asked all the time if it is more expensive to eat from local farmers. The answer is simple. Yes. We all can understand why a quality product may cost more if we are discussing, say a pair of jeans or a automobile.

Joel Salatin, a farmer/lobbyist/revolutionist grows food that he sells locally in Virginia.

“When someone pulls up to our farm in a BMW and asks why our eggs cost more … I take him outside and point to his car. ‘Sir, you clearly understand quality and are willing to pay for it. Well, food is no different: You get what you pay for.’

“Why is it that we exempt food of all things from that rule?” Salatin asks.

Pollan writes:

While it is true that many people simply can’t afford to pay more for food, either in money or time or both, many more of us can. After all, just in the last decade or two we’ve somehow found the time in the day to spend several hours on the internet and the money in the budget not only to pay for broadband service, but to cover a second phone bill and a new monthly bill for television, formerly free. For the majority of Americans, spending more for better food is less a matter of ability than priority.

I get it that the higher monthly price tag is a turn off. I get that we don’t all believe we have expendable income. But as a community, CrossFitters spend a considerable sum of money, time and resources toward making sure we are healthy.

Let’s forget the science, the studies and all the rest. If you are interested in reading them, they are all out there. Read them on your own. Ask yourself this instead. Does it make sense that animals raised the way they would be in nature would live a healthier life? Does it make sense that vegetables grown with compost instead of chemicals, picked fresh and trucked 20 miles instead of 1,500 would taste better and be better for you and the world around them?

I don’t like scare tactics but the following video made the point to me when I watched it during Food Inc.

Think for yourself and question authority.
-Timothy Leary

Last week we talked about thinking for yourself. It is time to start making some choices.

~Rick

Weekly Recipe

Baked Egg Cups

2 large eggs
 (local, omega-3 enriched)
4 large egg whites (local, omega-3 enriched)
2 tbsp heavy cream
fresh chives
2 pieces cooked bacon, chopped
salt and pepper
avocado

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Lightly grease 2 6-oz. ramekins. Break one whole egg into each ramekin and add two egg whites to each.
Pour 1 tbsp heavy cream into each ramekin and top with chives, bacon and salt and pepper, to taste.
Place ramekins in a rimmed baking pan. Make a “water bath” by boiling water in a kettle and pour the hot water into the rimmed baking pan, until the water comes up to about halfway up the outside of the ramekin. It is easiest to pour the water into the pan once it is already in the oven, as not to spill. Remember, the water is on the outside of the ramekin, they are submerged in water to help disperse the heat and the eggs cook evenly. Do not pour the water in the ramekins with the eggs! Bake for 10-15 minutes, more for a harder cooked yolk, less for soft yoke. Top with sliced avocado and serve.
This makes a fun creative breakfast when you have company. You can individualize each cup to your guests taste. Get creative and add some other toppings like sun-dried tomatoes, salsa, canadian bacon, sausage, spinach or mushrooms. It’s just a different take on an omelet…go from there.