Two Uncomplicated Reasons to Choose Organic Eggs and Milk

If you are thinking about making the switch to organic food, eggs and milk are a good place to start, for two fairly simple reasons.
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

If you are thinking about making the switch to organic food, eggs and milk are a good place to start, for two fairly simple reasons.

1) Organic Cows and Chickens Eat Grass
If you eat your vegetables, you have more nutrients in your body. The same goes for cows and chickens that are fed grass.

organic milk photo

On Organic Milk
Despite the nay-saying from the National Dairy Council, several studies suggest there is an unquestionable nutritional difference between organic and regular milk. The most recent, released by Newcastle University in the U.K., states organic milk has:

•Sixty-seven percent higher levels of vitamins and antioxidants

•Sixty percent more conjugated linoleic acids than regular milk

•Higher levels of good Omega-3s

•Lower levels of Omega-6s than conventional milk.

2008-06-18-organiceggsphoto.jpgOn Organic Eggs
Similar results were found in a Penn State study on eggs, which compared eggs from birds raised on an industrial diet to eggs from pastured chickens. According to the study, eggs from pastured chickens have:

•Three time mores omega-3 fat

•Nearly twice as much vitamin E and 40 percent more vitamin A in yolks

The Penn State study also suggests that the kind of grass is a significant factor. Pastured chickens feeding on mixtures dominated by clover and alfalfa produced 18 percent more omega-3 fat than those that ate grass alone. Also check out Also this organic egg report from Mother Earth News and the Poultry Site's definition of healthy eggs.

2008-06-18-cowfieldphoto.jpg2) Organic Milk and Eggs Taste Better

You don't need science for the second reason: taste! Raised in an area that still had fresh delivered milk from grass-fed Jersey cows, I was a bit spoiled in the milk department. At a young age, I refused to drink "store-bought milk," and still find organic milk to taste richer and creamier, without the metallic aftertaste that seems to linger in some grocery store brands.

The Cleaner Plate Club has a detailed taste test, with photos, on organic and conventional scrambled eggs. The author finds that organic eggs are richer in color and flavor, and perhaps even more satisfying, deterring over-eating.

Conduct your own taste test and comment on the results below.

More From TreeHugger on Organic and Free Range Chickens
::Cage-Free Is All The Rage
::How to Green Your Meals
::Another Kind of Chicken Coop

Photos from top: Flickr; Ray Kachatorian/Getty Images; Meredith Heuer/Getty Images.

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot