Different breeds of hen lay different colors of eggs. I think the taste of brown eggs is better than that of white eggs. But from what I’ve been told, white eggs could taste as good, if the breeder raises them without hormones, with more natural feed and in healthier environments.

As a rule, I try to avoid those foods that have the most hormones: milk, eggs, chicken and farmed fish. So I buy organic milk at the grocery, wild chicken and fish at specialty stores, and fresh, hormone free brown eggs at the farmers market. (I also buy A LOT of chicken, turkey, and fish at the farmers market.)

At the grocery we usually buy cage-free, vegetarian, or organic eggs: none of this is USDA regulated. My goal is to avoid all the hormones and bacteria that are found in caged, mass-produced eggs.

So even though I’m not an egg expert when I talk to the farmer, take them home and eat them, and I know how good they taste, I try to stay with that farmer.

At the mega-grocery stores, I’ve recently been convinced that WalMart is giving Whole Foods a run for its money for fresh, organic, locally grown produce. As I don’t live near a WalMart I don’t have first-hand knowledge of this, but there has been a lot of media coverage devoted to this, so…

Sadly, its still caveat emptor: let the buyer beware. But I’m sticking with my farmers market brown eggs.

When I’m in Chicago I’m very lucky to be only 1 mile from the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Lincoln Park, which on Saturdays holds the Chicago Green City Market year round http://www.chicagogreencitymarket.org/ . I just hop on the 151 bus outside my door, and I’m there in minutes, or its an easy 15 minute walk.

Also in Lincoln Park, as well as 20 other locations in Chicago, are the Chicago Farmers Markets May – October http://www.chicagofarmersmarkets.us . I actually haven’t been to this one, but my daughter has and I’ve sample some of the baked goods sold their, I’m not sure if they sell eggs.

TBG loves his eggs, so we’re always shopping for good fresh eggs!
ciao