There is a purpose to activism. It is a means to educate, to communicate grievances, and to effect social change. But the activism of late seems to fall short of  lofty goals. What did Occupy Wallstreet and its knockoff occupy protests across the country achieve? Did we learn anything other than the phrase, “We are the 99% ?” We already knew our banks and corporations are corrupt.

There was, however, an occupy movement that began on Earth Day, April 22, 2012, that did make a difference. They called themselves Occupy 2.0.

For 80 years, the University of California, Berkley managed land called the Gill Tract, acres gifted to the university, as a public trust. This prime farmland was mostly used for agricultural research. But in 2012, the university revealed their plans to sell the land to be used for housing and retail.

On Earth Day, 200 urban farmers descended on the property with 15,000 seedlings, tools for planting, and tents to set up camp to protect and nurture the newly claimed community garden.  Their occupation, protest, confrontations with police, meetings with campus officials, help and support from the neighborhood, and their final outcome were all recorded on film by director Todd Darling whose documentary chronicles the event from start to finish.Occupy the Farm is an engaging film that uplifts the soul and inspires the closet rebel. It is a tribute to non-violent protest and community activism.

Occupy the Farm is an engaging film that uplifts the soul and inspires the closet rebel to break out and support a worthy cause. It is a tribute to non-violent protest and community activism – a must see film.

Check the website for updates and additional information:

occupythefarmfilm.com

April 14: Santa Barbara, CA

Pollock Theater, 7 PM
Ocean Road, UCSB
carseywolf.ucsb.edu
Q&A to follow screening with filmmaker Todd Darling and Effie Rawlings of Occupy The Farm.

April 18: Hollywood, FL

Cinema Paradiso, 1pm matinee
2008 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, FL 33019

April 19: Fort Lauderdale, FL

Cinema Paradiso, 1pm matinee
503 SE 6^th St,
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
(954) 525-3456

 April 20-23: Eugene, OR

Including Earth Day!

Bijou Art Cinema, 7 PM  Speakers nightly.
492 East 13^th Ave
Eugene, OR 97401

April 21-­‐22: San Francisco, CA   including Earth Day!

Roxie Theater
3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA in the Mission District
Q&A to follow 7 pm screenings
roxie.com

April 22 –   Earth Day! St. Augustine FL

Corazon Theater, 7 PM
36 Granada St, St Augustine, FL 32084 (904) 679-­‐5736 corazoncinemaandcafe.com

We’ve known the horrific conditions animals endure when raised in factory farms. One could only hope we have all seen some footage that shows chickens, cows, or pigs crammed into tiny spaces so filled that the animals cannot turn around or lay down. One thing we haven’t seen until now are the cesspools created by factory farming.

Mark Devries, director of the documentary Speciesism, the Movie, explores the cultural belief that “our species is more important than the rest.” His exposure of factory farming as “one of the greatest evils in our history” should give us pause. After all, animal cruelty laws are widely upheld when it comes to the treatment of cats, dogs, and horses. For some reason they don’t apply to factory raised animals.

Factory farms are tucked away and hidden from prying eyes. In his film, Mark crawls through bushes, flies over factory farms, and even uses a drone to videotape the landscape. In a clip (see video below) his drone reveals a cesspool the size of three football fields. The cesspool is simply a giant trench filled to the brim with pig feces and urine. The metal buildings beside the cesspool hold pigs crammed nose to tail. Waste is flushed under each building to the cesspools and then sprayed into the air.

Now here’s the interesting part. The animal waste is not pumped into a treatment facility. It is not pumped into a septic tank. It is not treated in any way. It is sprayed into the air.

From there, where does it go? While giant factory farms make an effort to hide away in rural settings, they still have neighbors. Their practice of spraying waste into the air causes it to drift onto their neighbors’ property. The odor alone is unimaginable. At times, it rain animal feces onto the neighbors’ yards and houses. Asthma rates, especially for children, are high. Runoff from factory farms contaminates waterways and groundwater.

Animals raised under these conditions are highly susceptible to disease. Initial reports regarding the Swine flu epidemic identified patient zero as a child who lived near a factory farm, but these reports were quickly squashed.

Short Clip of the Drone Footage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayGJ1YSfDXs

Check out Mark Devries film, Speciesism, the Movie

(Corucopia – Linley Dixon, PhD) Pet food quality varies significantly and all too often includes dangerous chemical additives. In many cases CONSUMERS get what they pay for, but price doesn’t always indicate high quality. The good news is that discriminating shoppers will soon have a new tool helping them to weed through product labels and separate the good from the bad.

The Cornucopia Institute has completed a thorough analysis of the pet food industry and will release a detailed report this winter.

Our study reveals that many complete DIET products significantly sway from the natural, wild diets of cats and dogs in terms of protein, fat and carbohydrate percentages. The majority of both dog and CAT FOOD product formulations contain too many grains and starches, including corn, wheat, rice, oats, peas, and potatoes. In addition, many products contain questionable and/or unnecessary ingredients.

Meanwhile, among the most common causes of death for both cats and dogs are diseases affiliated with poor diet including obesity, cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal diseases and cancer.

Cornucopia’s report examines specific ingredients to avoid and includes a web-based buyer’s guide that will help CONSUMERS find high quality and safe pet foods. In the meantime, the following tips will help you get started finding the best food for your cats and dogs.

1. Avoid carrageenan:

You may be unknowingly harming your pets by feeding them wet food, even from the most expensive “premium” brands—despite extra care taken to find formulations high in animal-based proteins, low in fat and carbohydrates, and even USDA certified organic. Our research found that greater than 70% of canned pet foods contain carrageenan, a non-nutritive food stabilizer extracted from red seaweed. Peer-reviewed and published research indicates that carrageenan is known to cause intestinal INFLAMMATION with the potential to lead to cancer, even in small doses.

Carrageenan is a non-nutritive thickener and emulsifier that can easily be replaced by safer alternatives in pet foods, including tomato paste, guar gum, potato starch, pea starch, tapioca, and garbanzo bean flour.

New independent research (published in 2014) at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago, using both human and mouse epithelial cells, further demonstrates the mechanism by which inflammatory responses occur after carrageenan exposure using doses less than the anticipated average daily intake (50 mg/30 g mouse vs. 250 mg/60 kg person). This research demonstrates for the first time that carrageenan-induced INFLAMMATION occurs in both humans and mice, indicating that it is likely to cause a similar reaction in all mammals, including cats and dogs.

Pets that eat primarily wet food with carrageenan will consume daily doses of carrageenan in amounts known to cause INFLAMMATION. In fact, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in cats is the most common cause of vomiting and diarrhea.

Unfortunately, policy changes are often years behind the latest scientific research due to corporate lobbying and industry-funded studies that conflict with independent research.

Some pet food brands are now advertising that they do not include carrageenan, such as Zignature dog food and Weruva CAT FOOD. Meanwhile, Hill’s Science DIET contains carrageenan, despite the label stating the brand is “veterinary recommended.”

2. Buy organic (but without carrageenan):

Many high-end “natural” pet foods contain carrageenan—and even Newman’s Own Organics wet cat food (which is not actually certified organic but, rather, “made with” organic ingredients) contains the ingredient. Organic foods should be a safe haven from chemical residues, ANTIBIOTICS and questionable synthetic ingredients. Sadly, in this case, pet owners need to pay extra attention.

There are two USDA Organic wet dog food brands that do not contain carrageenan: Organix and Cocolicious. However, there are no certified organic cat food brands that do not use carrageenan in at least one of their flavors. It is important to read each product label; Organix cat food shredded chicken flavors, for example, contain carrageenan although the majority of the brand’s flavors do not.

3. Don’t fall for non-GMO claims (unless you see the USDA Organic label):

Some pet food brands, such as Wellness, advertise that they are “made with naturally GMO-free ingredients.” This is likely an intentionally misleading claim. Without the USDA Organic label, you can assume that the feed given to the livestock used to produce these pet food products is almost certainly GMO.

Wellness brand products do not display the USDA Organic seal. Over 90% of the soybean and corn currently produced in the U.S. is GMO. Though pet foods can test to be GMO-free, this does not mean that the meat animals were fed GMO-free feed throughout their life.

The USDA Food Safety Inspection Service has only recently approved a non-GMO label for meat only if that producer can prove all the animal feed required to feed the number of animals owned is GMO-free. This label is currently missing from all pet food brands, despite non-GMO claims. Thus, only the presence of the USDA Organic label reliably ensures that meat animals were fed non-GMO grain.

4. Avoid these ingredients, too:

Pet food manufacturers don’t advertise the fact that pet food is composed primarily from food industry waste. Animal fat and animal meat and bone meal (MBM) are common pet food ingredients that are products of rendering (boiling waste products to sterilize them). Animal fat and MBM often come from a mix of different animal species, including expired grocery store meat, animals that died on the farm, and RESTAURANT scraps, including used grease from deep-fat fryers.

Animal fat and MBM are the ingredients in pet food most likely to correlate with the presence of sodium pentobarbital, the drug used by veterinarians and shelters for euthanasia. Needless to say, these are not ingredients you want your dog and cat to be eating.

Corn gluten meal should also be avoided. It is used primarily as a cheap substitute for meat since cats and dogs are carnivorous and should have diets primarily based on meat.

In addition, synthetic preservatives should be avoided, including BHA, BHT, and propyl gallate, since research has linked them to several health concerns, including cancer. Natural preservatives, such as ascorbic acid (VITAMIN C C), tocopherols (vitamin E), and plant-based oils (such as rosemary oil), are better alternatives.

5. Home-cook your pet’s food:

One way to ensure a HEALTHY DIET for your companion animals is to cook for them yourself. Many chronic problems such as allergies, vomiting, diarrhea, and skin problems can be solved with homemade meals. Cornucopia’s report provides veterinarian-approved recipes and advice for cooking at home for both cats and dogs.

In conclusion, the pet food industry is no different than leading MARKETERS of human food when it comes to cheap substitutes and false health claims. Take matters into your own hands by reading labels and choosing high quality ingredients. Cornucopia’s soon-to-be-released report can help you.

(DrFrankLipman – Frank Lipman) These days, just about everything is mass-produced, including our food, with large, factory-style farms churning out a seemingly endless supply of meat, chickens, eggs and dairy products. All that mass production equals abundance and lower prices, but if those factory-farmed products are eroding your health, is the savings really worth it? Not in my book. Here’s what’s really going on with mass-produced meats and why you should steer clear:

1. Factory-farmed animals eat crap. Literally.

To keep production costs low, animals raised in factory farms are fed the cheapest possible grains and feeds containing among other things, “by-product feedstuff, ” which begs the question, what’s feedstuff? It’s a nausea-inducing assortment of disturbing ingredients, including municipal garbage, stale cookies, poultry manure, chicken feathers, bubble gum and even restaurant waste. So, when you eat factory-farmed animals, you’re also getting an unintentional serving of “feedstuff.” In short, their bad diet becomes your bad diet – which is counter-productive to your health.

2. Bad diets make for sick animals – and people too.

Cud-chewing critters such as cattle, dairy cows, goats, bison and sheep were designed to eat fibrous grasses, plants, and shrubs—not starchy, low-fiber grains and feedstuffs. When these animals are switched from pasture greenery to grains, many wind up suffering from a number of disorders and painful conditions. The sickened animals are then given chemical additives, plus constant, low-level doses of antibiotics. Their drugs in turn enter your system when you eat antibiotic-treated animals, setting the stage for drug-resistance in your body, particularly if you’re a heavy-duty carnivore.

3. Lousy ingredients won’t create a nutritious product.

It should come as no surprise that animals fed a crappy diet will make for a less nutritious meal. Compared to grass-fed, factory-farmed, grain-fed meats have less vitamin E, beta-carotene, and little of the two health-promoting fats called omega-3 fatty acids and “conjugated linoleic acid,” or CLA. So what’s the end-result of the feed-’em-fast-and-cheap factory farmed method? Inferior food with negligible nutrients and more of the unhealthy fats. Small wonder the stuff is so much cheaper than grass-fed.

4. Stress hurts everyone.

If your goal is to sustain wellness, factory-farmed products just don’t deliver the nutritional goods. In factory farms, chickens, turkeys, and pigs are typically raised in inhumane conditions, tightly packed into cages and pens, unable to practice normal behaviors, such as rooting, grazing, and roosting. In these conditions, the animals get stressed and wind up producing products that are lower in a number of key vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids – talk about empty calories!

5. Factory farming pollutes the earth.

In a conventional feedlot operation, for example, confined cattle deposit large amounts of manure in a small amount of space. The manure must be collected and removed. As it costs money to haul it away, the manure is often dumped nearby, close to the feedlot. As a result, the surrounding soil gets over-saturated with the stuff, resulting in ground and water pollution. But when animals are raised on pasture, their manure is a welcome source of organic fertilizer, not a “waste management problem.” Bottom line: raising animals on pasture is kinder to the environment.

In short, though factory farming enables us to have plenty of cheap and convenient food, it’s food with little nutritional benefit, that can increase your resistance to antibiotics as it pollutes your air, land and water. With so little going for it, doesn’t it seem slightly crazy to eat factory-farmed meats? It does certainly does to me – which is why I strongly suggest that if you’re going to eat meat, buy the good stuff, even if it means having to pay a bit more or buy less of it. Choose grass-fed beef, lamb, bison and poultry, to insure that you’re eating nutritious and healthy meats, as nature intended.

To learn more about what to look for when buying meat, check out my post on meat labeling and for some additional inspiration, check out this animation movie about the meat you eat at themeatrix.com.

Americans eat a phenomenal amount of chicken, more than any other meat. Those of us over 50 can still remember when chicken was a treat for special occasions because it was more expensive than beef. Today chicken is the cheapest meat, and its consumption has doubled since 1970. Advocates of factory farming boast that their techniques have brought chicken within the reach of working families.

Tyson Foods proudly calls itself “the largest provider of protein products on the planet,” as well as “the world leader in producing and marketing beef, pork, and chicken.” Tyson now produces more than 2 billion chickens a year, and if you are shopping in a typical American supermarket, close to a quarter of the chicken you see on the shelves will have been produced by Tyson.

Virtually all the chicken sold in America—more than 99 percent, according to Bill Roenigk, vice president of the National Chicken Council—comes from factory-farm production similar to that used by Tyson Foods. The ethical issues raised by its production of chicken therefore exemplify issues raised by modern intensive chicken production in general. We can divide these issues into three categories, according to whether they most immediately impact the chickens, the environment, or humans.

The Cost To Our Ethics

To call someone a “birdbrain” is to suggest exceptional stupidity. But chickens can recognize up to 90 other individual chickens and know whether each one of those birds is higher or lower in the pecking order than they are themselves. Researchers have shown that if chickens get a small amount of food when they immediately peck at a colored button, but a larger amount if they wait 22 seconds, they can learn to wait before pecking.

Interesting as these studies are, the point of real ethical significance is not how clever chickens are, but whether they can suffer—and of that there can be no serious doubt. Chickens have nervous systems similar to ours, and when we do things to them that are likely to hurt a sensitive creature, they show behavioral and physiological responses that are like ours. When stressed or bored, chickens show what scientists call “stereotypical behavior,” or repeated futile movements, like caged animals who pace back and forth. When they have become acquainted with two different habitats and find one preferable to the other, they will work hard to get to the living quarters they prefer.

Most people readily agree that we should avoid inflicting unnecessary suffering on animals. Summarizing the recent research on the mental lives of chickens and other farmed animals, Christine Nicol, professor of animal welfare at Bristol University, in England, has said: “Our challenge is to teach others that every animal we intend to eat or use is a complex individual, and to adjust our farming culture accordingly.” We are about to see how far that farming culture would have to change to achieve this.

Almost all the chickens sold in supermarkets—known in the industry as “broilers”—are raised in very large sheds. A typical shed measures 490 feet long by 45 feet wide and will hold 30,000 or more chickens. The National Chicken Council, the trade association for the U.S. chicken industry, issues Animal Welfare Guidelines that indicate a stocking density of 96 square inches for a bird of average market weight—that’s about the size of a standard sheet of American 8.5-inch by 11-inch typing paper. When the chicks are small, they are not crowded, but as they near market weight, they cover the floor completely—at first glance, it seems as if the shed is carpeted in white. They are unable to move without pushing through other birds, unable to stretch their wings at will, or to get away from more dominant, aggressive birds.

If the producers gave the chickens more space they would gain more weight and be less likely to die, but it isn’t the productivity of each bird—let alone the bird’s welfare—that determines how they are kept. As one industry manual explains: “Limiting the floor space gives poorer results on a per bird basis, yet the question has always been and continues to be: What is the least amount of floor space necessary per bird to produce the greatest return on investment.”

The Cost to the Environment

In western Kentucky, the masthead of The Messenger, the local newspaper of Madisonville, carries the slogan “The Best Town on Earth.” But if you had been in the audience of a hearing at the Madisonville Technology Center on the evening of June 29, 2000, you would have had to wonder about that. The Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet of the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection was listening to public comment on a proposed regulation for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, also known as factory farms. A long procession of citizens came up and made their views known. Here is a selection:

“Since Tyson took over the operation of the growing houses, there is a very offensive odor that at times has taken my breath. There has been a massive invasion of flies. It is hard to perform necessary maintenance on our property.”

“Uncovered hills of chicken waste attract hundreds of thousands of flies and mice… People, including school children, cannot enjoy a fresh morning’s air and can’t inhale without gagging or coughing due to the smell.

“My family lives next to chicken houses. We caught 80 mice in two days in our home. The smell is nauseating … My son and I got stomach cramps, diarrhea, nausea, and we had a sore on our mouths that would not go away. We went to the doctor and my son had parasites in his intestines. Where are the children’s rights? Should families have to sacrifice a safe and healthy environment for the economic benefit of others?”

Western Kentucky is an example of a nationwide problem. In Warren County, in northern New Jersey, Michael Patrisko, who lives near an egg factory farm, told a local newspaper that the flies around his neighborhood are so bad, “You literally can look at a house and think it’s a different color.” Buckeye Egg Farm in Ohio was fined $366,000 for failing to handle its manure properly. Nearby residents had complained for years about rats, flies, foul odors, and polluted streams from the 14-million-hen complex. At the same time, Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson was threatening to sue Arkansas poultry producers, including Tyson Foods, saying that waste from the companies’ operations is destroying Oklahoma lakes and streams, especially in the northeast corner of the state.

Tyson produces chicken cheaply because it passes many costs on to others. Some of the cost is paid by people who can’t enjoy being outside in their yard because of the flies and have to keep their windows shut because of the stench. Some is paid by kids who can’t swim in the local streams. Some is paid by those who have to buy bottled water because their drinking water is polluted. Some is paid by people who want to be able to enjoy a natural environment with all its beauty and rich biological diversity. These costs are, in the terms used by economists, “externalities” because the people who pay them are external to the transaction between the producer and the purchaser.

Consumers may choose to buy Tyson chicken, but those who bear the other, external costs of intensive chicken production do not choose to incur them. Short of moving house—which has its own substantial costs—there is often little they can do about it. Economists—even those who are loudest in extolling the virtues of the free market—agree that the existence of such externalities is a sign of market failure. In theory, to eliminate this market failure, Tyson should fully compensate everyone adversely affected by its pollution. Then its chicken would no longer be so cheap.

According to Everyday Food, eggs are one of the earliest known food sources, and yet the question of whether the chicken or the egg came first continues to perplex and befuddle the masses. Today an even more complicated issue has arisen – what kind of eggs are best for you?

Have you noticed that the egg section is starting to rival the shampoo and drink sections for variety and choice, leaving you to decipher multiple labels and lists of ingredients? There are free range, cage free, and organic varieties, to mention just a few. What do these terms mean and how do you decide which eggs are best for you and your family?

Egg Basics 101

According to a fact sheet compiled by theU.S. Dept. of Agriculture, American Egg Board and USAPEEC – revised June 2008 “Presently, there are 60 egg producing companies with 1 million plus layers [egg-laying hens] and 12 companies with greater than 5 million layers. To date, there are approximately 240 egg producing companies with flocks of 75,000 hens or more. These 255 companies represent about 95% of all the layers in the United States. In 1987, there were around 2,500 operations. (Number of operations in 1987 include some contract farms and divisions.)”

Chicken eggs come in different sizes – small to jumbo (or extra large) and in different colors. Egg containers show the size, sell by date, and the kind of eggs. Brown hens usually lay brown eggs. White hens lay white eggs.

In Eggs, author Michael Roux says, “An egg is a treasure chest of substances that are essential for a balanced diet – rich in proteins, lipids, vitamins and minerals, including iron and zinc. It provides first-class protein, is low in sodium, and a medium egg contains only 78 calories.”

In the supermarket in the U.S., you’ll find your eggs are classified according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) standards. Eggs are graded AA-B and will have the USDA logo on the package to show that the eggs have been federally inspected. In Canada, the best choice is Grade A eggs.

Choices, Choices

Eggs from Caged Hens

The kind of eggs that you and your mother have been buying from your grocery store for the last few decades probably come from chickens raised in battery cages. These birds were probably given antibiotics. This kind of set up is banned in some areas of Europe  and is a target for animal rights groups. In fact, many people are outraged by the inhumane treatment of these chickens, such as the group ChickenOut!, a project of the Vancouver Humane Society.

Organic Eggs

Fed with organic feed (no additives, animal byproducts or GMO), these hens live cage free with access to the outside. According to Wikipedia, “Organic egg producers cannot use antibiotics except during an infectious outbreak. Only natural molting can occur within the flock; forced molting is not allowed. (Molting is forced by starving the hen for weeks at a time). Organic certification also means maintaining of high animal welfare standards, which prohibit any cutting off of beaks or wings without anesthesia, methods common until today in (the) poultry industry.” Hens cannot be given growth hormones and the USDA inspects the farm before they are allowed to use the “organic label.”

(Please note that organic certifications and regulations vary from country to country and province to province, so check on the certification requirements for your area).

Free-Range (or Cage-Free) Eggs

A new study from Mother Earth Newsproves that pasture-raised chickens produce superior eggs with less cholesterol, less saturated fat, twice the omega-3 fatty acids, 3 times the vitamin E, 7 times more beta carotene, 2/3 more vitamin A, and 4-6 times as much vitamin D!

Unfortunately, while free-range chickens raised for meat must meet specific standards, there is no legal definition for free–range eggs and there are no standards. Free-range doesn’t necessarily mean pasture raised. Free-range hens are supposed to have access to the outside. But there is no regulation as to how long they are outside, how much room they are to be given, or about any of the standards that deem them “free-range.” Some reports claim many free-range chickens are caged. Plus these birds can still be given antibiotics, animal byproducts, and food from GMO crops. They may live in an overcrowded situation and may or may not have access to nests and perches.  In other words, they are probably not what you thought they were.

Free-Run Eggs

This is one of those terms that sound like the hens are having the time of their life, but in fact, they are usually kept indoors in large barns. They are not allowed to go outside and it may be overcrowded.

Antibiotic Free Eggs

According to the USDA, this label can be used on beef and poultry products, provided that the producer supplies “sufficient documentation … that the animals were raised without antibiotics.”

Hormone Free Eggs

This label applies only to beef, says the USDA. Since hormones are not supposed to be given to pigs or chickens, pork and poultry products cannot legally be tagged with this label without the disclaimer “Federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones.”

Fed Vegetarian Feed, All-Natural, Farm Fresh, Omega-3 Eggs

ChickenOut! says, “These words and images on egg cartons mean nothing as far as animal welfare is concerned. In fact, eggs in these cartons are from hens in cages.”

Amish Eggs

Some people think Amish eggs are the most natural. Ariane Daguin, co-owner of D’Artagnan, a Newark-based supplier of Amish chicken to New York restaurants and markets told the New York Times, “It’s a marketing ploy. It doesn’t mean anything.” The mystique of the Amish label, Ms. Daguin said, comes from its ‘’aura of naturalness.” Chickens raised on Amish farms do not always eat vegetarian feed. Nor are they more likely to be free-range or free-roaming. Read From Gravy to Jus, Now ‘Amish’ Is Trendy

The Bottom Line

It seems that out of all the practices, organic is best. Chickens raised organically are the only chickens with guaranteed welfare standards in place. Organic eggs are becoming an overwhelmingly popular choice for many egg consumers, not only for their fresh taste, but for the ethics involved in the raising and handling of the hens. But according to the USDA, “Only 1 percent of dairy cows and less than 1 percent of chickens are raised in accordance with these standards.” So be sure to check your labels carefully.

May 2011 Update: Vital Farms sell highly nutritious organic eggs raised by healthy, humanely treated chickens. If you can’t raise your own chickens, these are the best we know of.