Finding pastured eggs locally and online
Another flawless entry for my hand-model portfolio.
As you may have heard, eggs from pasture-raised chickens can be significantly more nutritious. Here are my notes on finding pastured egg sources:
Finding local pastured eggs
The first place I'd look for pastured eggs is in the Cornocopia Institute's egg scorecard for a highly-rated farm. Here are the farms they gave a 5 out of 5 rating:
- California: Burroughs Family Farms in Denair and Alexandre Family EcoDairy Farms in Crescent City.
- Connecticut: Turtle Ledge Farm (no web site, but you can try contacting 860-455-1411 or turtleledge@charter.net).
- Florida: Twin Oaks Farm in Bonifay, Bee Heaven Farm in Homestead, PNS Farms in Miami.
- Maine: Village Farm in Freedom, Happy Town Farm in Orland.
- Minnesota: Larry Schultz Organic Farm in Owatonna.
- Montana: Mission Mountain in Ronan.
- Nebraska: Common Good Farm (you can call them at 402-783-9005) in Raymond, Mosel Eggs in Page (I haven't been able to find a site or contact information for them).
- New York: Eight Mile Creek Farm in Westerlo, Kingbird Farm in Berkshire, Handsome Brook Farm in Franklin.
- Oregon: Phoenix Egg Farm in Portland, although I can't find contact info.
- Texas: Coyote Creek Farm in Elgin (further notes below, they have a wide distribution area), Vital Farms in Austin.
- Virginia: Shenandoah Family Farms in Dayton.
- Washington: Misty Meadows Farm in Everson, Trout Lake Abbey in Trout Lake, Skagit River Ranch in Sedro Woolley.
- Wisconsin: Dreamfarm in Cross Plains, Green Pastures Poultry in Cashton (I haven't been able to find a site or contact information for them).
Other places to look for local eggs
- LocalHarvest has listings for pastured eggs by city or zip.
- Eat Wild has a list of farms by state, many of whom have pastured eggs.
- Real Milk Finder has a list of farms by state, many of whom have pastured eggs.
- Craigslist often has pastured egg listings in the farm & garden category.
Finding widely-distributed pastured eggs (often available in grocery stores)
| Name | Notes |
|---|---|
| Alfresco Eggs (a Vital Farms child brand) |
|
| Backyard Eggs (a Vital Farms child brand) |
|
| Coyote Creek Farm (available in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana) |
|
| NestFresh Pasture Raised (make sure the box mentions pasture, NestFresh has different lines of eggs) |
|
| Pasture Verde (a Vital Farms child brand) |
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| RedHill Farms Rainbox Eggs (a Vital Farms child brand, available in Northern California) |
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| Texas Chicken Ranch (a Vital Farms child brand) |
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| The Happy Egg Co. (a Vital Farms child brand) |
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| Vital Farms |
|
Finding online pastured eggs
The only online egg shipper I've been able to find is Grass Fed-Traditions:
- Pastured, organic, and soy-free.
- Around $7.75 per dozen plus shipping (ground shipping to me in Colorado was $12.22).
- Supplemented with coconut-based "Cocofeed" to avoid soy, and fish / crab meal in place of flax (they claim this provides "almost twice as much of the Omega 3 fatty acids as other organic "Omega 3" eggs").
- Continuing their coconut obsession, they clean the shells with coconut water vinegar, and coat them with organic coconut oil.