Eggs. This is a question I get a lot – and sometimes, a question I am not entirely sure of how to answer. I eat a plant-based diet (which is essentially a vegan diet with the exception of local honey) which excludes eggs. I used to eat eggs, but have grown to really be repulsed by them… which we’ll get into.
But sometimes people ask me if I would eat eggs if I had my own chickens. I mean… if there is no cruelty involved at all (which is my main concern), it should be fine, right? I think it’s a personal question and it will vary for different people. For me personally, I wouldn’t eat eggs even from my own hypothetical chickens. It’s not because of the cruelty at that point, but I am just kinda grossed out by the idea of eggs in general. Now that I have distanced myself from them for over two and a half years, I really have grown to wrinkle my nose at them. Joe will make eggs for breakfast, and just the smell is more potent than I remember – forget about the smell in the dishwasher! I have to soak his plates in the sink with soap and vinegar for hours before I even put into the dishwasher. He thinks I am crazy, but I can’t help it – I am just very sensitive to eggs and the smell of ‘em.
A lot of people wonder why eggs are cruel in the first place – and I don’t blame them. I never knew before I watched the documentaries and really educated myself on where eggs come from. So when someone asks me, “I get meat but why eggs?” I am not annoyed or put off – I really try to educate them on the real egg industry. I am not one of those people who will get crazy graphic or preachy, but I will just state my case. And I wanted to share my reasons on here.
ANIMAL CRUELTY – I am going to kick this off with animal cruelty, because this is my #1 reason to not eat eggs (the below points just reinforce my case). Hens and chickens on factory farms are not happily laying eggs like the media has portrayed them to be. Chicks do not get to see their mother when born, but rather tossed on a conveyer belt to check the sex. Females are kept and raised to lay eggs, while male chicks are ground up alive or suffocated in bags because they are deemed useless in the egg industry.
Females are then left to endure a miserable life by being stuffed into tiny cages to lay eggs. Their sensitive beaks are cut off to avoid pecking one another in such a small area. “Living quarters” are so tight, that many hens end up dying and decomposing in the cage while other live chickens keep laying eggs. It’s no wonder that eggs are a constant source of disease and food poisoning.
Once a hen stops producing eggs, they are considered “spent”. Once this happens, hens are either killed for their meat or force molted. Force molting means that they are kept in complete darkness without food or water to shock their systems into another egg laying cycle.
If they are used for meat, they are fed and stuffed with growth hormones to the point where many of them lose their ability to walk – their legs break from not being able to hold up their own weight. It is pathetic, and disgusting.
Chickens are sentient beings. They have a heart beat, like us. They have a brain, like us. They have relationships, like us. For these reasons alone, I cannot support this type of industry. I don’t need eggs to live – no one does.
THERE ARE OTHER PROTEIN OPTIONS – People will sometimes argue with me about the protein in eggs, but so what? Beans, lentils, tempeh, tofu, and other substitutes are loaded with more protein than eggs. There is no health reason for me to eat an egg.
CHOLESTEROL – Speaking of health, eggs are loaded with cholesterol – the yolks in particular. High cholesterol leads to heart disease and clogged arteries. Egg whites are no better for you, for different reasons.
EGGS ARE ESSENTIALLY CHICKEN PERIODS – Yep, and you can read more about it here.
For these reasons, I am not on board with the idea of eggs. Yes, I suppose I could give chickens a great life on my own and raise them to make me farm fresh eggs, but… it just isn’t appealing to me in the least. I hold nothing against someone else who raises their own and let’s them live out their lives even after being spent. Personally, it is just not me.
For a kind and cruelty-free way to enjoy “eggs”, learn more about vegan egg replacements here.
Thanks for listening and taking a peak inside my head. xx bianca
