Oh my goodness. That is nuts. I can't believe she would rather have factory farm produced 'organic' than happy backyard cluckers. Doesn't she care about the hen's happiness?"Certified Organic" is another of those terms that have been co-opted by the industrial egg industry. It is expensive for a small person to get, it has rules like these you mention, inspections, paperwork, more trouble than it is worth. The marketing is effective, though. Our daughter, who has chickens, is coming for a visit next week. She wants us to buy her some "Organic" eggs -- she knows I do not pay for the organic feed for my flock, and she wants store eggs with the "certified organic" sticker. They have even convinced my kids that my eggs are not safe or good, without such a sticker!
There is a loophole in the organic certification, if they can't get certain feed ingredients, they can get permission to substitute not organic ingredients. So, I do not want to pay such ridiculous prices for "Organic" chicken feed, when any time they can just substitute ingredients. But, I am not going to explain these legalities to our daughter, I am just going to get those magic store eggs for her.
Mine are FAR from organic, but they are happy and free as can be. I buy the $11/50lb bag layer mash at the coop and they love it. If they were organic, then that twinkie I threw them last week would've discounted the whole thing! lol!
But, we will probably take them out to a touristy place for dinner.
