Eggs are Nutritional Powerhouses

[GLC1968]

I'm just saying - maybe there's another way to cut costs somewhere so you can have the $4 eggs?

I'm a big believer in this. Quality food is important to me in so many ways. I don't buy eggs or meat from the grocery store and yet our bill is still ~$120 weekly for just two of us. (Now that we won't be buying organic milk anymore either, it'll go down by $5 a week.) What I do buy is expensive and I'm willing to pay it even if it means cutting back in other areas. We don't take vacations, we don't buy fancy clothes, we only have smart phones because our work pays for them, our cars have over 100K miles on them and we go out on the town *maybe* once every six months...but I will not cut corners on food.

Americans have gotten so used to cheap food (and gas) that it's really hard to comprehend that in most places on this planet, a family's food budget is often 30-50% of their total budget. Here in America, I think it's like 10% on average or something crazy like that. I'm all about shifting it and helping my health, the local economy, the planet and my personal satisfaction along the way.

[emily_in_nc]

Money spent on good food is money well spent. Think about it; every cell in our bodies reflects what we put into them. Garbage in, garbage out.

I never regret money spent on good food. As GLC points out, if you rarely go out to eat (we also rarely do that), you can afford to buy better food to eat at home. You can buy good food for a week on what one "upscale" meal out can cost.

[Susan]

I pay almost 3€ for 6 organic eggs.

If I think about the chicken of my parents in law, how they are fed and have to be cared for, how every egg has to be searched and picked up in the morning, and the chicken have to be brought in in the evening so that the fox doesn't get them, I don't think that's an unfair price.
I may not be cheap but the animals are happy and live a good life and I don't have to feel guilty if I eat those eggs. And they taste great and are probably better for me than cheap ones would be.

[Pax]

... Here in America, I think it's like 10% on average or something crazy like that.

I just did the math, our food budget is 7% of our income, and we buy primarily organic food. Once my SO's job ends in the Fall it will change to 19% of our income. Still less than other people on the planet have to pay, and that's with only one of us bringing in any money. We definitely have no concept of the cost of real food here.

[Reesha]

MMm eggs. I have 6 young pullets in my back yard happily pecking at grass, bugs and worms (and grower feed) so they can grow up and lay beautiful eggs for breakfast. The coop has been sort of an expensive construction project, but the eggs will be well worth it. Plus, my sheltie thinks of the chickens as her 'pets'. The joy she gets from herding them around is priceless

[abejita]

I just got 6 pullets myself!!!

[Reesha]

All right, all right! One of my chickens went missing shortly after I posted this. She flew out of the backyard I think and is wandering the neighborhood. I hope we find her tomorrow!

[abejita]

I read that when they are pullets they are most likely to wonder...once they start laying, they tend to stay closer to home.

Mine don't really get the chance to get out the yard. There coop is about 8x10 and then I have a 20x30 area that I fenced in for them. I also put poultry wire over the top of it because we have a lot of hawks in the the area.

Hope you find your girl!

[abejita]

did you find your hen?

[Reesha]

Not yet! I sent an e-mail out to my neighbors though. Hopefully we'll get her back, but she may be lost for good Poor Gussie.