Food in Season – Eggs are Seasonal Too

Eggs – Always in Store, But Are They in Season?

I have a Question for you:  statistically and culturally, when do we eat most eggs?

Answer:  Fall or Autumn.

Exactly counter to the normal production cycle of a chicken.

What?  Eggs are food in season too?

Definitely, though most of us don’t think about it.

(See my article on how Meat is seasonal food)

Eating food in season has massive benefits for us. 

Often, the food is cheaper (as mentioned before, chat to your local farmer, find out what he or she has in abundance i.e. the food in season, and buy it – in bulk if you can for even better prices – you’ll get food at its peak quality and for a good price).

Everyone’s happy – the farmer can take advantage of natural cycles, you can eat quality food in season at best prices, and the animals are happy because they’re not being forced to produce out of their normal season.

It’s a win-win!

How Does the Egg Production Cycle Work?

Pullets (young female chickens) first lay very small eggs, then by the time they’re around 6 months old more than half their eggs are large.

The birds lay for roughly a year and then lose their feathers, stop laying, and go through a 2-4 week dormancy period. Then they begin another production cycle, which peaks early on, plateaus for a couple of months and then gradually drops during the moulting period.

There are other factors too – in cold weather, a bird uses all its energy just to keep warm, so no eggs. As the days get longer and warmer in Spring, egg production increases again.

There will still be eggs, just not so many, and the quality will be different.

So farmers put the chickens in barns or hoop houses over winter to keep them warm and safe – we’re talking ‘normal’ farmers here, not high-volume battery chicken operations.  They also use lights to ‘fool’ the chickens into laying for longer.  But many farmers believe this places a heavy toll on the birds, which then affects nutritional quality.

Farmers and Chefs

I read a lovely story about an American farmer (he farms in “normal” quantities, not factory farming).  He related:

“When we first began selling eggs to gourmet chefs, I would apologize for the quality of the eggs in the winter because we couldn’t keep the yolk color up when fresh grass wasn’t available. Then, during one of these conversations, the chef interrupted me and said: “Oh, it’s OK. In chef’s school in Switzerland we had special menus for April eggs, August eggs and December eggs as they changed through the seasons. Some have better yolks and some have better whites, so you concentrate on recipes that capitalize on the particular quality of that month’s eggs.””

People used to be aware of seasonal changes, and worked with them – I think that’s so fabulous that chefs know how the natural cycles work, and use the best parts of whatever is naturally available to them.

Now, we just want “eggs” all year round, without thinking about it.

So……

So, in Spring, enjoy all the fresh, top-quality eggs from happy chickens at the peak of their laying cycle! In Fall or Autumn, beef and pork and venison are at their best – enjoy them and reduce (not eliminate!) your demand for eggs for a while.

Spread the word about sustainable food at its best (buttons below) – thank you! 

“Chef” excerpt from Holy Cows and Hog Heaven: The Food Buyer’s Guide to Farm Friendly Food by Joel Salatin