Friday, February 24, 2012

A Cornucopia filled with BS

Recently an organization called Cornucopia published this list which is an egg scorecard. It is designed to help consumers make good choices on what eggs to purchase. I was VERY concerned when The Country Hen was rated so poorly. For years, we only buy Country Hen eggs. It's hard to find eggs from MA that meet our expectations. The Country Hen has always appealed to me. The eggs taste great and the farm has never had a case of salmonella! I've noticed eggs from other large producers have thin shells and just do not taste the same. Plus, I'm all about supporting a local business.

I contacted the Country Hen this week regarding the rating. They responded yesterday with this note:

"We understand how a Country Hen customer could feel confused and disappointed after reading the Cornucopia article. We have taken time to extensively review, dissect, and comment on the article.

We value the trust and loyalty our customers have placed in our product, farm, and farming practices. We believe this trust has been well earned. The Country Hen has always operated and continues to operate with the highest regard towards the well-being of our hens. Every decision that we make puts their well-being first and foremost at our farm.

This is the link to our official response http://www.countryhen.com/viewarticle.php?type=2&artid=24f46946dbd2541.45011143
We hope this will answer any confusion from the report. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us."



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This response really made me think. Their formal response (above) made me think even more. It's so easy to believe a list we see in the media or from a 'trusted' source. I really need to remember to *not* believe everything I read! The point of that they would need around 800 acres of farmland to farm the way that Cornucopia wants them to farm is absurd! I will continue to buy their eggs. I will also think twice before believing such a survey in the future.

2 comments:

  1. Yeah, I lost "all faith" in mass market (mass hysteria) news sources 12 years ago. After losing a dear friend they glorified the "story" of her passing with all kinds of BS just to sell more papers, and have always taken things with a critical eye since. Find another source, listen to the other side of the story where you can, try a smaller media outlet if possible etc. Always question what you see / hear / read... is company X really going to donate something based on the pop can tabs or is that a feel good story? Are the small farmers "really" expected to follow the rules intended for those running 10K head of chicken contained in those metal barns?

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    1. So true! A do like waking up to WBUR though. I find they make an effort to show both sides to every story. I'm one of the few young folks that still reads an actual newspaper daily (during the work week) since we get the Globe delivered at work. It's just so easy to fall into a trap of believing the surveys like this one. It was very helpful to get into the thinking behind the survey in this case.

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