So, with all this reading on corn-fed vs. grass-fed animals, and free-range vs. hell-raised eggs, can I tell a difference?
Last night I had commercial (Tyson) bacon, cooked to crispness. By the end of my second strip I was wondering why I was eating it, there was something putting me off. Just now I had Fiedler Farms, pastured bacon, which went down better. I tried to cook it thoroughly (control your variables) but it wasn't as crisp as the Tyson; I think it's notably thicker than the Tyson. So, preliminary result favors the pastured bacon with a caveat about cooking difference. Price difference: $6/lb for Fiedler and I don't remember for Tyson.
Right after that I had some fried eggs, one from an organic farmer, veggie feed but not free-range, kept in a pen ($2.50/dozen), and one free-range ($3/dozen). Feed is probably similar except that the free-range could hopefully get some insects. I didn't ask what kind of range the hens are free over, though. Both seem to have thicker shells than usual, not that I have a commerical egg for control (I cringe at the thought of wasting food, but remind myself those are 80 cents/dozen, I should get one). The organic looked whiter right of the shell, and maybe even more orange in the yolk, while the free-range had more of the transparent stuff. I think it was smaller, too. In the cooked state I think they were similar, with a possible free range taste advantage but I'd need blind tests to be confident. Oddly, the yolk as it ran out seemed deeper in the free-range egg at that point.
I've got some pesticide/not broccoli as well, but that can wait.
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