When it comes to buying eggs, labels are not all they’re cracked up to be. Terms like “free-range,” “all natural,” and “cage-free” not only confuse consumers, but also are often meaningless. Free-range, for example, simply implies that chickens have “access” to the outdoors, whether they actually go outside or not. In selecting the best tasting and most nutritious eggs, you really only have to remember one thing — buy local and pastured, which gives eggs more vitamin D, A, E, and omega-3 fatty acids, and less cholesterol than industrially produced eggs. The Tahoe/Truckee region is fortunate to have five small egg producers within 70 miles, including one in our own backyard. Moonshine Ink gives the rundown on our local mom-and-pop egg suppliers, including distances from New Moon Natural Foods in Truckee, where all of these can be purchased or picked up as part of a CSA.
Yummy Yaiko
4.6 miles
The smallest operation of the bunch, you can’t get any more local than Yummy Yaiko, run out of Edyta and Derek Mayer’s ranch in Prosser. Edyta, who is originally from Poland (yaiko means egg in Polish), started off getting chickens three years ago as a fun project for her three children. As demand for the eggs grew from neighbors, two months ago Edyta began selling her eggs to New Moon. Her few dozen chickens and six roosters roam her 2-acre backyard freely, eating grass and worms and getting exercise, all of which gives Yummy Yaiko eggs a thicker shell and yellower yolks than commercial eggs. When not wandering around the grounds, the chickens live in a heated barn (there is even a pink nursery for baby chicks) or co-mingle with the Mayers’ horses, alpacas, ducks, and guard dog, Charen, a Great Pyrenees. Since Edyta has a variety of chicken breeds, each carton contains whatever eggs are available, so they will vary in size and color. If Yummy Yaiko eggs sound yummy to you, be sure to show up to New Moon on Wednesdays, when Edyta makes her deliveries. By Thursdays, the 14 cartons are usually gone. Info: $6.99/dozen, yummyyaiko.com
Sweeting Ranch
40 miles
Sweeting Ranch in Loyalton started out selling its eggs last summer by word of mouth, then dropping them off at a movie rental store in Portola. Now the pastured, organic eggs are available at the Graeagle Store and New Moon. In addition to cows and sheep, the 60-acre ranch has 27 chickens that are moved around with electric fencing. Sweeting Ranch owners Bronwyn Olsen and Solomon Sweeting chose their chicken breeds specifically because the birds are good foragers and eat lots of grass and bugs. The hens’ diet, which also includes organic feed, produces an egg with a neon yellow yolk. Info: $6.99/dozen, sweetingranch.wordpress.com
Reno Egg
45 miles
With 1,150 chickens, Reno Egg near Stead is the biggest producer among the five local operations. Although the chickens aren’t pastured, since Dawn and Alan Spinola’s Phoenix Ranch has no grass, they roam freely around 1.5 acres, and their feed contains no chemicals, pesticides, or hormones. The chickens currently produce a total of around 500 eggs a day, which drops in half in the winter when there’s less daylight. (According to Dawn, in order to lay eggs, the chickens need 14 hours daily of light, either natural or artificial.) Unlike industrial eggs, which can be as much as a year old in stores, the Spinolas don’t sell eggs that are more than a week to 10 days old. The eggs are washed mostly with hot water, never chlorine. In addition to New Moon in Truckee and Tahoe City, Reno Egg can be found at Whole Foods in Reno, and are used by the GourMelt Grilled Cheese Truck. Dawn said many consumers become “absolute addicts” once they try Reno Egg, and she recommends people do a comparison to see for themselves. “You take store eggs, put them in a frying pan, the yolk will be pale and flat,” she said, “while mine will be a firm globe of deep, rich yellow.” Info: $5.49/dozen, renoegg.com
Fowler Family Farm
63 miles
It must be fate that a family whose name is Fowler got into the chicken business. The Grass Valley-based Fowler Family Farm, which also raises cows, goats, and pigs, started selling eggs in 2008. The family currently has 100 Cornish Cross layers that produce four to eight dozen eggs a day, depending on the time of year. The hens have access 24 hours a day to pasture, and are moved daily around the 35-acre farm in mobile coops, which allows them to eat new larvae and protein-rich grass, creating a healthier egg. The chickens are also fed a mixture of grain, corn, milk, and barley. In addition to being available at New Moon, the eggs are part of the Fowler Family Farm’s CSA (Community Supported Agriculture program) boxes, which are dropped off for customer pickup at the natural foods store. “Grass increases the omega-3s and nutrients, so they have a darker yolk, which means a higher nutrient content,” said Alana Fowler. Info: $8.99/dozen, fowlerfamilyfarm.com
Natural Trading Company
70 miles
The Natural Trading Company, a 40-acre farm in Newcastle, has 800 certified-organic, pastured chickens that are moved around in portable hen houses. In addition to producing eggs, the hens play an important role in the cycle of the farm. They eat crop residue and bugs and produce great fertilizer for the farm’s fruits and vegetables. “It really helps the farm out,” said Bryan Kaminsky, Natural Trading Company owner. Natural Trading Company eggs are available as a $6 add-on to its CSA boxes, which are dropped off at New Moon in Truckee and at various locations on the North Shore. You can also find Natural Trading eggs at farmers markets in Tahoe City (starts May 23), Truckee (June 11), and Sierra Valley Farms (June 7). Kaminsky is working with the Tahoe Food Hub to create a program where diners at participating restaurants can specifically order his eggs for an extra charge. Info: $6.25-$7.75/dozen from medium to jumbo size, naturaltradingco.com
