My wife and I walked into our favourite butcher shop on Mackenzie Avenue the other day to get our “farm eggs.”
You know … the ones that taste so amazing with those dark, orange yolks that make awesome omelets and heart-stopping hollandaise. The ones that are grown locally and don’t sit in huge egg warehouses for months before they are offered up for sale. The ones that don’t come from chickens being fed hormones and who knows what else … and did I mention that they taste great?
We grabbed our standard order and some pepperoni for the road and headed for the till. The nice lady at the counter informed us that these would be the last of the farm-fresh eggs available at their store.
Seems the health police had given them the old “cease and desist” where the sale of unregulated eggs were concerned. I says “pardon?”
The folks working there speculate that the egg-marketing boards are behind the push to stop these local egg farmers from selling their wares through retail outlets. They reiterate that no one has ever gotten sick from these eggs. I say, “Who cares if they have? It’s a free-ish country — I should be able to get my own food wherever I want.”
Someone adds, “Maybe it’s a tax thing. … Wouldn’t want Joe farmer to make a few extra bucks on the side that he may not declare.”
I can’t believe this is real. What happened to the 50-mile diet? Once again our leaders are missing the forest for the trees. Let’s ensure people’s good health by forcing them to eat inferior, less nutritious food. We can’t keep our own chickens because of City bylaws but we can’t buy fresh eggs grown by local farmers? I say “legalize it” ASAP or soon those little orange-yolked beauties will be eight or 10 bucks a dozen on the street. Egg-related crime will skyrocket and the RCMP will be busting “lay-ops” all over the Cariboo.
Dean Fulton is a freelance Tribune columnist and local musician.