Missouri Eggs

Someone once said, “A chicken is a soybean with feathers.” The nutritional impact chickens, specifically eggs, has is quite considerable, much like the nutritional value in soybeans. Both eggs and soybeans have high levels of protein and low levels of fat.

Missouri has long been in the egg business. One of the nation’s largest egg companies started producing eggs in southwest Missouri in the 1940s with a feed mill and hatchery. Since then, several other large companies have begun to produce in Missouri, one of which supplies most of the eggs in Schnuck’s supermarkets.

One hen per person is the guideline for figuring out how many laying hens it takes to produce enough eggs for a population. Missouri comes out about even, having close to 6 million layers and nearly 6 million in population. However, eggs move freely across state lines, so a good many Missouri eggs end up in far-flung states, and we do get a bunch in from other states. Some economists value a laying hen at $25. Using that, number, Missouri layers would have a value of almost $150 million.

Eggs are the standard of perfection of protein. Egg protein contains all the essential amino acids we need, making eggs a good source of complete protein. With the exception of vitamin C, an egg contains differing amounts of all the essential vitamins plus several minerals. An egg yolk is one of the few foods which naturally contain vitamin D. A large egg also has a moderate amount of fat, about 5 grams. Saturated fats account for 1.5 grams, and 2.6 grams are of unsaturated fat.