Celebrate World Egg-Day 2020!

 

Friday, October 9th, 2020 was World Egg Day! I hope you were able to celebrate (knowingly or un-knowingly) by cracking open an egg or two, or three or four, for breakfast! 

While this "holiday" is not commonly known or observed throughout the U.S and most of the world (except those in the egg industry and people who like looking at all the random holiday's), that doesn't diminish the use and value of eggs. 

To give you an idea of just how many eggs are laid in the U.S (2019), approximately 99.1 billion eggs were laid last year. That number doesn't account for the people who keep their own chickens. Those 99.1 billion eggs came from 340 million commercial laying hens. That means that the average American consumes about 290 eggs per year, or about 24.2 dozen. The average chicken lays about that many eggs in a year, which comes out to about 1 laying hen per person in the U.S, roughly. Congratulations, you have your own personal chicken laying you breakfast everyday! 

Taking that average amount of egg consumption, those 24.2 dozen equate to about 145.2 grams of protein (just from eggs) per year. 

While I have talked about the benefits of eggs and all that good stuff quite a few times, I just want to reiterate the fact that eggs are one of the only complete foods that you can buy for the least amount of money! Eggs contain significant amounts of the micro and macro-nutrients necessary for keeping the human body functioning properly. Several of the vitamins in eggs are exceptionally beneficial for pregnant women, as well as growing children. Other vitamins such as Vitamin A, contribute to keeping your eyes healthy....and who doesn't like to see well? Probably one of the most important aspects of eggs is that they are one of the only foods that have Vitamin D3. Vitamin D3 is responsible for building the immune system, as well as absorbing calcium and phosphorous, which is used to build and repair bones and teeth. 

However, there are some people who are allergic to eggs! This happens when the proteins in eggs are not able to be broken down by the person. But, if you're allergic to chicken-eggs, your next best option are duck eggs! Not only do duck eggs have almost double the amount of protein, vitamins, and minerals than regular eggs, but the protein structure in duck eggs is different, which allows those with allergies to regular eggs the ability to eat another form of nutrient dense (that still tastes great) food without consequences. 

Chicken and Duck eggs are not the only eggs that are available throughout the world. There are goose, quail, turkey, and ostrich eggs (to name a few), all with different tastes and sizes. World Egg Day doesn't just celebrate the amazing chicken egg, but all eggs that are produced throughout the world. 

*statistics taken from United Egg Producer's website.