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It used to be that every farm family and many
city families had flocks of chickens. People ate the eggs,
took some of the eggs to the market for "egg money",
and eventually ate the chickens! Usually the mother and children
cared for the chickens and the "egg money" was used
for the children's college education, personal or household
items, or groceries.
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| It used to be that practically every
town in Iowa included a hatchery where people could buy baby
chicks. |
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It used to be that when people started
to move to town and didn't have flocks, rural families needed to
provide more eggs for the city families. Flock sizes got larger
and in many cases women managed the egg operations as a way to bring
in more money for the family.
It used to be that during the World Wars, most
of the eggs were used in the military. Eggs for consumers were very
expensive. Some articles say that one egg cost $1.00.
It used to be that Iowa was number one in the
nation in egg production during the 1940's and 1950's.
Then other states built large egg production
facilities where eggs were collected and moved to a packing area
on a conveyor belt. Iowa no longer ranked first in production.
Then people started eating less eggs
because they didn't have their own chickens, more people were spending
less time cooking breakfasts, and less people knew how to cook.
Then Iowa's egg producers built the largest
in-line operation in the world. Eggs were collected on a conveyor
belt, passed through a few buildings of different aged chickens
and ended up in an area where they were washed, candled, and packaged.
This helped to meet the greater need of the grocery industry.
Then egg processors, called breakers,
found ways to break eggs, separate the white and yolk, pasteurize
the product, and make more convenient egg products.
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Then researchers continued to work to improve everything
about the egg industry including; breeds of laying hens, environments
and nutrition for the laying hens, automation, marketing, and new
products.
Then several of Iowa's egg producers started building
new or bigger facilities. More processing facilities were built.
Iowa was very appealing because of the land, the grain for feed,
the interstate systems to move eggs quickly to the coasts, and the
hard working people.
Then Iowa's egg producers started the Iowa
Egg Council in 1973 to help increase egg consumption. The Iowa Egg
Council used education, promotion, and research to promote the incredible
edible egg.
Now, in 2003, Iowa again ranks 1st in the nation
in egg production with over 42 million laying hens producing over
10 billion eggs per year. The long buildings for the laying hens
are environmentally controlled for temperature, humidity, feed,
and water all to ensure that the laying hens are comfortable and
producing the best quality eggs.
Now Iowa's egg processing facilities break more eggs
than any other state in the United States. The eggs are made into
frozen, liquid, dried, or specialty egg products. Several of the
products are used in food service or as an ingredient in thousands
of different products.
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Nowlots of people don't know how or don't have
time to cook. So, new convenient consumer products are being
tested and introduced in the market place. Iowa Egg Council
representatives are teaching people about the variety of easy
ways to prepare eggs by giving programs at civic organizations,
health fairs, state and county fairs, libraries, and hospitals.
Now research has been completed and analyzed
proving that "It's okay to eat an egg a day". Egg
consumption is going back up. Eggs contain high quality protein,
13 vitamins, and many minerals all for 70 calories per large
egg. A large egg contains only 1.5 grams of saturated fat.
A large egg contains 213 milligrams of cholesterol. However,
for most people, cholesterol in foods does not automatically
turn into cholesterol found in blood.
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Now Iowa's egg industry is moving
into the future while keeping an eye on experiences from the past
in order to produce high quality eggs and egg products that meet
consumers' needs. World class hatcheries, production facilities,
processing businesses, pharmaceutical companies, and research facilities
located in Iowa make our industry "sunny side up"!
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