When I first came to Russia, I realized that many things were different, but the real differences are deep with in the systems of governmental issues. A difference that stands out to me is with eggs and once again the Russians and most Europeans have it correct and America missed the boat somewhere down the line…
I was raised that the hen house was cleaned daily, the straw for nesting was cleaned daily, eggs were gathered three times a day and never let an egg get wet. If it gets wet toss the egg into the compost pile and use it to grow other things. The family never ate washed eggs or sanitized eggs. It was dangerous and not good for you…
I know, I know! That is against all that you think you know and since the US government has been telling people what and how to eat for longer than God has been around, it seems. It also is not getting better but worse…
Anyway my grandpa made it clear that you produce a clean egg in the first place and never skimp on quality control. The eggs have a special natural coating and that is the preserver that needs to stay intact. In fact grandpa told me that eggs washed, lasted 30 days and unwashed, 75 to 90 days. That is a big deal and much less money loss…
But America does this or something close to it: FDA says we wash, chlorine bath warm water and blow dry the eggs before packaging and then chill to 45 degrees and keep them cold…
That chlorine is always passed into the egg innards and that is why you never wash an egg, especially in cold water. Cold water is sucked into the egg through the 7500 pores in the egg shell and contaminates the insides. Even though cold water is not used, the egg is still porous and you still get chemicals where chemicals do not belong…
Enough of that:
I am writing this because I just came back from the store and when I was near the egg section, all hell broke loose…
The other day I had a babushka explain to me the importance of different oatmeal and grains. This time today, I had a babushka explain to me how terrible things are that we have white eggs and they are washed. She was very upset and I finally found a few cartons of brown eggs and they definitely were not washed. The little smudges of natural egg dirt and such, gleamed like a big smile and she smiled at them also. I did not need eggs and she took both cartoons and thanked me. That is, when as I finished shopping, realized that the WTO (World Trade Organization) is messing life up and I do not like it. I am not alone…
All you have to do is go to Globus and see something as simple as the fresh carrots to understand a Russian. The bin of dirt covered, miss-shaped and gigantic Russian carrots are being attacked by the masses of people and the bin of clean, perfect shaped and bright orange out of Russia carrots are left alone. In fact the carrots that are perfect, are cheaper than the Russian carrots and like me, the people do not care. I want a sweet Russian dirty carrot. It is still protected by the natural coverings and dirt. That matters in this world and just like eggs it is necessary to leave Mother Nature alone…
Everything that my grandfather taught me about farming and care of food is still in effect in Russia. I see the same in a lot of Europe, but I am sorry to say that America has taken a bad path of food safety and the future looks bleak for organic farmers…
Sveta and I were given a bunch of fresh eggs from the villagers hens and when I got them home, I put them up and did not wash them. Today I looked at the ones that I bought at a store and the ones that we got from the village. You can not tell the difference between the eggs. They are all dirty…
That is the way it should be and that is why I love Russia…
Posted by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…