Under The Counter is no spring chicken, so he can remember when eggs were white rather than brown.
He can also recall when eggs used to be powdered and came in a tin, but the Auld Boy doesn’t like to mention the war – mainly because he’s yet to hatch a satisfactory reason for his lack of participation therein.
Brown eggs first became popular at the same time shoppers switched on to the perceived health benefits of brown rice and brown bread. However, unlike a delicious slice of Mother’s Pride, a white egg has precisely the same nutritional value as one of its brown counterparts.
Shell colour is the only difference – and that’s determined by the bird doing the squeezing out. Brown-feathered hens lay brown eggs, while white eggs come from hens with white feathers. Given UTC’s draft dodgery, the less said about white feathers the better.
Now, in a move the Auld Boy is already brooding over, Sainsbury’s is transitioning back to white eggs – apparently to reduce its carbon footprint.
Aye, right.
The supermarket says white hens have a longer laying life and require less feed for the same output, resulting in a 12% reduction in carbon emissions compared to brown birds.
Under The Counter might have dodged the call-up but now he’s prepared to stick his head above the parapet to call out some corporate greenwashing. Spare us the hot air about greenhouse gases, Sainsbury’s – everyone knows using hens that live longer on less food will help shareholders feather their nests that wee bit more.
