The Incredibly Unnecessary Egg

By Pamela Wong

As an ovo-vegetarian (a vegetarian who eats eggs), a consistent dietary struggle of mine is in reducing my egg consumption. Hey, to the lazy ovo-vegetarian, it’s an easy meal! Fortunately, I recently became enlightened via google searches and interviews with vegans. I was astounded at the abundance of egg substitutes that exist. As a novice cook, I find cooking and baking new recipes in general to be a challenge but, armed with this newfound knowledge, this extra hurdle was easy to overcome.

Replacing eggs can be as simple as merely omitting them or just adding a couple of tablespoons of water for each egg. Apparently eggs aren’t as necessary as I presumed them to be! When choosing among the long list of egg alternatives, be sure to consider the role of the egg you want to replace, especially if the recipe calls for 3 or more eggs. For example, if the function of the egg is to add moisture, the use of two tablespoons of water as a replacement actually works – I didn’t even miss the eggs as I was devouring my chocolate-chip pancakes. Ener-G egg replacer is a vegan, potato and tapioca starch based powder found in most health food stores. It’s great for baking, acting as a leavening and binding agent, and can also be used as a binder in vegan casseroles or loaves. Try using “flax eggs” when baking, whisk one tablespoon of ground flax seeds with three tablespoons of water in a blender to replace one egg. Other binding egg substitutes include (use 2 to 3 Tbsp of any of the following for each egg): tomato paste, potato starch, arrowroot powder, whole wheat flour, moistened bread crumbs, rolled oats, mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes, and instant potato flakes.

For breakfast scrambles, firm tofu is the best, being similar in texture to cooked eggs. You can even add turmeric or nutritional yeast to your dish to give it a yellow hue! Soft tofu works well in dishes such as quiches, frittatas or egg-less egg salads. Use 1/4 cup of soft tofu to replace one egg, be sure to purée it to avoid any chunks in your dish. Since the use of fruits will add flavour to the recipe, use them when replacing eggs in desserts and sweet baked goods. Try 1/2 cup of ripe mashed banana or 1/4 cup of applesauce for each egg.

These egg substitute suggestions are just a few of the numerous options and variations on how to make all your favourite recipes egg-less! Okay, maybe not all, since there are a rare few egg dishes that perhaps are too difficult to be emulated, such as soufflés or meringues. Aside from a few exceptions, there still are ample possibilities for experimental fun in the kitchen. So try something new and find out how incredibly unnecessary the egg really is.

Why Prefer Egg Alternatives?

Health

- Eggs have no important nutrient (eg. protein, iron, vitamin A, etc.) that cannot easily be found in other sources in abundance.

- Eggs have some unhealthful attributes (high cholesterol and saturated fat) that can be avoided by using alternatives.

- Eggs are the primary vehicle for the spread of salmonella bacteria to humans.

- Eggs are one of the most common food allergens.

Environment

Chicken and egg farms produce huge amounts of chicken manure which ends up contaminating waterways with nitrogen, contributing to algal blooms, leading to the widespread death of fish and other acquatic life.

Health problems have been linked to drinking water contaminated with nitrates in the regions of these farms. As well, fecal coliform counts are all too often reaching and remaining at unsafe levels.

http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/factor/stmar.asp

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/6E38C0B470AF2B1B8525735A0064027A

For a thorough overview of the health and environmental issues surrounding eggs, read National Geographic's Green Guide Product Report on Poultry and Eggs:

http://thegreenguide.com/reports/product.mhtml?id=38

Animal Welfare

- Chickens are intelligent, sentient animals who lead rich social lives when allowed to do so.

- 98% of eggs used in Canada come from hens confined to cruel “battery cages.” Their beaks and toes are cut off without anaesthetic. They are forced to live in conditions of extreme crowding in stacked cages in dark sheds. These buildings – seldom cleaned - reek of ammonia so badly that humans making a brief appearance may require a mask.. The chickens experience neither sunlight, nor freedom to walk, nor can they develop a normal social order.

See United Poultry Concerns’ Fact Sheet on the battery hen http://www.upc- online.org/batthen.html

- Virtually all egg-laying hens – even those kept under the ‘highest’ welfare standards – come from hatcheries that routinely grind alive most of the newborn male chicks (which may then be used as animal feed or fertilizer). Often these newborns are thrown into plastics bags like so much garbage and left to suffocate in dumpsters. They are useless to the industry as they will not be able to lay eggs.

- A chicken’s lifespan may normally be up to about 10 years. Yet virtually all egg-laying hens – whether organic, ‘free-range’ or ‘battery’ - will be killed or sold for low-quality meat after their laying cycle slows down when they are only a year or two old.

- The Vancouver Humane Society offers a wealth of information about eggs and their production Their chickenout.ca website also untangles for us the confusing, misleading labeling systems used for consumer eggs. See for example this page .

World Hunger

- As has been known - but largely ignored – throughout human history, feeding protein to animals - to retrieve protein by eating the animal’s flesh - is a “protein factory in reverse” (Francis Moore Lappe). In other words it wastes protein because you get less out than you put in. Plant-based diets are a sustainable way to help ensure there is enough nutritious food for all people.

http://www.vegsource.com/how_to_win.htm#hunger

Bird Flu

- The fewer birds that are intensively confined, the less opportunity there will be for the spread of a virus that could have pandemic potential.

For a 3-minute video on bird flu: http://birdflubook.com/g.php?id=6

Or read the book Bird Flu: A Virus of our Own Hatching, by Michael Greger, MD.