Slate has an article on why organic eggs are often packaged in expensive and environmentally unfriendly clear plastic. The answer is that, since the very best free-range, organic egg looks not a bit different than the most deplorably produced battery egg, added money is spent on packaging to give the consumer the impression that the product is of higher quality.
It’s a shame that every cent of the added purchase price doesn’t go to improving the welfare of the hens.
Of course, it would be quite possible to give consumers a true mechanism for judging an egg’s quality by glancing at the packaging. You’d have to introduce genuine and rigorously-enforced standards within the free-range egg industry, along with a seal that can only be used when the absolutely highest animal care standards are met.
But instead of an explicit commitment to excellent animal care, high-end egg consumers get clear plastic. Link.
