Whenever someone asks me how I like my eggs, I tell them with, “I like my eggs free-ranged, sunny side-up, bottom-browned, and sprinkled with pinch of salt and pepper.”
But thanks to the Brant Hutterite Colony’s push to produce to 13,000 eggs a day in Alberta without producing any greenhouse gas emissions, diners there might soon have to add solar-powered and emission-free to their sustainable shopping list.
“Whatever we can do will make a difference, and the colony here has taken that leap of faith,” said Oneil Carlier, Alberta’s agriculture minister.
Agriculture accounts for eight percent of Alberta’s total greenhouse gases. According to the Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, in 2014, for each carton of a dozen eggs purchased at your local grocery store, 1.58 kg of greenhouse gases were produced.
Alberta has over 150 registered egg producers that care for nearly 2 million hens and produce nearly 49 million dozen eggs each year. By moving towards net-zero barn model, the egg industry could limit their greenhouse gas emissions by up to 95 per cent.
When the Egg Farmers of Alberta initially approached them with the idea for a new sustainable egg barn, the Brant Hutterite Colony dismissed the idea. But after considering how the pilot project might help improve the industry’s carbon foot print, the Colony decided to lay the foundation for an industry wide shift towards net-zero egg farming.
Now that Canada’s first attempt at net-zero egg barn topped with solar panels and modified for energy efficiency is nearing its goal of zero energy consumption, it’s our turn as consumers to do our fair share and ask our local grocery store for the newer, cleaner, solar-powered and emission-free egg of the future.
“This is agricultural research,” said Jenna Griffin, who helped manage the project with the Egg Farmers of Alberta. “There’s bumps and obstacles and barriers that you run into. You really have to be willing to be the one that goes through this for the greater good of the industry.
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