Many are rearing poultry to join the slow-food movement; others do it because they can all but guarantee food safety in the wake of the 2010 salmonella outbreak. But beyond the threat of disease, home-grown eggs are just plain healthier: A 2007 study by Mother Earth News confirmed that pasture-raised hens who are free to forage for bugs, worms, grass, and leaves produce eggs with four to six times the vitamin D and a third less cholesterol as their mass-market counterparts.

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