Italian organic grazing eggs can still be exported through the market test, taking into account revenue, food safety and animal welfare.

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Eggs are not only the bastion of self-sufficiency for new life, but also the source of human nutrition and food. However, a spate of bird flu, dioxin and fenpril pollution have exposed the shortcomings of Taiwan's chicken industry. Transformation is necessary, but where to? How to strike a balance between nutritional food safety, animal welfare, ecological protection and industry income, so as to make consumers and producers win-win? "upstream and downstream" visited European chicken farms to find a good egg.

Organic stocking 10 2000 chickens with an annual turnover of 54 million, and eggs are sold to supermarkets in Hong Kong and Shanghai

If you have no sense of direction, you will panic when you find your way. Today, I am not afraid. The middle school girl who got off the bus pointed out the maze. Even if I can't figure out the east, west, north and south, I think 3,000 free-range hens always have a smell that can't be hidden. Unexpectedly, they didn't smell anything, but they were noisy, and Goo Goo reminded me that the chicken farm had arrived.

The Alps are at the end of the horizon, and Austria is just north over the top of the mountain. With a smile in the distant mountains and a gentle autumn breeze, the hens take a leisurely walk on the farm in Udine in northeastern Italy, and they are not afraid of living when they see outsiders, like joyous aunts leaning against the fence one by one. "they are very curious. If we go the other way, we will follow us right away." The owner, Sebastiano Pascolo, has meticulous hair, like a handsome man out of a fashion magazine.

Sebastiano's surname "Pascolo" means "pasture" or "grazing" in Italian. His grandfather raised cattle in addition to growing corn and soybeans. Sebastiano's father, Sergio, inherited the family business and started an Italian pioneer in 1997, raising layers commercially and organically. From ideal to practice, from pasture to market, after 20 years, a total of 12,000 chickens have been raised on four farms, with a conservatively estimated annual turnover of more than 1.5 million euros (about NT $54 million), which has been sold to Hong Kong and Shanghai. it proves that organic grazing and breeding is not a theory, but can have a considerable scale and market-tested practical experience.

Starting with strengthening immunity, organic is easier than habit.

Organic stocking needs equipment, wide land, feed can not be saved, and there must be special people to feed chickens. "it is true that the cost is relatively high, but contrary to what many people think, organic farming is actually easier than habit." Sebastiano clearly pointed out the core difference at the beginning: "intensive laying hens are very weak, they get sick at the slightest blow, and one infection often suffers the whole factory, so they have to be vaccinated and fed with antibiotics. By contrast, if we start with strengthening immunity, it will be easier for hens to be healthy. "

Before entering the chicken coop, Sebastiano asked me to put on shoe covers so as not to get chicken dung. Even though bird flu has caused millions of chickens in the Lombardy region, he still has confidence in the health of his hens, and bird flu has not spread to Utin.

Let's take a sand bath (Photography / Zheng Jieyi)

The European Union forbids washing eggs, washing the protective film eggs is easy to spoil.

There is no peculiar smell in the henhouse where 3,000 hens rest, because the manure collection trough at the bottom is sprinkled with sawdust and straw, a layer of chicken manure, a layer of sawdust and straw are piled into natural fertilizer, and every time the whole flock of hens is replaced, it is an extra income to send someone to shovel and sell it to the farmers.

Sebastiano emphasizes cleanliness but does not push water to wash eggs. In the European Union, it is even illegal for chicken farms to wash eggs. In this regard, there is also a set of scientific explanation: "there are tiny pores in the eggshell for the chicks to breathe, but in order to prevent bacteria and moisture, there is another film on the shell." If washed, the protective film will be washed off, and the eggs will spoil easily. If there are dirty eggs, just wipe them with a dry cloth. " It is then cleaned by consumers before use.

In contrast, the United States forces eggs to be washed, either with a layer of mineral oil or with a lot of effort to refrigerate the whole process. The eggs sold by Sebastiano in Italy are placed on supermarket shelves at room temperature, and there is no problem with the production of raw eggs by Tira Misu. Only eggs exported to Asia remotely are refrigerated to keep them fresh.

Improper chicken factory, master brand and quality

There is a uniform rhythm of "Kuang Lang, Kuang Lang" in the packing room. The eggs are like small soldiers wearing helmets standing neatly in a cardboard box. After the workers pick them up with a sucker, they put them into the machine, one by one marked with the serial number of the category and origin, moving forward on the assembly line, packing, labeling, and so on. Chicken coops, packaging and office electricity are powered by solar panels on the roof.

Combining ecology and modern technology, Sebastiano knows how to produce and sell. "since my father, I decided to play my own brand and not to be a chicken factory." In addition to avoiding the control of market traders, it is more important to avoid "assholes". "disk merchants or big brands have signed contracts with many chicken farms, regardless of the purchase price of good or bad eggs, some chicken farmers will speculate to lower costs, resulting in lower overall quality. Anyway, there is no reward for doing a good job."

His chicken farm has only two brands. The egg boxes in the 180 stores of the organic fresh supermarket in Naturascus, Italy, read "Contadini Vecchi", while those sold to other stores focus on "Uova Pascolo". "this is also our surname, a matter of reputation, of course we care about quality."

Twenty years of persistence, in exchange for customer loyalty, "We didn't convince anyone, but people who wanted to buy high-quality eggs came to us." When other egg farms were affected by Fenpany and bird flu, Sebastiano's eggs were in short supply. "like-minded access is important because their customers want to buy these products in the first place." Because of the heart, even ordinary eggs can break into the top supermarkets City Super in Hong Kong and Shanghai with high-quality posture.

In the face of challenges, the only limitation is the self-restriction of painting land.

Faced with a series of challenges of "for the good of hens, they should be locked up so as not to be infected and contaminated", Sebastiano used practical experience to solve the myth.

Like an interviewer who likes to find fault, I finally put forward my innate conditions and questioned the feasibility of this set of organic farming in the subtropics. Sebastiano admits to local differences, "but we also have setbacks. At first, my father was involved in organic sausages, but 20 years ago he was too advanced, and most of the organic supporters were vegetarians."

Having eggs is not a smooth journey. "at that time, no one in Italy made it, and my father went to Austria to learn from it, but it was very small. When he came back, he gradually improved and adapted to the environment here."

Entering the country without shoes, the pessimist said: "there is no market, because there is no demand." Optimists say, "the market is big because no one sells shoes at all." The Pascolo family belongs to the latter, hatching organic eggs from scratch, Sebastiano said: "in the face of challenges, the only limitation is to limit the painting land."

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