I believe, for most, becoming more aware and conscious of what you eat comes with maturity. What do you care about where your meat/eggs/veggies come from when you are in your 20-s, overloaded with hormones and your biggest worry is what to wear to your next date?

I must admit I was a bit of ahead of my time even in my early 20-s. I did too worry about my outfit for the next big night out, but I somehow already had a keen interest in food, eating healthy and a born animal lover, in animal welfare.

I have for quite a long time been buying free range organic eggs, mostly from a health point of view. At the end of last year, we got a few chickens and something really clicked in me again. I again started looking at my food from an animal welfare perspective and the picture is not good.

With millions of eggs used in the food industry still coming from cage farmed chickens, it will take a lot of conscientious shoppers to stop the kind of cruelty that these poor animals are exposed to. Next time you’re in the supermarket buying ANY food product that contains eggs, think about the fact, that there’s a good chance the eggs came from caged chickens. And stop there and think for a second. Maybe going back to cooking from scratch is worth giving a shot.

While I’m writing this, I take a break to look out of the window and watch my beautiful chickens, namely Poppy, Mary, Jessie, Fluffy and Fuzzy happily free ranging in our back yard and I cannot even imagine how these girls could ever be locked up in a tiny cage to be uncomfortable, bored, forced to lay at an unnatural frequency, in pain. They love their freedom so much.

Animals Australia and the RSPCA are doing a tremendous job in educating people about the food choices they should make. In my view, this day and age it takes more effort to stay ignorant, than to be informed.