You’re patrolling the egg aisle, looking for something to crack into your weekly omelet, when you realize there are a lot of terms on these cartons. What do they all mean?

Let’s start with the basics – cage-free, free-range, and pasture-raised. These are three of the classifications you’ll see dotting cartons along the aisle. Though they may seem similar, they each mean something different.

Cage Free – these birds get a minimum of 1.2 square foot per bird and may rarely, if ever, see the sunlight.

Free-Range – these hens typically get a minimum of 2 square feet per bird and have limited access to the outdoors.

Pasture-Raised – eggs are laid by hens that spend their days outdoors roaming the pastures as they please. Pasture-raised girls get a minimum of 108 square feet EACH.

At Vital Farms, each and every one of their eggs is laid by a pasture-raised hen, who is raised on a small family farm and guaranteed access to fresh air and sunshine year-round.

Vital Farms began with a husband and wife, 20 Rhode Island Red hens, an Austin pasture and a commitment to animal welfare. Matt and Catherine aspired to produce ethical food and a sustainable business. Instead, they built a transformational one. As they grew, they didn’t make their farm bigger – they found more like-minded farmers who put the welfare of their two-legged and four-legged girls first. Today, over 225 small family farms commit to Vital Farms’ exacting standards and the pasture-raised practices that are best for hens, cows and land. Every hen is humanely treated, every egg is pasture-raised and they continue to elevate their (and the industry’s) standards, continuing Matt’s commitment to conscious capitalism, which prioritizes the long-term benefits to each of their stakeholders (farmers and suppliers, customers and consumers, communities and the environment, crew members and stockholders).