Dear Egg Buyer,

The Hen Goes To Greece

This letter is being composed on the site of Ancient Olympia, home of the Temple of Zeus, and the original home of the Olympic games. I was not asked to put the shot or hurl the javelin, but merely to make a small presentation called a ''poster.'' It was an honor since most poster people are PhD's or MD's, not organic egg farmers. This particular event was the fourth International Conference on Nutrition & Fitness.

The Hen Poster

Our poster was based on a modern version of the New England Journal article of November, 1989. This article, presented by Dr. Simpoulos and colleague, Dr. Salem, showed that the Greek free-range egg was higher in Omega-3s than The Country Hen egg. But, The Country Hen egg was 4 times higher than the typical U.S. egg. Our superiority in Omega-3s still stands. We were the first organic egg company and the first in the world to enrich the egg with Omega-3s. If you would like a copy of our poster, we would be glad to send you one.

Dr. Leaf, Omega-3s, & Arrhythmia

There were 49 major presentations. Dr. Alexander Leaf from Harvard Medical School gave one of the more interesting talks. He has received a major grant from the NIH to study how Omega-3s affect irregular heart rhythm. He had demonstrated that Omega-3s are effective and safe in helping to prevent ventricular fibrillation. This condition results in sudden death in most, unless it can be immediately controlled by a new device called a defibrillator. Not everyone is equipped with a defibrillator, but eating two Country Hen eggs will give you 340 mg of Omega-3s, which will contribute to the safety of the heart. Those at risk should also increase their intake of Omega-3s by means of supplements or increased fish consumption.

Omega-3s & Bipolar Disorder

Dr. Andrew Stoll, also from Harvard Medical School, described his remarkable study on manic depression and Omega-3. Although this experiment was not definitive, the effect of the Omega-3s was so positive that the experiment was stopped ahead of schedule. The control group, who was not taking Omega-3s, were becoming sick in very significant numbers. It would not have been ethical to allow the study to continue. Dr. Stoll pointed out that Omega-3s are effective and non-toxic, even at high dosages. He has received a large NIH grant for a more definitive study that will last several years. The dosage that was used in this study was 6.2 grams of EPA and 3.4 grams of DHA on a daily basis.

Two Students

Perhaps the future will determine that, of all the studies presented, two students did the most important one. One, Sabrina, is from Algeria and speaks French, English, Berber and Arabic. The other student, Stamatina, was not present at the conference. They had joined forces at the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania on the Greek Island of Crete.

Two Wild Plants

Sabrina and Stamatina had been encouraged by Dr. Artemis Simopoulos, co-chair of this conference, to study two wild plants, one from Crete and one from North Africa. Both plants are widely eaten by the local population. Dr. Simopoulos suspected that these wild plants would prove to be more nutritious than most domesticated plants. The two researchers found this to be true. This finding supports the thesis that 2 million years ago, man's antecedent could live quite well on wild vegetation, wild animals and fish. In fact, these types of wild, low fat, high omega nutrients shaped our biology our genes. There were no corn, cows, goats, fat steer or thirty-pound turkeys. All these are ''new'' food that were developed only 10,000 years ago. Certainly Fruit Loops and Twinkies were never part of evolutionary forces. It is these ''new'' foods that may be in conflict with our genes.

The Country Hen Egg

We at Hubbardston also attempt to stay close to the way that nature or divine intervention shaped the universe. We put our hens on the floor not in cages. They can walk, hop, scratch and behave the way a good hen should. They see the light of day, not a dim electric light. Our organic feed cannot exactly replicate the original jungle rations that the original chicken ate. But, it is more varied than commercial rations, and it is not produced with toxic pesticides, herbicides or factory fertilizer. It is strictly organic and high in Omega-3s.

You Be The Judge

Test the shells, the color and most of all, the special taste. If you are not happy, let us hear from you. We will be happy to send you a refund. And, if time and fortune permit, we highly recommend a trip to Ancient Olympia, where the games began. The setting is restful, historic and invigorating. You might even be so lucky as to find a free-range Greek egg with a higher Omega-3 value than ours. Bring it home and we will test it for you.

Thank you so much for your business, and we hope you will enjoy your summer wherever you go.

For those at the Country Hen,

George S. Bass