400 million eggs

Ned likes eggs, and does not subscribe to those fear mongers who decry egg consumption due to some trumped-up hysteria about cholesterol. Eggs are a nearly perfect food, with high quality protein, and, if raised humanely, can be a great addition to anyone's diet, especially those who wish to reduce their consumption of meat.
OTOH, Ned believes in buying local eggs from places that raise happy chickens. His belief in the intrinsic value of local humanely grown eggs was further vindicated today (Aug 20) when the NYT reported that 400 MILLION eggs have been "recalled" from grocers' shelves due to the possibility of bacterial contamination. These eggs were produced by industrial-scale, non-humane egg factories in Iowa, from where the eggs are shipped all over the country. Ned asks his readers to kindly imagine the suffering and pure waste involved in packing chickens into metal cages so small the birds can't move, producing 400 million eggs and then throwing them away.
If we needed further evidence of the virtue of buying a few, locally-grown, humanely-raised eggs at a time, we have it here. And Ned advises his readers not to be overly concerned with saving a few pennies by buying industrially-produced eggs.