{"id":64,"date":"2010-09-02T23:51:15","date_gmt":"2010-09-02T23:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4c035a15-fbfe-415e-90d6-2a4f81b9432f"},"modified":"2010-09-02T23:51:15","modified_gmt":"2010-09-02T23:51:15","slug":"how-happy-is-your-chicken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fingerlickinkitchen.com\/?p=64","title":{"rendered":"How Happy is Your Chicken?"},"content":{"rendered":"Pin It<\/a>

On Saturday morning, I went about my weekly journey to my favorite big box store, The Big \u201cC\u201d, in Brooklyn. This trip was different; however, since my lovely landlord was coming with me on this adventure, for the first time. \u00a0It is always fun to have company on a trip, but it is especially fun when said company owns a CAR! \u00a0Dunt dunt dunnnn! Score one for not having to lug all my stuff on the D train. I had my weekly list ready, so there would be no dilly dallying around.\u00a0 Well… not much anyway. Above all, I was most definitely going to stick to my mandatory budget.<\/p>\n

All was going well. We were cruising through the aisle uninterrupted because we got there right when it opened. No screaming kids. No overwrought parents. Not too many behemoth carts to get around.\u00a0 It was just me, my new companion and my favorite store…and a few other shoppers.\u00a0 But it all seemed to come to a halt, however, when we came to the meat department.\u00a0 No, I didn\u2019t get impaled by a cart from the Granny trying to snatch up a rotisserie chicken, although that has happened before.\u00a0 This was a bird of a whole different feather. My lovely landlord was on a mission to find \u201cHappy Chickens.\u201d \u00a0A friend of hers had said she was able to find \u201cHappy Chickens\u201d at Costco.\u00a0 What\u2019s a happy chicken you ask? I wanted to know the same thing. To my friend, it means birds that are in sun lit houses with the ability to roam outside.\u00a0 No hormones, no antibiotics, organic, local, if possible, and definitely vegetarian fed (I thought all chickens were vegetarians… boy was I wrong).
\nSo we find a brand of chickens marked \u201cNatural, Organic, 100% Vegetarian, No added Hormones, No Preservatives, No Antibiotics, Dairy Free, humanly raised, sustainably farmed, Soy Free, USDA Organic\u201d.\u00a0 Okay, this list reminded me of the MSRP sticker from my last car. It was a lot to take in and I wasn\u2019t even sure what half of it meant. What I did notice though, is that nowhere on the package, did it denote the words that she desperately wanted to see:\u00a0 Free Range.\u00a0 We looked and looked and looked. Was it Free Range? Or wasn\u2019t it? We weren\u2019t sure. She went off to look for a staff member to ask. I on the other hand, went to ogle the Sushi grade Ahi Tuna, and Wild Sockeye Salmon\u2026 dreaming of Hawaiian Poke.
\nWe finally found a reluctant staff member to help us. He too picked up the package and began to read (as if we hadn\u2019t already thought to do that).\u00a0 He quickly said, \u201cNope, I guess not\u201d and sauntered away. We stood scratching our heads for a few more moments. I even tried to look the company up on my Crackberry, but it wouldn\u2019t cooperate. So we gave up. But I was left wondering about this brand of chickens and vowing to check their website when I got home.
\nFast forward to last night when I couldn\u2019t sleep and lie staring at the ceiling until 2 AM. I decided to get up and check that doggone site. What I found was even MORE confusing.\u00a0 According to their website \u201cSince 1875 (omitting company name) has pioneered the natural and organic animal raising practices that represent the highest standard of meat production in the United States.\u201d Okay that sounds good so far.\u00a0 \u201cWith 100% vegetarian diets<\/a> and no animal bi-products … We never use antibiotics or growth hormones. We allow our animals to grow at their natural pace, with open air access in a comfortable, reduced-stress environment.\u201d GREAT! Problem solved, they are free range. . . right? But what does that even mean: free range? Well, ask the USDA, and you\u2019d STILL be confused. They have no REAL hard fast standards for what farmers can and cannot label free range, except to say the following:\u00a0producers must demonstrate to the Agency that the poultry has been allowed access to the outside (not whether or not they actually DO go out).
\nSooo… the USDA pretty much leaves it largely up to the individual farmers as far as how much (or little) time the chickens actually spend outside, if they actually GO outside at all, doesn\u2019t matter what\u2019s in that yard (gravel, dirt, whatever),\u00a0 but it most\u00a0certainly does not give them “free range” or the pastoral existence I was imagining.
\nIf you asked the love of my life, he\u2019d say \u201cOf course not, it\u2019s a marketing gimmick.\u201d But, I can\u2019t believe that is the way it works on every farm; this bait and switch. Well thankfully that is NOT the way it worked at this particular farm.\u00a0 As they point out on their website:
\nWhat does free range mean? What is the difference between free range chickens and conventional chickens??(company name) chickens get approximately one square foot per bird, which is significantly more space per bird than those raised in conventional poultry operations. Depending upon the ranch, the pens outside are 50% to 100% of the size of the inside houses. Beginning at approximately four weeks of age, when the birds are fully feathered and able to withstand both exposure to the sun and cooler outside temperatures, the birds are allowed to roam outside of the house beginning about mid-morning, and are then ushered back inside the house around 5 pm. They are locked inside the house at night to protect them from predators. There are multiple outside access doors on the sides of the house for the chickens to use the outdoor pen during the day.\u201d
\n\u201cOne square foot, that\u2019s nothing!\u201d, You\u2019d think. After watching Food Inc, reading books and articles on the subject, I learned that the average non free range chicken gets INCHES to live in their ENTIRE LIFE at many farms. But hey I live in NYC I totally understand. 1 square foot is like an NYC apartment. It may not seem that big to other people but it is PRIZE REAL ESTATE! These are definitely happier chickens then the alternative. Hooray for \u201cHappy Chickens\u201d. Well, sort of happy chicken. I mean they are being breed for slaughter how happy can they REALLY be, right? So now my land lord will be glad to know that they do, in fact, have her \u201cHappy Chickens\u201d at the Big \u201cC\u201d.
\nI on the other hand, had one more nagging question: What is vegetarian fed? Their site said the chickens are fed organic corn and soy that contains no animal fat or bi-products. But wait didn\u2019t it say before that this Organic \u201cHappy Chicken\u201d was SOY FREE? Yep, it sure did. I mean yes, it is good the chickens aren\u2019t eating other animal\u2019s fat and\/or bi-products, cannibalistic chickens remind me of an old sci-fi movie I watched with my dad, BUT, and this is a big BUT\u2026 why are the chickens being fed corn and soy! And is it non genetically modified corn and soy products, I ask? Ugh!\u00a0 It was 2:30 am by this point and I just couldn\u2019t bring myself to even ponder that question any more. I simply sent the company an email requesting that information and happily went off to sleep\u2026 wondering if I\u2019d ever get an answer.
\nAnd now, even as I type this, part of me realizes just how screwed up the food system is in this country. It is great that this particular brand is doing SOO much more for their chickens then most producers. Let\u2019s applaud them for that. But, they aren\u2019t perfect.\u00a0 And more annoying still is the fact that they don\u2019t HAVE TO DO IT! There seems to be very little legislation regarding what companies can and cannot do, how big a lie they can tell consumers, and more importantly… we as consumers don\u2019t have an easy way to know what we are getting, or even where we are getting it FROM!
\nAlas, with the hubbub surrounding the multiple E. Coli & Salmonella outbreaks around the country: eggs, meat, spinach, you name it, raging on. I just have to ask. . . If I am what I eat\u2026 Don\u2019t I at least deserve to know WHAT I\u2019m eating, how it was raised, and what it could do to me? Just saying…<\/p>\n $\"Follow$ <\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"