After our post “Chicken Delight – Part 1” went live, we got some intriguing queries from readers. One
Another is the extra cost and time for obligatory accounting processes, including the registering of receipts from suppliers who themselves have to show that feed, medication, etc. meet third-party organic certifications. Still, it is shocking that less than 4% of the poultry purchased in the US is raised by independent farmers outside of corporate factory farms, and of that percentage, 0.67% is organic.
Part of that equation is that in the US, we equate value with size, even in the organic arena. As consumers, we don’t necessarily consider taste as important as size when we shop for protein or produce. In the case of a chicken, it is almost impossible in the US to find a sustainably raised or organic chicken under 3 pounds. I mostly see them over 4.5 pounds. And that bulking up of the bird decreases the taste from my experience, particularly in breast meat. The laws in the EU are much more stringent (USDA regulations have been extensively compromised by food corporations). It takes longer to raise a fowl – and there are standards for taste in many provinces of EU countries that we do not have here. Their flavor and texture is enhanced by slower growth, by exercising their predatory proclivities and consuming insects, by eating seeds instead of just a corn-based feed, and by gleaning old fruit. Plus, they exercise more. All these factors play into a better tasting roast chicken demanded by a more quality-driven population. TruLocal, a Canadian grocery site with an interesting blog, states the obvious: until you have a population that has greater expectations for the quality and taste of their food purchases, suppliers are content to meet a lower bar.
Another reader asked what brands to look for that avoid the taint of factory farming and satisfy at least some of the tenets of sustainable poultry raising. I discovered a very helpful guide from the website of the Cornucopia Institute, a pretty tough non-profit with an admirably ambitious mission statement.
The Cornucopia Institute is a non-profit consumer education and watchdog organization. We research brands and investigate the industry to identify and elevate authentic organic foods and farmers, while we scrutinize the USDA National Organic Program’s enforcement and application of the organic law. Our donors provide us with the resources and the moral authority to strengthen the good food movement. Whether you’re a consumer, a farmer, or a change maker, your actions propel our work.
They create score cards in which their teams investigate (and back up their work scientifically) products — from cottage cheese to poultry. The organization names producers, and reveals how they respond (or not) to the questionnaires and investigations. In the poultry division, a local-to-me poultry brand, Farmer Focus, got a high score, as did the nationally recognized brand Bell & Evans. Interesting for me was that the highest rated brands are not available to me in any of my local grocery haunts.
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