battery or free range... where do you stand?

It's been awhile since I've been on here but I've been sick and really haven't found the time to sit down and devout time to write. I do apologize! I'm making my comeback to talk about chickens. Yes, chickens. I've grown up in a family that has been into farming animals at some point. My grandpa raised cattle, chickens, pigs, and turkeys. My uncle currently is a cattle farmer. So I've always known what is involved in animal farming, birth, death and eventually food at the table.

I watched Jamie Oliver's Fowl Dinner's tonight. And it enraged me. Literally. So much that I am writing this right now. I am so fed up that people are just OK with eating complete shit. I'm not OK with it and I'm sick of feeling like no one else gives a crap. Well Jamie is one person making a difference so here is my attempt to get the people around me to start being angry too! 

The problem I have today is with how our "food" is raised... scratch that, mass produced. It's sad. Our animals are being genetically altered to grow bigger, faster and become food much faster than they should. At what point will the industry stop to think about how this is affecting our bodies. Most people would guess that a chicken is slaughtered in between 6 months to a year. The truth is that most are slaughtered within 38 days. How is this possible? Well, America has genetically produced a bird that can do just that. The problem with this is the birds usually have health issues. The most common issue is that they gain so much weight in such a short amount of time that their immature bones cannot hold their weight and cannot walk and are in an immense amount of pain. All of this so we can have cheaper bigger chicken breasts and legs.

The other issue I have is with eggs. Watching Jamie Oliver's "Fowl Dinner" program amazed me. I knew what barn produced eggs looked like which made me feel horrible for buying cheap eggs but the truth is... barn raised birds are better off than caged birds. 

Caged birds are 6 to a cage, loose up to 65% of their feathers and stand on bars for their entire life until they are killed. Might I add, they are usually killed 8 years before they even stop producing eggs. You could take one of these chickens home and it would lay you eggs for 8 years.

To give you the full experience...

The third option is free range, organic. Which for me... this will be the only choice. I know you pay an extra dollar for these eggs but really if we as consumers do not make the conscious decision to say to these producers that we wont stand for the mass produced and genetically altered. We have to start somewhere and by you making that choice to not buy cheap products is a start. You get what you pay for people.

Don't they look happy!!

Not only does it make a difference in the chickens lives but TASTE! Not allowing chickens to express their natural habits, dust bathing, eating multiple grains and grass and establishing a social pecking order produces bland, dry and horrible meat. How do I know the difference? Well I buy farm free range chickens and now I'll make the conscious choice to buy free-range organic eggs as well. Now you may be asking how do we find organic free range chicken? Well eggs are easy enough, they are in your everyday grocery store. As for meat... finding a farmer is your best bet and the easiest way I do that is at my local farmers market. For me, here in Winnipeg that is St. Norberts farmers market. They have a lot of farmers producing free range organic beef, chicken, bison and turkeys! So every weekend we buy a chicken or what we need and then get their card and buy when we can the rest of the year. Now, some butcher shops will have this option available but I know here in Winnipeg hardly any of the grocery stores offer free range organic meat. Maybe we should be asking for it. If you don't ask, they don't know.

Our society is all about placing laws and changing our environment with things like no smoking in your car with a child under the age of 16 and hand sanitizers in every corner of every store. Yet we as society cannot change how the fuel of our lives is produced? We cannot survive without food and it is so crucial to our lives but society cannot stop and say, no I wont put this into my body. You only have this one body, this one life but we are so willing to do so. I think this is because it isn't something that is in our everyday decision making. We don't stop and think where our food comes from because it is so mass produced. 

In an earlier time our food was more organic than we could ever imagine. Mayo was made at home with chickens that are in the yard with oil that was made from the canola in your neighbors field. Your chicken came from your kids pet that they named "Ginger" and were unknowingly eating. Your desert was likely made with peaches that were canned during the summer when they were ripe and fresh. We don't eat like this anymore. I can't name one person in my generation that knows how to can and avidly does so. I don't know anyone that can put a name to their chicken that is apart of their dinner. And well as for the mayo... my nana was the last person I had homemade mayo from.Yes, we live longer than our grandparents generation did but we also have a higher rate of heart disease, diabetes and DIET related diseases. Think about it...

I think we can do better. Why should be be told what to eat? No one likes to be told what to do and not be given options. As consumers we need to realize that WE can dictate what we want! We can change what is offered to us. We're the ones buying it dammit. Think about it the next time you pick up that carton of eggs, chicken breasts and that jar of mayo or creamy salad dressing. Is that extra dollar really worth it?

Don't worry, I'll be posting a recipe in the next few days. Just felt this was more important. Want to learn more? Check out Jamie's website.

Start caring please. Don't be apart of the out of sight, out of mind generation. Much love!