Free range Organic chicken...which is which?

Keith99, I bet you also had your garden exposed to Neon, Methane, Argon, and a bunch of Nitrogen.

Jennae said:

I was recently reading about that...water injected into the meat to make it look more plump. There has been some controversy in Canada about I think it was Maple leaf farms that had been abusing their birds as well. I have heard store bought chicken can be chewy and taste almost mushy. If it leaves a lot of water in the pan, are you able to make a good gravy?

Yes, it's a smelly, disgusting job to slaughter chickens...plucking feathers and gutting them...Bleeck. I make myself scarce during that season.

Oh man, I know! They love watermelon! They eat like pigs and even get into the pig slop. It's always so gross to see them scratching and poking in the fields. I don't want to know what they are eating.

Farm fresh eggs are so amazing. The yolks are such a nice orange colour.

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Gosh this thread has definitely reenforced my decision to remain a vegetarian, haha. When I stopped eating meat at age 9 my parents thought it was just a phase, but I've become increasingly adamant about it in the eight years since then. I do sporadically eat eggs still but not as frequently ever since you told me about them being covered with poop when you collect them, because I haven't been able to get that visual out of my head, haha. BLEGH.

Anyhoooo. Back in 2012 on a family trip to Tanzania we discovered that eggs there often have very light, almost white yolks! A plate of scrambled eggs look like they've been made entirely with whites. Even a sunny side up egg doesn't look at all sunny. Their eggs are farm fresh and organic, too, but their feed has less pigmentation. As far as taste, there wasn't a significant difference but they were slightly preferable. After we returned home and stocked up on groceries my sisters went though a whole carton of eggs trying to find a "magical" one that was white. Someone at the lodge had told them some tall tales they believed.

What a chicken is fed does impact the nutritional value of the egg, but you really cannot ascertain the nutrients of the egg just by the color of the yolk. A tangerine sunset colored egg yolk is prettier, but doesn't necessarily have more health benefits than the one in Tanzania. They actually erroneously believe that the reason American eggs have colored yolks is because of hormones injected into chickens. They'd freak at what you delight in because of a misunderstanding. It's interesting to separate fact from fiction around the world.

Jennae said:

We often have fresh grown produce at the market to show the difference between that and store bought. Things like organic tomatoes, strawberries, watermelon and most others are hands down better tasting and more fragrant. Not to mention eating foods that are not treated with chemicals.

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Like I said, a side by side blinded study would be pretty cool. You would need to grow the same varieties in the same climates, same time since harvest, etc.

As for chemicals, they are used for organic foods, too. The water you add to organic crops is a chemical. The soil that the organic crops grow in are made up of chemicals. The things you fertilize organic crops with are made up of chemicals. All matter is made up of chemicals.

What you seem to be leaning towards is the naturalistic fallacy where everything man makes is inherently bad and everything man doesn't make is inherently good. That view breaks down on many levels.

Jennae said:

.it is indeed more efficient and less costly...most especially for chickens however it is a lot more work for farmers and time consuming. So what do they do? Build barns and keep them all contained.

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Perhaps you should read this webpage:

http://www.wellfedhomestead.com/the-cost-of-raising-broilers-without-soy-corn-or-gmos

The cost of raising free range, organic chicken is 5 times that of factory raised chickens.

Sigh and the almighty buck wins over integrity.

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"it is indeed more efficient and less costly"--Jennae

You were the one who made it about the almighty buck.

You have no qualms about eating chicken pumped full of hormones?

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Free range chickens have hormones, too. Can you show me how the hormones fed to factory raised chickens pose a health risk to humans?

you have no problems with this? You get what you pay for and the health issues to boot.

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What health issues?

I don't need any science to confirm for me what common sense tells me. Organic food is natural and the way we are intended to eat.

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Science has shown common sense to be wrong time and again. Also, what you are using is the naturalistic fallacy.

Out of curiosity, what are the typical price ranges for organic free-range chicken and regular chicken where you live? We're having a Memorial Day BBQ / pool party for my sisters' classes and another event for my parents and stocked up on groceries at the farmers market, a butcher shop () and Whole Foods to get everything on the lists. I was more attentive to the various options and prices for chicken because of this thread, but since I am a vegetarian I've never looked at the prices at other grocery stores for comparison. It seems really expensive to me.

This is the store-brand organic chicken breasts at Whole Foods. We didn't buy it but I snapped a pic while waiting for the order. The other brands are more expensive. We were getting the chicken from behind the counter, and it was even pricier. My parents aren't adherents of the non-GMO, gluten-free trend but wanted to be sure to please the crowd (or rather the parents of the crowd, haha) so that's what they bought. It was $11.99 a pound for the organic, gluten-free, free-range, non-GMO, locally grown chicken fingers. I didn't look at the prices for the other chicken behind the counter. The hamburgers and turkey burgers were expensive, too. Vegetarian burgers FTW.

Also. What's the price comparison for buying organic everything vs. non-organic where you live? I know it's simply not feasible for many families to buy organic. Can you taste the difference with the chicken and meats? In some cases I prefer the taste of the non-organic produce, such as the extra sweet and beautiful ruby red strawberries at Trader Joe's vs. the organic ones. We carefully and throughly wash our fruit.

Oh and Jennae, you'd be in gluten-free heaven at this Whole Foods. There's like a food hall with freshly prepared baked goods, candy, and foods that have gluten-free options, plus gluten-free...........everything else in the store, haha. This was just a fraction of the snack aisle. You can get gluten-free vegan doughnuts.

Jennae said:

Wow...how many breasts were in that package? Typically I have seen 6 or 7breasts costing roughly anywhere from $16 to 23 dollars. Walmart sells 6 breasts for $10. We don't buy our meat but raise it however sometimes I like to look. I have eaten store bought chicken at friends houses and it varies how it tastes...I have to be so careful with grain fed chicken. Most of close friends moms know me so well so they aren't hurt if I pass on the meat and stick to other parts of the meal. The chicken I have tasted has tasted for the most part fine...although the chicken from Walmart tasted chewy and watery. Grass fed beef tastes distinctly different and smells very different as well. I have been told it's an acquired taste. It's all I've ever eaten so I'm not sure. I don't risk eating beef when I'm out and about. Beef is the meat that tends to make me the most sick if I eat it at restaurants.
As far as buying all organic...I can't compare to be honest because we do buy mostly all organic for whatever we can't grow or make ourselves. Because my mom sells at the organic market, she also trades with other farmers. Much trading goes on at the market. We also tend to eat things in season so we can grow or freeze our own. Strawberry season is fast approaching. We will pick, make jam and freeze enough to fill a small freezer. You should see our basement. We have four large freezers, as well as two small ones. You would think we are feeding an army or something. We have one for fresh frozen vegetables, fruits and meats. We make freezer meals as well for those times we have no time to cook. We have beef, chicken, turkey and pork...all organicly grass fed. Minus the pigs...they eat a more varied diet but still gluten free.
How are the ingredients in the gluten free goods? Anytime I've read them around here, there is so many ingredients I can't even read...so many sweetners and additives. I've become pretty good at baking delicious treats that I don't buy much. I'm pretty sure I'm going to starve to death when I go away to school. Eating is over rated anyways lol

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Hmmm, I don't know how many chicken breasts were in the package. I didn't examine it that carefully at the store, and that's not the chicken we bought for the kids' party. On the label it says its weight is 5.8 pounds, and it's $7.99 a pound; $46.50 total. That's the economy brand at that store, so others cost more. How much does a chicken breast typically weigh? If they each weighed about 6 ounces, then there'd be around 15 and a half breasts assuming my sun fried brain can handle basic math. A little over $3.1 dollars per breast at Whole Foods vs. $1.66 a breast for the chicken at Walmart. Are the chicken breasts at the grocery store and Walmart also free range organic?

Another thing I noticed from the label is that in small print below all the traits about that chicken it states "Federal Regulations prohibit the use of hormones in chicken." This leads me to believe that conventionally raised chickens aren't pumped full of hormones after all. I'm still unclear as to what the nutritional benefits are for organic vs. conventional but since I won't eat either it's not of great importance to me, ha.

Yeah I can see why it would be challenging dining out if you need to avoid consuming any meat that isn't gluten free and organic. What about fish? You could just be a pescetarian. Ha, my doctor tried so hard to convince me to start eating fish, and told me about how many are cannibals, and therefore if they eat one another, we can eat them. Oooohkay. So I guess by that logic as long as cows don't eat their young vegetarians won't start having steak, haha. But you could eat seafood. Or just do what I do and survive on smoothies, fruit, salad, and Larabars.

I haven't checked the label for the gluten-free products, but I assume they have all sorts of peculiar ingredients. We keep some snacks in the pantry for kids who come over and need gluten-free food, but I'm too content where I am go downstairs and check right now. I did look at the label for the gluten-free vegan fish sticks we bought for my sister's friend. There were a lot of ingredients with names I couldn't pronounce.

Yeah I remember that you guys pick strawberries in the summer and make jelly and other yummy things. Do you ever experiment with unique flavor combinations? We bought jars of peach and lavender, and strawberry and rosemary preserves, and they both taste beautiful. I think I weigh 200 pounds now from eating all the stuff we got at the farmers market yesterday.

Jennae said:

I didn't know where to post this...it's farming related haha. Farming can be a complicated science.

I'm not sure how many people eat organically here but I thought I would post a picture of a purely organic , free range chicken (left) vs a normal store bought turkey. (Right)
Can you see the differences?

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I'd guess it's more of a breed difference. Different breeds can have different colored skin. Silkie chickens have VERY dark skin for example. Personally, I want to get a bunch of Araucanas as layers. Their eggs are blue to green.