Sunday, 8 December 2013

"Free Range" chicken not actually free range.

 

 

You go to the shop and see written on the chicken packet “free range”. The image you have is chickens on a big piece of land roaming free all day. So it makes you feel good when you buy free range chicken, because at least the chicken had a good life. Unfortunately this is not true.

1_chickens_wide-408x264 See, “Free range chicken” has no set definition therefor companies selling the chicken can put a “free range” sticker on their products. For example in the picture to your right those chickens are actually defined as “free range”. They are all squashed tightly into a massive coop where they often peck at each other, because they are too stressed. They are not designed to be so many chickens in such a small confined space so many die. But rest assured – it is “free range” chicken.

This makes it very difficult for people, because you do not actually know if what you buy is really free range or not. We have come to believe what is written on labels is the truth – as if companies are not allowed to lie on their products. And in a way they do not, because “free range” is not clearly defined. There so many loop hole allowed in the system and it is set up like that deliberately in the name of PROFIT. I would like to know why?

chickens resize Why not define “free range’’ clearly? Free range should be animals that are outside in sunshine and fields with sufficient space for them to actually roam about. The space required should be based on the animals need. In fact when I see free range chicken on a product those chickens should have lived at a place like in the picture to your left. This is what should have been done in the beginning, but it is not.

So next time you buy “free range” chicken – it is most likely not, unless there is a way for you to track down the farm where the chickens are bred and see for yourself.

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