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Wed, 9 Aug 2006 09:22:30 -0400 |
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Some of you may be familiar with the recent book, _The Omnivore's
Dilemma_
(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594200823/102-9850725-6596108?v=glance&n=283155),
by Michael Pollan, which is all about currently food production
practices. I read with interest his discussion of "organic" and
"free-range" products, notably free-range chickens. Apparently, to be
entitled to use the label "free-range" the farmers must allow the
chickens to leave their cages and peck in a suitable grassy area for a
certain portion of their lives. The way this works in practice, he
says, is that the birds are initially grain-fed, like other chickens,
and then the doors of their cages are opened, during the last four or so
weeks before they are slaughtered. The interesting point he makes is
that by that point, the great majority of the chickens *do not leave
their cages*. I.e., eating grain in the cage is, by then, all they
know. So the label "free-range" actually means that the birds have been
given the *opportunity* to go out and peck, but it doesn't mean that
they actually did so. I gather that there is some controversy about
this, and some farmers insist that *their* free-range chickens are
indeed freely ranging, but I guess the point is that you can't really
tell by the label.
Todd Moody
[log in to unmask]
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