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
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