How To Buy Ethically Raised Poultry

Family lawAugust 5, 2020

If you take a look at the recent trend, you would notice that that chicken prices have dropped really low. People actually don’t have to think twice these days before buying it. Chicken used to be a luxury that was reserved for dinners on Sundays. However, now it has actually become staple meat owing to its affordability. There are a few ways to purchase ethically raised poultry that you might not yet be aware of. For that, you don’t have to alter your shopping strategy. It’s just that you must know where to look for sustainable and delicious poultry. Below are a few strategies to seek out suppliers of ethically raised chicken and eggs. Check them out.

Contact A Local Farm

Visiting the nearest chicken farm is the best way to understand how the chicken you intend to buy has been raised. You can check out everything with your own eyes. If visiting a farm isn’t possible for you or doesn’t seem realistic, you can always browse through the local farms over the net. Check what they are marketing and try to find out the details regarding the livestock conditions.

If you come across a farm that is known for practicing ethical chicken-raising, you can come into contact with them either at the local farmer’s market or through the CSA or the Community Supported Agriculture program. There are few websites such as EatWild.com and LocalHarvest.org which can help you with what you are searching for. Give it a try.

Be Friends With A Butcher

If you think that butchers don’t exist anymore, you are wrong. They do and are the best source from where you can know all about the freshest and the tastiest poultry near you. Since butchers rend to buy from the local farms quite often, they consequently have a detailed idea about the conditions that the chicken has been raised in.

If you connect with a butcher, you can develop a thorough knowledge of the practices that are followed in the local farms. This way you can enjoy a specific taste of meat cuts that you wouldn’t generally get from the meat that you purchase from the grocery stores. Moreover, you can also do your bit and support a local business as well.

Be Specific While Selecting Stores

Going through the meat aisle of grocery stores and taking your pick can be an uphill task. Usually, having detailed knowledge about which brands belong to high standards can be cumbersome. But staying away from big brands that are found in abundance in store shelves is a general rule that you need to follow.

A majority of the available brands follow inhumane practices while raising poultry. So it will be in your best interest to stay away from them if you think they should be held accountable for their unethical practices. Opt for the smaller brands which have the requisite certifications like Certified Humane or Animal Welfare Approved.

Select A Natural Food Store

Natural food stores are more likely to store poultry coming from local farms or co-operatives than regular grocery stores. Since they are smaller in size, it’s always convenient for them to carry limited poultry from the farms that are known to follow ethical practices and maintain high standards as well. The Co-op Directory Service can help you find a co-op in your locality.

Eat Smarter When You Eat Out

As far as eating at restaurants is concerned, it would be impossible for you to find out where the meat on your plate has come from. However, as times are changing, that doesn’t seem to be impractical and impossible anymore. The Humane Eating App will help you with that.

The Humane Eating Project, started by a non-profit organization from San Diego, happens to be a phone app that boasts of a database that stores 16,000 restaurants. You can select the one that’s located near you and popular for serving humanely raised poultry. This app is available on Blackberry, Apple, and Android phones. If you want to know more about the Humane Eating Project, you will get all the information from the app store.

Looking out for sources of ethically raised poultry might seem to be a tough task, but it’s definitely possible if you know where you can find them. If you are against killing animals cruelly, then try out the steps discussed.