We are probably all familiar with the different options available to us when buying chicken at our local supermarket - and the difference in price! How many of us, however, are totally aware of what the different labels on these products actually mean? We will see chicken, free range chicken, organic chicken and free range, organic chicken. Why should we always go for the most expensive of same, free range and organic chicken?
There are several reasons why we should always buy free range, organic chicken and only one reason for not buying it, so let us deal with the negative first and put it thereafter aside. If we are buying fuel for our brand new car that is our pride and joy, do we look around for the cheapest, lowest grade of same possible that we know will eventually cause the car to sustain engine damage? If we are buying a new suit or outfit for a special occasion, do we go to a budget or second hand store and ask the assistant to see the cheapest garment they have? If a lady is buying perfume or a gentleman after-shave, do we just ask to buy whatever is the cheapest?
In most cases, the answers to these questions will be a resounding negative one. Why, therefore, are we treating our bodies, those most precious of our possessions, with such disdain? Our health is the most important thing which each of us has and it is up to us to help preserve it. There is an old saying that I very much believe in, "Look after your body and your body will look after you." Let me now show you why our bodies would always choose free range, organic chicken.
Chicken is farmed in a variety of different ways. The cheapest chickens on our supermarket shelves are likely to be battery chickens. These birds are cooped up their whole lives in tiny cages and fed artificial growth enhancers to make them reach the weight at which they may be slaughtered more quickly. Their muscles waste away through lack of use, meaning there will be less meat on them, and if you ever see purple/brown patches on the flesh of these birds, such is where they have been burned in life by the nitrogen in their own faeces. The profit margin for chicken farmers in these instances is huge, due to the utilisation of space, and the turn around of the growth enhanced birds, so he can afford to charge minimal price for each bird.
Free range chickens are allowed to roam virtually wild in life in large, outdoor compounds. This allows their muscles and their flesh to develop naturally and means that the meat on the carcass should be more plentiful. Unfortunately, many of these birds are still fed artificial growth stimulants to at least ensure faster turnaround where space is not utilised quite so effectively. This factor affecting essentially the number of chickens which a farmer may produce at any one time means he has to charge more for each bird in order to make his profit.
Organic chickens are fed only on natural foodstuffs, such as perhaps corn. In the case where they are also free range, this means that the birds are developing exactly as nature intended and we know that we will be eating real chicken, free of man's interference. Farmers of these birds, however, can keep less birds in the same space and have to wait longer for the birds to reach maturity, thus affecting their turnaround time. They therefore have to charge a premium price for the birds in order to make their profit.
I hope that I have provided some clarity in to what the different chicken classifications mean and why we should always plump for the free range, organic chicken when at all possible.