Chicken talk - regular or organic etc

[ragdoll]

Hello! How many buy organic chicken? What about hormone free? There are too many choices at the grocery store which made me wonder if one is hormone free, what's in the other? I usually buy grain fed or hormone free but starting to wonder if the regular is just the same. I am in Canada and just read that there are no hormones used in chicken feed in Canada. However, that is only chicken feed. Who knows what they are injecting into the chicken themselves. What do you all think of this?

[babetoo]

i really don't spend any time worrying about it. chicken is my source of most protein. usually buy what is on sale.

babe

[TATTRAT]

Welcome to DC, ragdoll.

For me, free range capon. As for all the other altered states of chicken, I try not to over think it. Organic free range...hormone free...grain fed couped...antibiotic free...who knows what is going on? If given the choice, I shoot for free range, grain fed...the way "nature" intended it, though "worm and grasshopper fed" just doesn't have the same appeal.

[ragdoll]

well I guess you're both right. I just know that my friend visited from New Zealand and she said the chicken here made her sick. they have much better meat and stricter laws in NZ.

[TATTRAT]

Chicken is Chicken, and avian flu aside, is a pretty hardy creature...perhaps she just had bad chicken?

[GotGarlic]

It is illegal in the United States to give hormones to hogs and poultry: Meat and Poultry Labeling Terms

If you read the labels carefully, you will see that they say, "Federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones."

The placebo effect is a wondrous thing, and it works both ways.

[In the Kitchen]

Before my mother passed away and was still cooking, she was horrified to see the chickens having what she said were 'black bones'. Granted the way they kill the chickens today was not like when she was on the farm and cut the heads off. I think they use some kind of electric object to kill the chickens as they have to be so mass produced. Also when she would make soup couldn't get the 'gelatin' she liked. always upset when she fixed chicken. the only 'gelatin' I get is when I fix a roasting chicken and cook for soup that it gets some kind of gelatin, which I account for extra fat it has. However, my frying chickens never get any when I bake one day and use the next.
I try to buy chickens that are from Whole Foods as much as possible. However, the cost sometimes causes me to buy others. I feel so upset that things are so out of control due to the amount that has to be produced. This applies to everything. Sure does surprise me that when I buy vegetables from Whole Foods, I experience no digestive problems. (I know this isn't in my mind that I think it doesn't affect me) also the taste of things seem to be so different than regular store bought items.

This is only my personal opinion and I have commented about this i the past.

[Robo410]

Whenever I can I go to a local farm and order free range organic etc chix. The flavor is awesome. At the grocery store? Well, it's been frozen and thawed no matter what the label says. If I want a huge 7 lb er I probably get a Purdue...if it's smaller like a fryer, 3 lb er, I get a store brand which I will brine.

[sattie]

I prefer organic when I can afford it, but I noticed that chicken seems to be double the price as per the regular chicken. I have found myself opting for the cheaper chicken. I like others, try not to think about it too much. I prefer free range when available, but will opt for what is on sale. When it comes to purchasing any protien, I would rather know that the livestock was treated without cruelty and pay for that. But then how do you really know?