Poultry, a common Filipino staple that you can find in most of Filipino dishes and always available in variances anytime of the day (chicken adobo for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!). There are other poultry available than chicken of course but looking at those huge billboards and TV commercials of fast food chains, it is given that we are a nation of chicken eaters. From the fried chicken giants, roasted chicken magnate, and specialty grilled whole chicken stalls in every street corner across the nation (Authentic Bacolod Chicken Inasal is the best!)- Chicken always rules!
An all time favorite for all kinds of occasions, family gatherings, and beer drinking sprees (as pulutan) plus how we promote it to our kids as a food treat, their admiration to the famous food icon- Jollibee is surprisingly amazing. But make no mistake: chickens these days aren’t created equal. Breeding, feeding and other poultry farming standards result in animals that scarcely resemble each other, let alone taste the same. Worse, it may affect your health overtime without knowing its food content. Our modern agriculture practices result in food that bears little resemblance to what is real and natural, but it is a must for everyone to know the raising condition of the chicken you will eat and how they are being fed. The controversy surrounding feed doesn’t end there. For example, there’s the issue of animal byproducts. Ground up animal parts, bone meal, and the floor droppings of animal pens make it into the feed used by many an industrial farm. Even under the best conditions, chickens like most livestock are fed grains and soybeans. Is this really the best we can do? Is it worth paying good money for? What is the full range of options when it comes to a healthy chicken dinner? Let’s take a look
We have an option anyway to choose from on how it is being labelled and sold in the market. Here’s a quick definition of the labels on what they mean and why it can be probably costly too.
LABELS
Natural
The labels means- no artificial colors, flavors, or other ingredients, no preservatives and “minimal processing.” Pretty much anything in the meat aisle that’s left unflavored would qualify as natural anyway. There is a lot of controversy attached to this label, poultry can still be pumped up with a salt solution and still bear the “all natural” label. (i.e. water injections or make the chickens be bloated with water prior to packaging to add on weight which is still natural). So natural can still be caged, fed with genetically modified grains, and will qualify as naturally grown without any growth booster.
Free Range
The chickens were not grown in cages, the rest is a question mark. They likely had limited access to the outdoors, and they might have still lived in crammed conditions common to industrial poultry farms. According to international standards, free range denotes a mere five minutes of open air access per day, which could mean a small gate was open to a paved lot and they are roaming in a safe-chemical toxic free environment . Again, they can be “free range” but whats the feeds? and how they are being protected from common birds diseases?
100% Vegetarian Diet
The idea here isn’t a vegetarian chicken. (Chickens aren’t natural vegetarians, since they forage on bugs when left to their own devices.) This label shows that they didn’t have access to pasture, but it does indicate that the birds were fed grains and possibly grasses. The important part is that their feed didn’t contain animal byproducts, which can mean ground up animal parts and feces. (What they get into while crammed in those industrial shelters is another story….)
Pesticide-Free
Although you’d think this would be just for the feed, guess again. Chicken houses – especially large industrial farming structures – are subject to the infestation of all kinds of pesky critters like lice and rodents. As a result, repeated doses of insecticides are part and parcel of most poultry birds’ existence.
Raised without antibiotics/No antibiotics administered/Antibiotic-free
Commercial poultry farming need to maximize its area to raise thousands of chickens, as the weather can be odd at time, certain common birds diseases cannot be avoided. The company may claim, the birds didn’t receive antibiotics at any time which means they supposed to remove sick animals from the herd and refrain from selling them under this label. You may also see “Raised Without the Routine Use of Antibiotics,” which means antibiotics could have been given for treatment of illness but not for preventative measures. Majority the “commercial” and “caged” birds receives drug antibiotic treatment to prevent birds diseases.
Raised without added hormones/No hormones administered/No added hormones
In modern agriculture, this is already infused in the feeds and doesn’t need to be injected. So it is really a matter of trusting your farmer or grower on how they are raising the birds.
Pastured or Pasture-Raised
Pastured suggests that the birds lived on pasture and got some of their food from the pasture environment. For poultry, this usually means that the bird get about 20% of its food from pasture source (grass, seeds and bugs) and 80% from grain/grasses feed mixes (corn, oats, soybeans alfalfa, clover, etc.). Ask your farmer what he/she uses for feed. Chickens, unlike cows, don’t have the digestive ability to live on pure grass, but the inclusion of fresh pasture sources in their diet naturally boosts the nutrient content (vitamins and omega-3s) of the poultry. In other labels it is called “Probiotic Chicken”, where the birds underwent a natural detox protocol where they are being fed with fermented vegetables to remove any possible harmful toxins prior to butchery.
Heritage
Heritage breeds are hard to come by and pricey when you do. Nonetheless, if you’re up for the adventure and want to support the agricultural diversity movement, you’ll likely enjoy a healthy, richer tasting bird raised in a pastured, small farm environment.
Organic
This is a label truly worth its salt. To use this label, the farm must meet a country Organic Certification standards and be officially certified through either Organic Certification Center of the Philippines (OCCP) or Negros Island Certification Services (NICERT) which by boundary only applies to Negros Islands when it was formed but now being used nationwide due to its “lower cost of fees” compared to OCCP. Here’s what the label promises in a nutshell: (for the birds themselves) 100% organic feed, no animal byproducts, no hormones, no antibiotics, outdoor access, no irradiation, no pesticides (for the feed), no synthetic fertilizers, no sewage sludge, no synthetic pesticides, and no GMO. Farmers who are in the process of converting to fully organic practices can use the term “transitional.”
Beyond Organic or Organically Grown
Jumping through the hoops for organic certification/recertification is no small (or cheap) venture. As a result, some farmers have chosen to run their farms with fully organic practices – oftentimes stricter yet than organic – but without the Organic certification. Instead, they chose to go by individual relationships with consumers and businesses and by their reputation in the region.
Although you’d think this would be just for the feed, guess again. Chicken houses – especially large industrial farming structures – are subject to the infestation of all kinds of pesky critters like lice and rodents. As a result, repeated doses of insecticides are part and parcel of most poultry birds’ existence.
Raised without antibiotics/No antibiotics administered/Antibiotic-free
Their birds, the company promises, didn’t receive antibiotics at any time. Farms asserting this claim are supposed to remove sick animals from the herd and refrain from selling them under this label. You may also see “Raised Without the Routine Use of Antibiotics,” which means antibiotics could have been given for treatment of illness but not for preventative measures.
Our Recommendation based on available options:
1. Organically Grown – Though without the official seal of certification, once you found a trusted source who really advocate organic farming. You are already sure that you are not having a dosage of chemicals in your birds meat and all those others toxic factors that may lead to possible diseases.
2. Pastured Probiotic Chicken – The poultry offers more nutritionally through extra nutrients like Vitamin E, folic acid, B-12 and more Omega 3’s plus its standard natural detox protocol through fermented food for an enzyme boost to make your chickens more healthy.
3. Organic Chicken – Although pastured chicken provides nutritional extras, organic poultry at least ensures that you’re not getting a dose of pesticides, arsenic, and antibiotics with your meals.
4. 100% Vegetarian Fed – You are safe with GMO and growth hormones from feeds.
5. Antibiotic Free – self explanatory
6. Free Range – You are safe with Pesticides and other substance being sprayed in conventional cage growing.
7. Heritage – very costly and hard to find.
Consumers always have the right to ask on how these birds is being grown, don’t just trust the labels but check out too the farmer supplier and advocacy. Nowadays, the quality of the food is being taken for granted and the quantity and taste seems to matter. But look, cancer patients too is increasing and so as the lifestyle known diseases. We are probably being swayed by too much commercial on yummy foods and how they are being sold in the pictures (Hooray to the effective marketing). Always remember, we need to be informed, its our family lives anyway that is at stake.
EarthOrigins Marketplace+Cafe advocacy is to promote healthy eating by eating Organic Foods. We verify and audit farms on their farming practice and highlights the importance of proper labeling to ensure our customers safety.
Source and Reference Guide (Courtesy of ASPCA)
(Disclaimer) As of this writing, the Philippines doesn’t have any government ruling on proper labeling on meats either its natural, probiotic, organic, etc. Most of the labels available in the market primarily focus on marketing without verification or validation from the government or known organization that focus on protecting the consumers rights.
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