Why does it matter if the chicken is free-range?
Actually, it only does a little bit. But…here’s why the fancy Kettle & Fire soup I just bought on sale touts it, for people in the know. Usually it’s only women who seem to go down these rabbit holes of knowledge unless it is to actually apply the knowledge practically, I’ve noticed. Not always of course.
Free-range means they have outdoor access, but it can be a miniscule outlet that most of the birds don’t ever use, and they only get a little bit more room than a conventionally-raised bird in horrible conditions.
Other things to note are that a vegetarian-fed bird is a stupid label too. Chickens are little dinosaurs with ferocity. They will eat anything. They’re garbage disposals for whatever the farmer has. Left to roam around, they will eat plenty of protein in whatever source becomes available to their beady little eyes and talons.
But here’s the physical, in-the-know reason why people should take note of whether their bone broth comes from at least free-range birds, and why Kettle & Fire does it and puts it on their labeling.
I know I said that it doesn’t matter that much, but it still is 100% more space than a conventional bird is guaranteed, and that means more movement.
More movement means more free-flow of electricity and fluids across the body of the chicken. It means more exercise, which means more connective tissue development is possible/probable to a bird with more space to use.
More connective tissue means more collagen and whatever else is in a bird’s meat and skeleton that will feed us, particularly in the use of a long-simmered broth like bone or meat broth.
It is fascinating if you ever get your hands on a pasture-raised chicken. Here’s where you can observe, without a doubt, what the differences are when a bird leads a more species-appropriate life with exercise, outdoors, sunshine, less stress, cognitive engagement and everything else that goes into it.
If you buy a conventional, Purdue or whatever bird and a pastured bird and put the two carcasses next to each other, the differences are incredible. Just wait until you eat it.
If you start by cutting down the carcass into things like leg, thigh, wing, and breast - you will see how much more tissue is around the joints of a bird that exercised more. It will be more difficult to separate them. The muscles (meat) will be a different color, which I think can vary per breed of chicken for sure, but a super healthy bird will look almost red in a way that can’t purely be attributed to breed in my understanding. Contrast that with the pale, nearly translucent muscle meat of a conventional bird, who may indeed be larger, as they are bred to grow fast in order to be killed quickly.
This same development happens in us over time with exercise and use. The body reinforces what you use regularly and joints will be surrounded by larger amounts of stronger tissue.
It’s kind of a neat dissection project for a meat-eater.
The more animals move (and you and I are animals) the more healthy and resilient our tissues become.
The less we move whether by environmental limitation or choice, the lower-quality, weaker, less-resilient tissue we will have.
The meat tastes better too. Different. Potentially worth the massive price difference.
Monogastric animals like chickens (and pigs, and humans) show differences in diet and the reflected health of their bodies much more than ruminants like cows do, who digest in a much more complex way in which specialized processes and bacteria turn grass into muscle on a massive scale. Faster from source to becoming what we eat, faster our diet shows up in our tissues.
I think it’s possible to eat whatever you want as long as you have enough joy in your life. I hope you find these things interesting without dipping into shame or guilt about the foods you choose. Embrace the reasons why you choose anything and go hard in that until you make another choice someday. Embrace your choice there, too.