no more rubber chickens
Posted Saturday, March 31, 2007 at 10:41PM
Ever wonder why people say things always taste like chicken? Well, it’s because thanks to modern factory farming methods, today’s industrial chicken has become so bland as to taste like nothing. Producers pump their birds up with antibiotics, colorings and fluids to develop meat that is plump and springy, but is decidedly easier on the eyes than on the palate. You might as well be chewing on one of those novelty rubber chickens.
There is another way. Increasingly, local farmers are letting their chickens do what they do best — forage. These beyond-free-range chickens spend their entire lives outdoors, eating grass and seeds and living the good life.
The net result is birds that are leaner, but healthier. You won’t get busty chickens that look like little turkeys, but you will get breast meat that actually tastes like something.
Check LocalHarvest for farmers near you, or if there are none to be found, some vendors, like Gifts from the Good Earth, will fly those birds to your door.
Yeah, it’ll cost you more than those pasty Foster Farms in the freezer case at the Safeway. But wouldn’t it be nice to know what chicken actually tastes like again?
Sean
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