This question comes up often at the Farmers market. I will try to explain this below.
Pasture raised chicken is very good and healthy for you but adding in the certified Organic, really makes the difference! Here are some values of Pasture raised chicken:
1. Healthier for the chicken: Depending on the farmer, the chicken should have access to a fresh green bug filled grass area each day to freely roam in as they naturally would do. Foraging on natural grass and bugs adds to the nutrient level in the chicken you feed your family. In addition to the grass and bugs, pasture raised chicken are often fed supplemental poultry feed. Be careful though, some farmers say they raise their chickens on a pasture...but their pasture is a dirt fenced in lot, no grass, no bugs and no shade and NO value to the chicken or you.
2. Healthier for the environment: Allowing the birds to roam in an open area spreads out their manure, minimizes disease and control bugs. We all like doing activities that are good for the planet so feeding your family a pasture raised chicken is helping more than just your kids!
3. Healthier meat for you and your family to eat: Pasture raised birds have shown to have three times the omega-3s, 50 percent more vitamin A, D, and E, and 21 percent less saturated fat. Simply put, healthier chickens make for a healthier chicken dinner.
Now you know the value and importance of feeding your family a pasture raised chicken. But why should you demand a certified organic pasture raised chicken instead?
Each year, certified organic farmers are audited each year by the USDA. The welfare of the farmers animals are analyzed and verified that they are pasture raised in a proper pasture with proper space for each chicken. This avoids a farmer telling you they follow pasture raised but only use a dirt lot. This is better than just a pasture raised chicken.
The pasture the chicken graze on is certified organic. This means no RoundUp was used to control weeds, synthetic fertilizers or any other chemical. You and I do not want chemicals used in the fields our chicken dinner was feeding on as these chemicals could join us for dinner! This is better than just a pasture raised chicken.
Organic chickens are raised with a different set of standards than other chickens. They're not given antibiotics, hormones, or genetically modified feed. Instead, the feed they get is certified organic. Non organic farmers usually use traditional chicken feed which could be a GMO based product, grains raised using RoundUp, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and synthetic fertilizers. All chemicals you and I do not want in our food as well! This is better than just a pasture raised chicken.
As with the pasture raised chicken, organic chicken provides a healthier meat for you and your family to eat. Organic pasture raised birds have shown to have three times the omega-3s, 50 percent more vitamin A, D, and E, and 21 percent less saturated fat. Simply put, healthier chickens make for a healthier chicken dinner. The main difference here is that there are no chemicals in the feed or pastures for certified organic chicken which helps avoids this in your chicken dinner. This is better than just a pasture raised chicken.
Healthier for the environment: Allowing the birds to roam in an open area spreads out their manure, minimizes disease and control bugs. We all like doing activities that are good for the planet so feeding your family a pasture raised chicken is helping more than just your kids!
As you can see, a chicken raised properly in a pasture is very good for you and your family, a 6 out of 10. I would prefer to feed my family a 10 out of 10 and to get this, you should use a certified organic pasture raised chicken which is always available from Blue Sky Sunny Day Farm.