Once, before we were renegade local food activists, we were newspaper reporters (who fell in love and ran away together).
So it brings our newspaperin’ hearts much joy to call people up out of the blue and ask them questions. We now bring you this shallowly-reported piece on Bell & Evans chickens:
Bell & Evans is one of those producers who confuse otherwise-ethical shoppers. They say “free range,” and they now sell “organic free range” chickens and chicken parts. And when you’re in the store, and you’re looking at those versus completely unidentifiable chicken, of course you think you’ve made the best choice. But it’s like those misleading surveys where the question is something like, “Do you support the war in Iraq” and your options are A). YES B). Yes and C) 110%. You’re not really being given good options. Or options at all.
The life of a Bell & Evans chicken is one of luxury for an industrial chicken. But it’s still very much an industrial chicken and their marketing is still a gross misuse of the term “free range.” They live indoors, in gigantic climate controlled chicken houses (so not even wind and fresh air from windows), where the lights turn on an off at certain times and where water and food is mechanically distributed.
Their “organic” chickens are legally required to have access to the out of doors, but, of course, it’s really not much of a yard. The woman who took our call assured that “It’s not like they have to go out,” as though the idea of a chicken wandering around outside is digusting or undesirable somehow and revealed that they don’t, in fact, go out much at all. That’s a terrifying glimpse into the brainwashing that goes on in this world.
One of the big selling points of these birds is that they are “air chilled.” For those of you who don’t know what this means, it’s the alternative to water chilling slaughtered poultry. Some say it’s more sanitary to air chill them because these water baths chill so many birds. But the Bell & Evans people want you to know that water chilling is less ideal for consumers because the birds take on water weight, which we then pay for at the register. Instead, their birds are hung from hooks and cruise around a factory for TWO MILES in cold air. How bizarre is it that humans build two mile long indoor conveyor systems?
What this person was unable to answer off the top of her head was how many chickens live and die per day, or month, or every year. “It’s a lot.” She knew it was quite a number of them. But she took down our phone number and email address and promised to get back with that information. And never did.
We struggle sometimes with whether or not we should come down so hard on those who are “trying” or doing some stuff right. But the bottom line is that this just isn’t good enough. Psuedo humane factory farming is just factory farming. If you’re going to eat meat, spend the money, take the time and find the real stuff.
I couldn’t agree with you more. And the proof is in the pudding-real chicken, the kind you can feel less guilty about eating, tastes amazing, and drastically different from even the most expensive national brands.
This is great info! I feel like I need to bring a handbook with me whenever I go to the grocery store…
I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you — but your post is indeed shallowly-reported. One phone call to the B&E customer service line isn’t proof of facts. How many chickens are raised in each barn? What’s their space per bird? Do they have access to clean water and food? What is the air quality like? Does B&E raise their own? Or do they contract out to individual farmers who can have a variety of conditions? I thought organic labeling had a lot more to do with their feed than their view. I like it you’re looking into false claims, but I’m disappointed by the so-called reporting you did in this piece.
I would like also to know more about slaughtering practices. My understanding is that there is a gassing method that is less scary and stressful when administered effectively, but sometimes isn’t. How does Bell & Evans slaughter its poultry? I think we need to keep this in the equation.
Regardless of how much information is posted or researched, I agree the real problem here is deception or misleading in the labeling. To “spend the money, take the time and find the real stuff” is an awful lot of energy, before you even start making the dinner, and unrealistic for most. But some do. And we will keep the moving forward until it mainstream consumers are educated and have clear choices.
What recommendations do folks have for companies that we should purchase chicken from?
I’d love it if you tried your questions on Chip-In in Bedford and Owen’s Poultry Farm in Needham. Their chickens never leave the barn, but I’d be very curious if THEY could describe what makes conditions better compared to industrial conditions. Our rankings might be: ideal, best practice/better choice, and crap. Same with local dairies.
Jeff K., I completely agree that this was shallowly reported and not enough. I would like to respond to your comments by saying that I wanted to report more deeply, but getting through to talk to anyone at a giant corporation (other than the customer service line) was pretty difficult. And, of course, I couldn’t visit because they’re in Pennsylvania. This is exactly the kind of (limited) transparency an actual consumer would encounter if he or she tried to find out what was what at Bell & Evans.
I imagine if I had New York Times credentials I could get someone on the phone. But I don’t, and neither does most anyone. This is the point, in a way.
I did *ask* about how many chickens are raised in a barn, etc. And you’d think that when a consumer calls and asks such things a company would want to respond to the question. In my day job, there is not one consumer complaint or query that goes unanswered.
If I could write this again, I would not call it reporting at all, but rather pass on to my fellow consumers that I, as a consumer, had called and was given less than adequate information and no follow up.