Australians eat a staggering number of chickens each year. An extreme minority are raised on pasture, with the vast majority confined in sheds. Even if you’re buying ‘free range’ or even organic chicken from a supermarket, chances are you’d be appalled at the conditions in which these chickens live and die.
So, what is an ethical solution for those who want a little bit of chicken meat in our diet? First of all, remember those wise words of Michael Pollan: ‘eat food, not too much, mostly plants’. You don’t need to eat meat every day. Think of quality, ethically- grown meat as a treat: buying ethically raised meat is going to cost you more. Either source your chicken directly from a small-scale farmer, who is raising the birds on pasture (best for the farmer), or through an ethically-driven meat provedore such as Feather and Bone, who can tell you about the farms and farmers they source their meat from. (See article page 56)