Saturday, October 08, 2011

Chicken and Hormones

Ever since I have become obsessed (out of necessity of course) with the labels on food, I have come to realize how much junk is in things. I can totally see why people are going towards the "whole and real food" way of eating. I am all about eating an apple instead of apple juice, homemade bread vs store bought, making my own granola instead of buying the bars, etc...BUT, I am also not totally sold on the whole organic thing. I think there is some validity to what they say, but it is so stinking expensive to shop at stores like Earth Fare or Whole Foods. The thing that is really getting to me lately is the whole chicken thing. I buy my chicken from Sams. I LOVE the price and I also love that I can use two chicken breasts to feed my family of five (really 6 if you count the chicken that eventually trickles into my milk).

But what about the inhumane way that these chickens are being raised? What are the long term consequences of eating chicken that is filled with hormones and such to make them way bigger than they naturally are? I just don't know. How can I afford to feed my family if all of my food budget goes toward meat from Earth Fare? I can just hear myself now, "Sorry kids, there's no food in the cupboards but at least what you do eat is supposedly the best money can buy." I say supposedly because really what if the whole organic thing is just a big old scam? What if those chickens are given the exact same hormones just in lower doses or maybe they are given something way worse? AHHHH!! I just don't know. The real solution is to just have a huge garden in my backyard and my very own chicken coup for eggs and even a couple cows for milk. So I guess we need to live on a farm. We never should've moved away from Idaho. :)

But until that day, I think I'll just keeping buying my hormone filled chicken at Sam's Club and hopefully we won't all die from cancer in the meantime.

2 comments:

Andrea said...

I can understand your concern. You do get some freaky huge mutant chicken breasts! :)

Marty said...

Melissa, sorry to burst your bubble but chickens in the U.S. (and Canada) are never given hormones. That's illegal and has been for over 40 years, not just here in North America, but in most chicken producing nations around the world. That's a huge myth that we constantly have to dispel.

Instead, our farmers take pride in raising our birds the best way we can; feeding a nutritious blend of grain, grain by-products, seeds, protein and vitamins and minerals to make them grow up healthy and as delicious as they've always been.

As we are families too (most chicken farms in Canada are owned and operated by farm families), we have the same concerns about feeding our families the safest, healthiest products out there. And, for decades, we have developed and maintained one of the best reputations out there.

So thank you for the opportunity to dispel the hormone myth, again, and keep up the blogging.

Marty
Chicken Farmers of Canada

Blog Archive