What's

Pasture Raised

So, what exactly does pasture raised mean, and how is it different from the other labels you see on chicken and chicken products?

For starters, access to the outdoors isn’t just an easy process for pasture raised chicken. Chickens raised on pasture spend actual time outdoors, with a minimum space of 108 square feet per chicken, while 108 square feet may not sound like much to a human, it’s pretty spacious for a chicken. Access to the outdoors is just one of the many perks that pasture raised chickens enjoy, outside they get to peck, scratch, forage, and behave as chickens were meant to do. This unfettered access to a nutrient dense green environment, natural diet not only improves chicken’s health during their lifetime, but it results in more healthy, nutritious meat and egg for consumers. In fact, pasture raised chicken has been shown to have 50% more vitamins A and E than conventionally raised chicken, as well as being lower in saturated fat and 3 times higher in omega 3s. The authors concluded that pasture activities were directly linked to the health quality of the meat and eggs, while maintaining the nutritious values.

These findings are key reasons for our recommendation that chicken be purchased not only when certified as organic, but also when genuinely pasture-raised.