This kind of chicken is hard to find!

I have to start this off with a funny skit from the show "Portlandia" that my friend Jess made me watch.  When I told her that Joe and I want to know where our chicken comes from when we eat out, she put this on for me and it was perfect:

How I wish someone would bring us a portfolio of our chicken! But then we probably wouldn't be able to enjoy our meal after seeing the little cutie.  We do look for some information on the meat source or we ask.  Eric Leong, owner of Forbidden City Bistro in Middletown, CT  shares with us where his food comes from.  Eric sources organic and at least pasture raised chicken when possible. He is always looking for the freshest alternative and is very open about the wonderful dishes created in his restaurant.  Another restaurant we frequent is the "Oyster Club" in Mystic, CT.  They are a pioneer restaurant for the Farm to Table movement in Connecticut.  They source their food fresh daily from only local farmers for all produce and meat.  When we eat out at these establishments, we can eat with a clean conscience.

We have looked at the pros and cons of poultry from various providers. We have found what we believe to be one of the few if not the only poultry farm that is doing it all perfectly here in CT. What is important to us is that our chickens are:

1. Pasture raised.  This means feeding on grass and bugs in open air, freely, walking in a pasture setting, on grass, in the sunlight.  This is not to be confused with the abused label of being free ranged, which means they only need to be exposed to the outdoors.  This has been taken advantage of by some farms which still house most of their chickens indoors with a small fenced opening to the outdoors.

2. Organically fed. 

3. Organically fed non-GMO feed. 

4. Processed on the farm site and sold directly to customers via market or CSA. 

5. Never antibiotics or hormones

Believe it or not, these four things are hard to find in a chicken farm. We were very excited to meet Nichki Carangelo of The Wooly Pig .Their chicken  is DELICIOUS!!! and we feel so great about eating it. 

If you are not aware of what is happening all across the country  at chicken farms which supply most of our grocery stores and fast food restaurants with poultry, you will be shocked to learn the truth. If you watch the documentary Food Inc. you may never eat chicken or beef again. 

Why the ag-gag law doesn't allow video or photography inside chicken farms