The Market for Organic/Pastured Poultry is Growing

This article sheds some light on the growing consumer demand for organic chicken.

http://www.thestar.com/living/article/496247

I ordered a bird myself at $5.19/lb & will pick it up this weekend. I am considering doing this on a small scale myself, but with silkies since there is a large Asian market for these birds 1/2 hr from me. I'm sure the silkies would go for a premium price. Check out the prices for other products that are offered by this butcher....

http://www.thehealthybutcher.com/orderform.html

Ouch wings are $4.39 a pound. Time to give my roosters flying lessons.

OH WOW! That sounds soooo good. Wish I could eat mine right NOW. Mustard flour- sounds interesting, I am going to look into that. I would like to give my birds a unique flavor edge! I wonder where one would get it?

I wonder if mustard greens would work.

Wow Those price,

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I just want the recipe for that LUSCIOUS looking chicken-pot pie on their "products" page!

I'm all in favor of organic, sustainably raised food, but I don't think the writer of this article knows much about chickens.

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"Cab Calloway said, "A chicken ain't nothing but a bird," but he was wrong. Although a fine musician, my guess is he never tasted pasture-raised chicken."

When Cab Calloway was around, I bet most chicken was pasture raised, or free range in the yard, anyway. Cab was around way before the modern CAFO.

Soy and mustard flour might indeed make chicken taste different, but it's not what I'd call a natural diet, by any stretch of the imagination.

And as for chickens being "birdbrains" and not having sense enough to seek shelter from the elements, that's just not true. My free range birds are pretty good at getting out of the rain, or out of the sun if it's too hot, etc. The shelter and shade just have to be available, they'll use it.

These folks have found a niche market with people who have lots of money to spend on specialty food. More power to them, but I don't think this is a true reflection of the organic, sustainable food movement. The real change will come from good food that's good for you being more readily available, and not quite so pricey. I'm not saying the same price as supermarket CAFO meat, that's not likely, as it's more expensive to produce. But it has to be within reach for people who aren't rich.

And I wish people who write articles like this actually had a clue what they're talking about.

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I agree with you 100%.This would never hold up in my area.There may be a few that would pay the price but not many.Probably more people would laugh than buy.I really think everybody wants to eat healthier but for the working class people they just can't afford to pay for the organic tag. Will

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The only people laughing are the owners. All the way to the bank. One was a lawyer, the other an investment banker. They gave that up to become butchers.

There are almost 2.5 million people living in Toronto, & the average house price is $400,000.
http://www.midtowntoronto.com/2008/02/14/average-price-of-a-home-in-toronto-400000/

So there is plenty of people willing to spend top dollar for a product that they can't raise in the city or find elsewhere.

I see this as a growth market as more & more people want to eat healthier products. The fact I live so close to this area, makes me want to consider a business venture with organically raised poultry. I'm going to look into the requirements for getting certified organic in Canada.

I look at it this way. What's the worst that could happen? I end up with more chickens. A win-win situation if you ask me.

Another thing about organic, just because it is certified does not mean it is good or was raised correctly. I have seen some of the worst looking chickens come from certified farms. I'll take a non-certified anything from a grower I know and trust rather than overpriced certified produce from someone I don't know. That's how it works with the birds I raise. My customers know me and trust me. I tell them anything they want to know about the birds, what they were fed, how much they ranged, etc. Its the relationship between grower and customer that makes small scale ag successful, not some label that has lost a ton of meaning in recent times. When certified organic started showing up in Wally World I knew it was the beginning of the end for what it is suppossed to stand for.

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The article clearly states the poultry are pastured on alfalfa fields during the day. The soy & mustard flour are OBVIOUSLY a feed supplement & NOT the main component of their diet.