Free range

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Free range is a method of farming husbandry where the animals are permitted to roam freely instead of being contained in any manner. The principle is to allow the animals as much freedom as possible, to live out their instinctual behaviours in a reasonably natural way, regardless of whether or not they are eventually killed for meat. One of the many uses of free range animals is for some rudimentary insect population control in the free range area.

There is free range meat, free range eggs and free range dairy farming.

In ranching, free range livestock are permitted to roam without being fenced in, as opposed to fenced-in pastures. In many of the agriculture based economies, free range livestock are quite common. Some animals like the goat will only thrive on a free range diet.

Definition

The U.S. Department of Agriculture requires that chickens raised for their meat have access to the outdoors in order to receive the free-range certification. Free-range chicken eggs, however, have no legal definition in the United States. Likewise, free-range egg producers have no common standard on what the term means. Many egg farmers sell their eggs as free range merely because their cages are 2 or 3 inches above average size, or there is a window in the shed.

According to the USDA, "free-range" beef, pork, and other non-poultry products are loosely defined as coming from animals who ate grass and lived on a range. No other criteria-such as the size of the range or the amount of space given to each animal-are required before beef, lamb, and pork can be called "free-range." "Free-range" and "free-roaming" facilities are rarely inspected or verified to be in compliance with these two criteria. The USDA relies "upon producer testimonials to support the accuracy of these claims."

In the UK, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs says that a free range chicken must have daytime access to open-air runs during at least half of their life. Unlike in the United States, this definition also applies to eggs ^[1].

The European Union regulates marketing standards for egg farming which specifies a minimum condition for Free Range Eggs states that hens have continuous daytime access to open-air runs, except in the case of temporary restrictions imposed by veterinary authorities ^[2].

Terminology in American Chinese Immigrant Cuisine

Authentic restaurants with Chinese-language menus may offer 黃毛鶏 (Yale Cantonese: wòhng mouh gāai [Pinyin huang mao ji], literally yellow-hair chicken), essentially a free-range chicken.

Terminology in Japanese Cuisine

地鶏　(jidori) are Japanese species of chicken which are required by Japanese law to meet free-range requirements for at least 28 days.

See also

• Ethical consumerism
• Moral purchasing
• Grass fed beef

References

• ↑  UK definition
• ↑  European Union Regulation for marketing standards for eggs