Home on the Free-Range

After a relaxing Thanksgiving hiatus that turned into a lovely tour of the Northeast, (namely Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut), it's back to NYC and my cozy little apartment. I say cozy because my room only measures a mere 10' x 12' and the building's thermostat is currently set on "inferno."

Some R & R over the past few days was certainly a refresher for the mind, body (well, maybe too much pie on that front), and soul. Now, I'm all geared up to tackle the remainder of 2009 with fervor and embrace this joyous holiday season with open arms.

Which leads me into the completely unrelated topic of free-range chickens.

My Mother is a born-and-raised Vermonter. (Thanks to her; a love for Grade A, Dark Amber Maple Syrup). This Thanksgiving, per the norm tradition on major holidays, we traveled up North to visit family. As we pulled into the road that leads up to my Grandparents' house, we were thrilled to be greeted by the neighbor's newly acquired free-range/cage-free flock of 35 chickens and 2 roosters.

I've seen many a chicken, and well, tasted them too. But never before in my life have I seen chickens so healthy and happy. They were going about their own chicken business as chickens are meant to do: scuttling about in the woods, scratching the ground for insects to eat, running across the grass, flapping their wings, and in the evening - diligently returning to their clean, well-built and roomy shed together to roost. (A chicken, like any bird, naturally likes to perch while it sleeps). Every single fowl had unhindered access to fresh food to eat, clean water to drink, rocks to climb on, and plenty of room to stretch their legs. No hormones. No antibiotics. Just plain happy Green Mountain chickens.

We harvested twenty-four of their freshly-laid eggs and whipped up some omelets two days later for breakfast after refrigerating them overnight. They tasted absolutely delicious. Hearty, bright yellow yolks, and perfectly natural and nutritious the way nature intended.

Even if quality eggs and meat backwardly cost me slightly more in this industrialized food society of ours, and I ultimately end up eating less of them in my diet, I have vowed to try my very best never to eat a NON free-range/cage-free chicken or egg ever again. Because if the living conditions of the animal whose product I buy are anything but what I had the pleasure of experiencing, it's not worth the creature's suffering or inhumane treatment. A chicken with a life well-lived, with clean air to breathe and grassy patches to roam, is simply the more responsible and ethical choice on my plate.