Is Trader Joe's Chicken Humane?

Tonight, I ponied up for the organic chicken cutlets at TJ's, and Will made a great Chicken Marsala with it. Have to say, they were much moister than my typical frozen non-organic cutlets.

To try to understand if regular Trader Joe's poultry is humane, I talked to the manager at my Silver Lake store. I was impressed with how knowledgeable he was -- the manger at the Santa Monica Blvd TJ's in We Ho had no idea about any of it.

Here's the low-down. There are three categories of chicken at Trader Joe's:
Butcher Shop (red label):

• conventionally raised
• primarily vegetarian feed
• cage-free
• no beak docking
• get antibiotics when sick

All Natural (green and brown label)

• cage free
• no beak docking
• not sure if the feed is all-vegetarian or not (didn't write it down)
• no antibiotics
• if a bird gets sick, it gets antibiotics, and joins the Conventional group

 Organic (labeled as such)

• organic, all vegetarian grain feed
• free-range (I think this means birds have some outdoor access, though it doesn't necessarily mean the birds use it or that it has grass on it. Could just be a concrete slab or gravel.)

But as the Humane Society says, Organic doesn't necessarily mean cruelty free. The more I learn, the more I'm realizing that it's REALLY hard to tell how animals were raised. 

Just sent them the following via their contact form:

Hi.

I am a frequent shopper at TJs, and have been for over 10 years now.

I just took a pledge not to eat factory farm meat so am now having to do a lot of research to find out where my meat comes from!

I'm starting to learn about the different categories of chickens -- organic, free range, etc. and found out that a chicken can be organic and free-range but never go outside and still be crowded in a huge facility (it only has to have ACCESS to outside and the outdoor space can be a concrete slab). So I guess I'm using "density" as my measure now.

Can you tell me the maximum density of birds for your different labels--butcher shop, natural and organic?

I'll compare those numbers to the brochures that I saw at Whole Foods--they have a rating system of 1 - 5 for animal welfare, which makes it easy to understand. I hope you can do something similar. Makes it easier to understand what we're buying.

Katy

First Restaurant Response!

Kudos to Z Pizza for actually writing back! My first response. Here's what they said:

Dear Katy,

Thank you for contacting us at zpizza. We are glad to hear that you enjoyed your office lunch! Although our meats have many benefits to them (no MSG, no nitrates, etc.) they are not free range at this time. Because of this, an alternative for you might be our veggie crumbles which are a sausage substitute. Again, thanks for your interest and reaching out to us.

Thank you,
Brandi

I told her to let me know when they have some factory farm free options and I'll be right over to pick up a large pepperoni and sausage.  She said she would. So A+ for customer service but no dice on the FFF (factory farm free) meat.

Z Pizza -- Organic Veggies, But Not Meat

Had a lunch meeting today with pizza from Z Pizza. Was stoked because the pizza is super organic, PC, etc. Figured I had a shot at eating the pepperoni or sausage. Checked out their site real quick to verify and NO SUCH LUCK. Though they provide a lot of helpful, awesome info about their ingredients, there's nothing about it being organic or otherwise not from a factory farm. D'oh.

Also had my second vegetarian dinner in a row last night. I absent-mindedly (yes I just made that into an adverb) pulled a Trader Joe's frozen Beef Stroganoff (so good!!!) out to nuke or saute. But then remembered The Pledge. Sad face. Had mushroom ravioli instead. Will is going to take one for the team and finish all the factory farm meat products in the house for me as not to waste them.

I'm going to take a walk to Clementine later today to harass them as they've not gotten back to my email. No one has, actually!

Kudos to Whole Paycheck

No word back from the supplier of Green Leaf Chop Shop, U.S. Foods, so in the fridge my chili stays. Was getting stir crazy in the office (the one bad part about free lunch on Wednesdays--there's no incentive to leave all day) so walked to Whole Foods. Their Global Animal Partnership ratings are AWESOME! I can eat everything there! Settled for some chicken soup that I brought back to the office. It's no turkey white bean chili but is guaranteed from happy chickens. Or at least not tortured, mangy ones.

No Soup for You!

Day 2. On Wednesdays, we get free lunch at work, catered by Green Leaf Chop Shop. They're serving my favorite soup: turkey and white bean chili. However, after I served myself a bowl I realized I shouldn't eat it until I find out if the meat was factory farm free (fff). Emailed the vendor. Soup getting cold. Why is this so hard!? Ugh. I blame the U.S. government for not regulating this for us. Surely no one thinks it's OK to keep animals the way we do. The only reason we can is because it's totally hidden from everyone. Sigh.

No More Factory Farmed Meat!

Family and Friends:

After watching Food, Inc. I started buying only organic milk and eggs, even though they're much more expensive. I tried to buy only non-factory farmed meat but wasn't strict about it. I basically did it when it was convenient.

This awesome video from Australia just inspired me to take the pledge not to eat ANY factory farmed meat. It's not gory or anything--just singing pigs. :)

This means asking restaurants where they get their meat from, which is always awkward and an inconvenience. Also really limits where I can eat—I'm assuming some of my favorite spots use factory farmed meat: Il Capricio, Jitlada, Home Restaurant, etc. Also means I can't buy 99% of the meat that Albertson's sells, which sucks because it's literally a block a way from our apartment. I'm going to be a stickler about it, so get ready. I may make an exception for meat served at friend's houses… we'll see.

I'm sharing this with you all because I want to be accountable and not fall off the wagon. Please help me live with principle! Anyway, check it out.

 Katy