What does Pasture-Raised actually mean?

Hello and welcome to my first blog post! Here, I hope to provide educational content, share farm news, leave recipes, and more!

I’ve come to learn that while the idea of buying your food locally is (thankfully) on the rise, many might not know that’s even a realistic option. Even more likely, you don’t know what pasture raised means vs free range vs how the big commercial farms do it. I’d like to provide some brief clarity on all the terms you see out there, so you can make better informed choices about where your food is coming from!

If you’re getting your meat from the grocery store, it’s very likely that those animals were packed tightly in barns and feed lots, where they are pumped full of grain and antibiotics to get fat quick. Some other inhumane treatment often comes along with that method as well.

Next, you have free range. You might see this at the grocery store too, but free range can be a tricky term. While the United States Department of Agriculture defines free range as having continuous access to the outdoors, there is a lack of clarity as to what those outdoor conditions are. Larger farms could choose to give very limited time outside and are free to stock one area with as many chickens as they want, not leaving a whole lot of space for them to forage.

The final option is pasture raised, where chickens are raised with grass under their feet, allowed to forage, and are consistently moved to a fresh clean environment daily through a rotational grazing system. Anything they can’t forage for is supplemented with non-gmo feed.

So when you buy meat from JB’s, you can be assured that your chicken was kept clean, healthy, and raised naturally.