Comment on Sept. 7, 2021, New York Times article, “Lawsuits Over ‘Misleading’ Food Labels Surge as Groups Cite Lax U.S. Oversight”
I was stunned to see this article, moments after filing a complaint with our local poultry supplier, Rosie the Organic Chicken, based in Petaluma, famous as a chicken-growing town. I looked very carefully at their packaging, which trumpets their "organic" brand and says they are "animal welfare certified" in the sense of allowing the chickens "free movement," but interestingly there is NOTHING there about being "humanely treated." Never before in my 50-odd years of being a cook have I seen roasting chickens clearly bruised before death, as I have twice before in the past year. I didn't complain last fall, figuring we all had other things to worry about, and I have been careful ever since to peer under the labeling to see the state of each bird, but when yesterday my chicken turned out to have two broken thighbones, one a spiral fracture, I finally sent them a photo and lodged a complaint by phone. At first, the lady said "oh, well, you know, those chickens can get pretty rough with each other," to which I told her I had raised chickens myself and knew they could never inflict THIS kind of damage. They have opened a case and will refund my money, but I am more interested in never seeing that kind of sickening abuse again. If they want to turn us all into vegetarians, they should just keep ignoring humane practices and I will be happy never to buy chicken again.