A Better Chicken

The old saying "You are what you eat" also applies to the animals we consume. That's not great news for conventional chickens or the people who eat them. Your average chicken feed contains some not-so-appetizing ingredients such as arsenic and rendered animal by-products. One thing you don't have to worry about is added hormones since it's against USDA regulations to feed them to any bird.

Many of the packaged birds we see in grocery stores were raised indoors on factory farms where thousands of chickens are crowded into small cages filled with the horrible stench of piled-up feces, rarely cleaned from the floors. Disease can spread easily under such confined conditions, so to prevent illness conventional chickens are routinely fed low dosages of antibiotics and arsenic, which also helps to fatten them up as quickly and cheaply as possible.

All the low-dose antibiotics administered aren't changing the fact that many chickens and eggs have salmonella and other bacteria that can make you sick if the food isn't cooked properly. Preemptive antibiotics found in poultry are also causing a rise in drug-resistant bacteria in the humans who eat them, so when people get sick with certain types of illnesses, common antibiotics may not work. Arsenic, a poisonous metal, causes cancer and may contribute to heart disease, diabetes, a decline in mental functioning, and hormone disruption, says the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy's David Wallinga, who also points out that these health effects are dose dependent -- the higher the exposure level, the higher the risk. Feed containing animal by-products can also be contaminated with dioxins and PCBs, probable carcinogens that accumulate in the fat of animals and get passed up the food chain.

Raising poultry and eggs can be tough on the environment, the animals, and the people who work on factory farms. Chicken waste becomes pollution; manure contaminates rivers and groundwater, and ammonia emissions from it can pollute the air. A lot of grain, water, and fossil fuels are used when raising chicken and eggs, although if they are raised locally at least they don't have to be shipped across the country. Animals are typically raised inhumanely, and workers aren't always treated well.

Green

•  Wash hands, countertops, and cutting boards in hot, soapy water after handling raw poultry. Thoroughly cook eggs and poultry and throw out cracked or dirty eggs. See the USDA's Safe Food Handling Fact Sheet for more suggestions​.

Greener

•  Buy organic whenever possible. Look for poultry with the Certified Humane Raised and Handled label or birds raised without antibiotics when organic is not an option. You can also look for local sources of chicken and eggs, which will likely taste better if they've been raised well, but there are no guarantees without the USDA Certified Organic seal of approval.

Greenest

•  Take action. Go to www​.keepantibioticsworking​.com to find out what you can do to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics.

Reprinted from Green, Greener, Greenest by Lori Bongiorno by arrangement with Perigee, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., Copyright © 2008 by Lori Bongiorno. Buy the book on Amazon.

Conventionally-raised chickens are routinely fed low dosages of antibiotics and arsenic. Look for the USDA Certified Organic seal when choosing chicken for dinner.	Head to the farmer's market for local eggs and chickens raised on grain and without antibiotics. Farm fresh eggs not only taste better, they use less fuel to get to your plate.	Avoid unnecessary antibiotics in your meat. Conventional livestock is routinely dosed with antibiotics, leading increased drug-resistant bacteria. Infections that are resistant to antibiotics are difficult to treat, in livestock and humans.

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