New Rules Could Take Bacon Off the Table in California

WheatenLover said:
I once bought an actual (not lied about) free range, organic chicken for $25. It did not taste any different than typical grocery store chicken. Plus I couldn't afford to shell out that kind of money. I was expecting it to be really great tasting, and I wanted to see if it was true.
Click to expand...
The actual taste of a chicken is affected by what it eats. Just because it's free range doesn't mean it's can't be given other scraps to augment it's feed and what it finds in the yard. Age and breed of the bird can affect flavor as well. One final thing to paraphrase Jacques Pepin said, give 30 cooks a chicken to roast and you'll get 30 different roast chickens.
 

Living in an area surrounded by chicken houses, I was curious as to what constitutes a free range chicken. Before you spend your hard earned money on them, see what the USDA say's.
When the USDA certifies a package of chicken as free range, it means that the chicken had access to the outdoors. There are no requirements for length of time spent outdoors, the size of the outdoor area or the type of ground cover. There is no guarantee that the chicken ever ventured out of the enclosure. 😲 So, leaving the door of the chicken house open for a few minutes now allows you to call them "Free Range". It's always about the $$$$$ people.
 
Oris Borloff said:
The actual taste of a chicken is affected by what it eats. Just because it's free range doesn't mean it's can't be given other scraps to augment it's feed and what it finds in the yard. Age and breed of the bird can affect flavor as well. One final thing to paraphrase Jacques Pepin said, give 30 cooks a chicken to roast and you'll get 30 different roast chickens.
Click to expand...
I like Jacques Pepin. Have you read his autobiography? He's had an amazing and interesting life.

I knew the farmer of the chicken I bought. Maybe my taste buds aren't discerning since I could not tell any difference in flavor.
 

OneEyedDiva said:
If people knew the nastiness involved from the time the pig is killed and reaches their tables they wouldn't eat pork at all. The Bible warns against eating pork, the Quran warns us not to eat pork and I assume the Torah does too since Orthodox Jews don't eat it. Don't we think God knows what he's talking about? I saw a documentary in which people who lived near a pork processing plant couldn't even stand to come out of their homes the smell was so bad. Bacon is one of the processed meats that has been linked to cancer. The people in California should consider themselves fortunate if they are forced to eliminate bacon from their tables. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/bacon-cancer
Click to expand...
I will never, repeat NEVER, give up eating pork. Pork roast, pork chops , pork sausage, Bar-B-Q pork ribs smothered in a sweet and sour sauce, and bacon. Yum ! :love:
 
Last edited:
WheatenLover said:
I like Jacques Pepin. Have you read his autobiography? He's had an amazing and interesting life.

I knew the farmer of the chicken I bought. Maybe my taste buds aren't discerning since I could not tell any difference in flavor.
Click to expand...
Yes, I have read his autobiography. I especially enjoyed his first success when he had to prepare a meal for a late arriving guest as he was the only cook on site at the time. The best roast chicken I ever made was from his recipe and it was a high temperature oven, don't remember if it was 450 or 500. Came out fabulously crispy and very juicy. I only made it the one time though, as it made a big mess in the oven.

Depending on what your regular chicken is, the difference may not have been that great. I know from my experience that when we lived in Omaha our regular grocery store had chicken from a local grower. The chicken had a distinctive flavor. This store had an exceptional meat dept. more of an old fashioned butcher shop style.

The other was a product sold under the Smart Chicken brand out of Tecumpseh, NE when it only had regional distribution. It was also a distinctive tasting bird. There were financial problems and the company changed management and the product changed to a vegetarian fed bird that was sent to market much earlier. To my taste it didn't have any flavor and we stopped buying it. I don't know what the current state of affairs is as this was at least 15 years ago.
 
My God. What's next ? Mandatory anti-depressants for farm animals that keeps them from too much worry?
All this anthropomorphizing of animals is making me crazy.
 
Granny B. said:
Animals give their lives for people to eat, and there is no reason they need to be treated inhumanely while they are alive. I'm for any new rules that stop abuse. Bacon lovers can just get over it.:mad:
Click to expand...
I'm with you but for a different reason:
Two rashers of bacon can contain up to 2.84g of salt, but the recommended daily maximum is 6g. So, one bacon sandwich, with bread and sauces, both of which are contain salt, could easily take you well on the way to the daily maximum.
 
horseless carriage said:
I'm with you but for a different reason:
Two rashers of bacon can contain up to 2.84g of salt, but the recommended daily maximum is 6g. So, one bacon sandwich, with bread and sauces, both of which are contain salt, could easily take you well on the way to the daily maximum.
Click to expand...
When I make a bacon sandwich for myself, I use 5 strips of bacon. Yum . I use a lot of salt on my food. They claim that salt causes high blood pressure. Mine has remained 110/73 for the last 3 decades.
Ultimately, all of us will die. I believe that since we only get to go around once, I might as well live for today. :cool:
I'd rather live one year as a lion than to live 10 years as a rabbit.
 
squatting dog said:
Living in an area surrounded by chicken houses, I was curious as to what constitutes a free range chicken. Before you spend your hard earned money on them, see what the USDA say's.
When the USDA certifies a package of chicken as free range, it means that the chicken had access to the outdoors. There are no requirements for length of time spent outdoors, the size of the outdoor area or the type of ground cover. There is no guarantee that the chicken ever ventured out of the enclosure. 😲 So, leaving the door of the chicken house open for a few minutes now allows you to call them "Free Range". It's always about the $$$$$ people.
Click to expand...
^^^^ Bingo.
Years ago, several grocery stores, including "Whole Foods" paid big fines for fraud when they displayed produce with an "Organic" sign &, of course, a higher price. A team of undercover health inspectors bought the "Organic" produce & tested it in labs. Big surprise - almost all of it was not organic. What stores will do is display produce (like apples) that is usually sprayed with a wax to make it shine under the store's special ceiling lights & display some non-organic produce that hasn't been sprayed to make it look like it's organic, because the organic produce is not sprayed, so it has a dull color.
It's simple math; the store makes more money on the fraud than they pay in fines, so why should they stop doing it?
 
My breakfast isn't complete without a slice of bacon. "Animal welfare" would be nice....IF the farmers, etc., weren't tasked with trying to feed an increasing population without driving prices to ridiculous levels. If people refused to buy any food products that weren't either "organic" or "free range", the grocery store shelves would be half empty, and half the people wouldn't be able to afford 3 meals a day.
 
Don M. said:
My breakfast isn't complete without a slice of bacon. "Animal welfare" would be nice....IF the farmers, etc., weren't tasked with trying to feed an increasing population without driving prices to ridiculous levels. If people refused to buy any food products that weren't either "organic" or "free range", the grocery store shelves would be half empty, and half the people wouldn't be able to afford 3 meals a day.
Click to expand...
HAHA. A chef on TV (Rick Bayless) had an apron that said "Bacon is meat candy" on it.
 
Don M. said:
My breakfast isn't complete without a slice of bacon. "Animal welfare" would be nice....IF the farmers, etc., weren't tasked with trying to feed an increasing population without driving prices to ridiculous levels. If people refused to buy any food products that weren't either "organic" or "free range", the grocery store shelves would be half empty, and half the people wouldn't be able to afford 3 meals a day.
Click to expand...
I agree!

I believe that animals should be treated as humanely as possible but prices will ultimately drive this issue.

The other day I picked up a 12oz package of bacon marked $6.99. Trust me, at those prices the pigs are safe from your old Aunt Bea!
 
Capt Lightning said:
Wow.. that's almost twice UK prices.
Click to expand...
Usually it is $3.99 so I was a little bit surprised.

That was for water plumped vacuum packed bacon.

The dry old fashioned sliced slab bacon usually runs $5.99/pound.

The supermarket meat that is normally available to me has pretty much lost its WoW factor.

Soon I’ll be like the Welshman that went hunting and ended up with a plate of Welsh Rabbit for his tea.;)
 
Last edited:

Back
Top