Freedom Food or Free Range - what's the difference? Our guide gives you the facts behind the labels
Around 30% of organic chickens in our shops are certified by the Soil Association, which insists on higher standards of welfare than other organic bodies which follow EU rules. For example, their flocks are ideally 500 birds, with a maximum of 2,000. EU rules allow up to 4,800.
“Organic birds raised to Soil Association standards are genuinely ‘free-range’,” says Robin Maynard of the Soil Association. “With some other systems, the flocks are so large, several thousand birds strong, that many birds never venture out of doors.”
Under Soil Association rules, up to 1,000 birds can live in each shed, with no more than 10 chickens per square metre. Feed is free from GM and has been produced without the use of pesticides. Age at slaughter is a minimum of 81 days – twice the length of a ‘standard’ chicken.
Typical price per chicken – (Soil Association, 1.6 kilos): £8
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Hugh wants everyone to make the switch to free-range chicken
