On the board today is a young rooster, born in December. When you raise heritage breeds of chickens on open pasture and woodland, each bird is unique. It takes nearly a half a year for these birds to get to butchering size. A truly great rooster takes a full year to raise.
Each bird has a long story. A rich childhood with its mother and siblings. A period of young adulthood shared with its siblings, followed by a more independent adulthood, with plenty of opportunities to explore chicken love.
Modern factory farming is all about denying birds their uniqueness. It is about cutting expenditures to the bone and producing as much meat as possible and making everything the same. It makes fast food possible with its buckets of inexpensive fried chicken. Cheap food demands cheap wages which demands even cheaper food in a never ending cycle of ever decreasing quality and satisfaction. In the end it leaves us all poorer.
It deprives us of experiencing the richness of a hearty meal of slow-roasted fowl. Try finding a year old fowl to enjoy in your supermarket or butcher. I’ll be roasting this bird today at 190ºF. Come back this evening to see how it turns out.