What Are Free Range Meats?
Free range meats are cuts of meat from animals that are allowed unlimited access to pastures, rather than being kept in close and some say, inhumane, small pens. Free range meats include meats from cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry. In the past, particularly poultry were subject to living in very tightly enclosed spaces. Now free range meat from chickens comes from chickens that are allowed a much greater space to roam, although they still may be in large enclosed hen or chicken houses. Free range meats cannot be called so unless animal breeders follow guidelines set forth by the government in which they are being sold. For example, the US Department of Agriculture controls guidelines for free range meats in the US. Sometimes others criticize these guidelines as still being considered cruel.
