There is considerable confusion among consumers as to the terms “free-roaming”, “pasture-grown”, “pasture-fed”, “pasture raised” and “free-range”. Accordingly Perdue Farms, Inc. filed a petition with the USDA-FSIS in March requiring the Agency to define and differentiate between “free range” and “pasture-raised” management systems. Perdue proposed that “pasture-raised” should require chickens to spend at least the majority of their lives physically on pasture, defined as land covered in the majority with rooted-in-soil vegetation.
Kestral Burcham, representing the Cornucopia Institute, supported the Perdue petition noting, “Cornucopia concurs that FSIS should amend its interpretation of “free-range” raised chickens as defined in its current guideline document and to remove “pasture-raised” from the list of claims synonymous with “Free-Range”. Cornucopia is in agreement with Perdue Foods that “pasture-raised” claim should be separate from all other descriptors used for housing systems and should conform to clearly defined standards.