2015

Wake up! There's no hormones or steroids in Canadian Chicken

Wake up! There's no hormones or steroids in Canadian Chicken
[caption id="attachment_19675" align="alignright" width="323"]BC Chicken Squad live on location at Choices MarketChicken Squad - live on location at Choices Market, Kitsilano/Vancouver[/caption]

Misconceptions, misinformation, misunderstandings -- there's a whole lot of 'mis'-ses when it comes to our understanding of the poultry industry in Canada.

Thankfully the BC Chicken Marketing Board has stepped in to engage people in conversations where they live, shop and socialize. With the help of the latest Chicken Squad campaign, the conversations are fun, entertaining and educational.

Recently, I connected with a few BC Chicken Farmers at a Chicken Squad live-on-location event in Vancouver. They were kind enough to spend some time with me and walk me through the Poultry in Motion barn on wheels, tell me the differences between 'free range' and 'free run', and shared some impressive statistics about chicken in Canada.

Me, a couple of BC chicken farmers, an iPhone and Periscope - the interviews that were


My first interview was with Bev, a chicken farmer from Vancouver Island. She gave me the tour of the " Poultry in Motion " Educational Mini-barn on wheels. Super cool trailer that makes its way around to schools, events and fairs to educate people of all ages about the chicken farming industry and some of the best practices of the farmers and trades people, including the BC Chicken Squad. Check out the interview :

https://youtu.be/B_TmABueVLE

Following Bev I had the awesome opportunity to meet Dave Reid of Thomas Reid Farms. Their claim to fame? They were the first organic chicken farm in BC (and quite possibly Canada). Dave was a great sport and provided some amazing info explaining some of the differences in free range, free run and organic chicken. You can watch the interview  here.

https://youtu.be/yImTNUo4ECU

Another big reason for the Chicken Farmer appearances is that as of July 31st, movie goers across BC have a chance to see the Chicken Squad in action on big screens at select Cineplex theaters. However, this begs the question, ' who is the BC Chicken Squad '?

Who is the 'BC Chicken Squad'?


The 'Chicken Squad' is group of BC Farmers who got together to make an action movie trailer parody. The spoof follows a fictional agency inspired by the real team of provincial inspectors who enforce Canadian food standards in British Columbia. The real inspectors are unarmed and don't bust bad guys, but instead work with farmers and regulators to make sure all the chicken raised in BC meets the On Farm Food Safety, Animal Care and Biosecurity guidelines.

[tweet_box inject="#ChickenSquad c/of @BCChickenSquad" design="box_12"]FACT: Hormones and steroids have been banned in Canadian chicken production since 1963[/tweet_box]

To make the programs work, the BC Chicken Marketing Board has inspectors that audit every chicken farm in BC once a year. They're tasked with ensuring that all chicken farmers are after the high standards for food safety and animal care. The farms are audited for food safety, animal care and biosecurity. Chicken farmers must be in good standing with their audits to keep their permit to raise chicken in Canada. These auditors are like the real-deal, “Chicken Squad.” (and with 331 registered chicken farms in BC alone, they have their work cut out for them!)

[toggle title="The Chicken Squad official movie trailer" state="open"]

The Real Chicken Farmers of British Columbia star in the heart-pounding action thriller CHICKEN SQUAD.

Ravi Bathe and Chris Kloot of the Lower Mainland play agents in the Chicken Squad, an elite enforcement agency protecting the local chicken supply from the foreign import of hormones and steroids, which have been banned in Canada since 1963.

When the Chicken Squad discovers the plot of a sinister international syndicate to introduce hormones and steroids onto the black market they must go undercover to protect the integrity of the province's chicken supply.

CHICKEN SQUAD is produced by the BC Chicken Marketing Board and BC Chicken Growers' Association.

Go behind the scenes and learn the truth about chicken growing practices in BC at www.chickensquad.ca

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm1IVmBxmGk

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Two Canadian Chicken Myths Debunked


And my report would not be complete if I didn't debunk two MASSIVE misconceptions about the Chicken industry in Canada. They include:

#1: Hormones and steroids have been banned in Canadian chicken production since 1963. Chicken you buy at grocery stores (eg. Save On Foods) does NOT have steroids or added hormones.

#2: Broiler chickens do not live in cages. A “broiler” chicken simply means a chicken that’s raised for meat. All broiler chickens are free to run (or roam) large areas at will. The amount of floor space required for each chicken is strictly regulated by the Chicken Farmers of Canada and the BC Chicken Marketing Board. The fact is that birds on BC chicken farms are raised in a density that meets humane standards to make sure the birds have enough room to walk about and spread their wings.

Bottom line,  [tweet_dis inject="c/of @BCChickenSquad #ChickenSquad"]a chicken farmer’s main goal is to keep his chickens comfortable and healthy[/tweet_dis] because that’s the best way to deliver a nutritious, tasty product.

Chicken farmers in Canada provide consumers with several choices about how your chicken is raised (organic, free range, antibiotic-­‐free, etc) but no matter what you choose, all chicken raised by BC chicken farmers are raised to the highest of standards.

For more Chicken-related info, visit the following sites for information about:

Photo gallery from Meet the Chicken Farmers event:


[gallery type="rectangular" link="file" ids="19688,19687,19686,19685,19682,19681,19680,19675"]

 

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you are awesome - really This is my disclaimer, “Just so you know, I have been compensated to share my ideas on this topic. Sometimes it is in the form of products, or services or even money… But here’s the thing; I won’t  share anything with you that I don’t fully support. It doesn't matter what it is, or how much they are willing to give me, if I don’t believe in it, It won’t be on my site. Seriously. You’ll just have to trust me on this.”   ~ Moose
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