With the price of fresh produce putting pressure on the family budget, and concerns about the environmental impacts of eating meat, it’s good to know that you can keep eating Aussie chicken – a winner for the wallet and a winner for the environment.
Chicken is actually Australia’s favourite meat, and we’re on track to eat 50kg per person per year soon – making up about half of all meat consumed ! But there are lots of myths that still abound, like, it’s full of steroids and hormones, chicken farming isn’t good for the environment, chickens are kept in cages and that chicken is bad for you.
In fact, the opposite is true!
Here are 5 reasons why you can feel good about eating chicken:
- It’s budget-friendly – chicken is the lowest price meat
- It’s more sustainable – chicken is the most environmentally sustainable land-based meat
- It’s cage-free – chickens aren’t raised in cages, and their welfare is industry’s top priority
- It’s a good source of protein – it’s packed with protein and nutrients AND there are no added hormones or steroids in chicken, despite what people say
- It’s versatile – family-friendly, tasty, easy to cook with, one chicken can make multiple meals, it’s easy to store (you can reheat it and refreeze it.)
Consumer research from The University of Adelaide found consumers generally have a poor understanding of chicken meat production practices in Australia:
- 40 per cent of consumers incorrectly believe that hormones and steroids can be used in chicken production.
- Only 18 per cent of consumers surveyed correctly believe that meat chickens are raised without cages.
- Chicken meat continues to be the preferred protein for most Australian consumers because of its convenience, value for money and flavour.
- More consumers indicated increasing (37%) rather than decreasing (8%) their consumption of chicken meat.
- Price and ease of preparation are the main reasons for increasing consumption.
Here are the FACTS about chicken production in Australia – https://www.facts.chicken.org.au/
