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Free Range


Acoustic

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We normally eat exclusively vegetarian although OH will sometimes eat rabbit etc. and we both sometimes eat oily fish.  We have visitors coming who apparently live on chicken dishes.  I´ll quite happily cook it but wonder what the French term for "free range" is?  I´ve seen some packs labelled "poulet du fermier", is this it?  OH says he will probably eat some if he can be sure it´s not from battery farmed chickens.  I suppose I could buy from the local butcher to be sure but assuming I have to resort to the local supermarket does anyone have any ideas please? 
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Acoustic - in case the thread posted by Clair doesn't clarify totally:

free-range = poulet fermier - (many of those are label rouge too).

organic = bio. There are very stringent regulations to be able to get the organic label, so that organic free-range chickens are considerably more expensive than just the poulets fermiers. You might be able to buy a poulet fermier which is very close to organic, or even completely organic - the éleveur might not have bothered to apply for the bio label. If you can source your chickens, and find someone you can buy direct from, then you can see for yourselves how they are raised. On the whole, poulets fermiers are much more common and accessible here than they were in the UK just a few years ago.

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Thank you both for that!  After getting a pasting on another (not French based and  aimed at the quasi-self-sufficient minded folk) forum where I asked exactly the same question (apparently an avid vegetarian who objected to the wording of my posting) I was wary of what replies I might be getting.  That is absolutely what I needed to know and I´m off to the supermarket right now to stock up.
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[quote user="5-element"]

Acoustic - in case the thread posted by Clair doesn't clarify totally:

free-range = poulet fermier - (many of those are label rouge too).

[/quote]

Sorry, but 'poulet fermier' is not necessarily free range .  The previous thread mentioned by Clair says that free range is 'elevé en plein air'  (raised out doors)  which is correct.  I have found free range chicken (and outdoor reared pork) much more widely available in France than in the UK.

Liz

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Oh dear, just when I had been to see what Super U had too!  I saw plenty of Label Rouge etc but I didn´t notice anything marked "élevé en plein air" on the meat counter.  Is it something I might find in the supermarket?  Might need a bigger store I suppose?
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Clair, what's the difference between Label Rouge and Label Jaune? 

I normally buy the Loue brand chickens as they taste fantastic, especially in the winter when my bois-charbon oven is on.  They seem to do both Label Rouge and Label Jaune and I would like to be able to make an informed choice this winter.

Thanks, Clair.

 

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Thanks, Clair, that must be it!  Teach me to read things a bit more carefully when they are in French.  I probably skim through the info as I would English.

BTW, I knew from the price that the chickens could only have been free-range![:)]

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