SO WHAT IS PASTURED POULTRY?
What is the difference between a Pastured Chicken and a Free Range Chicken?
“Free Range” is not the same as “Pastured”. Unlike Pastured Poultry, Free Range poultry does not have access to fresh grasses and greens. In fact, according to the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, the only qualification for “free range” or “free roaming” is that “producers must demonstrate to the Agency that the poultry has been allowed access to the outside.”
In other words, if the bird has “access” to the outdoors (for as little as 5 minutes a day), even if it never actually goes out, or goes out onto a concrete slab, it can still be labeled “free-range.”