CHICKEN

Standard or supermarket own brands
Cheapest chicken in the store. Uses fastest-growing breeds and a high stocking density. Birds often suffer damage to legs and skin

Freedom Foods
The RSPCA label restricts the growth rate of the bird to reduce the chances of lameness and heart defects. The chickens have a bit more room, perching space and even get footballs to play with. But they are still kept indoors all the time

Free range
Allowed access to the outside - often in woods, fields and meadows - and have significantly more room. But they can still be given chemically treated feed and are reared en masse in sheds

Expert View

I can remember a time when using herbs was considered adventurous in Irish cooking

Darina Allen

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Related Internet Links

• Real Food Directory

• Organic Box Finder

Seasonal Food: January

Because seasonal food is fresher it tends to be tastier and more nutritious. Find recipes from Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver and others

• Shades of green food

• Midwinter greens

Related Links

• The real cost of good food

• Jamie Oliver’s grilled mushroom risotto made with fresh chicken stock

• Supermarkets sell old chicken as ‘fresh’

Organic
The blue-bloods of the chicken world. They are reared in small flocks, can roam across the pasture and are given organic feed. Likely to peck quite a large hole in the wallet

EGGS

Standard eggs
The notorious “battery” hen laying standard eggs is typically kept in cages stacked in three tiers. They live in a space about the size of a piece of A4 paper. Laying hens often have part of their beak cut off to stop them pecking other chickens

Barn laid
Instead of cages, birds are given a series of perches and feeders but they have no outside access. The maximum stocking density is nine hens per square metre. Accounts for about 7% of the British egg market

Free range
Chickens are given access to the outside for at least eight hours a day, though they can still be kept in giant flocks of up to 16,000. Sales have rocketed in recent years

Organic
The birds are kept in smaller flocks, typically 2,000 or fewer. They are given organic feed and have access to open-air runs. But the eggs are expensive and remain a niche market

For the best local produce in your area visit the Times Real Food Directory

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