View source for Embed:Humane label free range

The USDA standard for ''free-range'' requires only that chickens are given some access to the outdoors. There are no stipulations for the size or quality of the outdoor space, and there is no requirement that the chickens actually spend time outdoors.<ref>“FSIS.” Food Safety Inspection Service, USDA, http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/food-labeling/meat-and-poultry-labeling-terms</ref> Also, the claim does not have to be verified through inspections.<ref name="crfr">“What Does ‘Free Range’ Mean?” Greener Choices | Consumer Reports, April 25, 2017. Accessed October 4, 2018. http://greenerchoices.org/2017/04/25/free-range/ </ref>

So it's not surprising that investigations by Consumer Reports (and others) reveal that most chickens labeled ''free-range'' spend their lives confined inside a crowded chicken house. The free-range space itself may be nothing more than an enclosed concrete slab that the chickens never use. These individuals lack the room even to turn around, much less engage in their natural behaviors of preening, nesting, foraging, dust bathing, and perching.<ref name="crfr" />

This has led Consumer Reports to say that ''free range'' is one of the most potentially misleading labels because of the discrepancy between what it implies and what is required to make the claim."<ref name="crfr" />

Only one percent of eggs are from free-range hens that have the option to go outdoors, but like the other 99 percent, even those hens have likely never actually been outdoors.<ref>“A Hen’s Space to Roost.” New York Times, August 15, 2010. http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/weekinreview/20100815-chicken-cages.pdf</ref>

Jonathan Foer, in his well-researched and fact-checked book<ref>Yonan, Joe. “Book Review: Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer,” November 22, 2009. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/20/AR2009112001684.html</ref> Eating Animals, sums it up well in saying that "the free-range label is bullshit" and "should provide no more peace of mind than 'all-natural,' 'fresh,' or 'magical.'"<ref>Foer, Jonathan Safran. Eating Animals. Little, Brown, 2009, 102.</ref>