The Rise of Organic Meat

This comes from the Bradenton Herald newspaper and is written by Roberta C. Nelson.

Every day, Ben Pate herds his chickens to new pastureland on his poultry farm.

While Pate goes through the trouble of moving his bottomless chicken coops each day, his customers go to the trouble of driving out to his Gulf City Road farm to buy the chickens because they believe naturally fed chickens taste better and are better for you.

Moving chickens every day might seem bizarre, so unlike traditional farms where the birds stay in one place and have food brought to them. With each day’s move, Pate’s chickens have the benefit of a fresh supply of insects and grubs on uncontaminated land. Their old pasture benefits from the natural fertilizer the chickens leave behind. Pate benefits by the physical exercise – and by never having to clean a chicken coop.

He does supplement the chickens’ diet with nutrient-rich feed he has milled to his specifications at Swan’s Feed Mill in Zephyrhills. Unlike most feed, Pate’s does not contain chicken byproducts.

continue at Bradenton Herald

Author Information - During his spare time Eric writes for and maintains wannaveg.com. For his day job he works for an electronics company in San Diego, CA. Eric has been a vegetarian for about 10 years and believes that going 'green' and reducing meat consumption go hand-in-hand.