Free range in France?

[Graye]

Is there anyone living here in France or someone who is better than me at French who can tell me how the French refer to meat being free range please?

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?

[Lady Willow]

We normally eat exclusively vegetarian although OH will sometimes eat rabbit etc. and we both sometimes eat oily fish.

Neither rabbits nor fish are vegetables. Therefore you don't "normally eat exclusively vegetarian". If you say you do to other meat-eaters it's very confusing for them when they then have discussions with, or cater for, people who do actually eat exclusively vegetarian.

[Graye]

I´m sorry but you are being more than a little pedantic here . For instance, are you a total vegetarian or do you eat dairy products? Practically every "vegetarian" is different really.

There is nothing wrong with what I said. We NORMALLY eat exculsively vegetarian. Very occasionally we will eat something else. I did not say we are vegetarians. I was a complete vegetarian for 30 years - now I am not. I DO know the difference and I DO have enough sense to ask when shopping/catering for people. Heaven knows I´ve been hard to cater for for long enough! I do not usually use such a sweeping description as vegetarian either as are there so many "shades" of vegetarianism, veganism, fruitarians etc. I just ask, in advance, for a list of what people do and don´t like, won´t eat or would not normally eat but would like to try. This is where the chicken comes into it as this is what they apparently eat. As a person having a serious allergy to certain nuts and not others I´m very used to having to make a nuisance of myself (I always do it well in advance to make sure I make catering easier) when asked out - shades of "vegetarian = nut loaf".

Anyway, as a French dweller - do you happen to know what they call free range here (as opposed to "élevé en plein air" for eggs?

[Lady Willow]

Whatever spin you try and put on it, if one eats fish or rabbit, one is not following a vegetarian diet. So why say you are?

There aren't "shades" of vegetarianism, or "shades" of veganism. One is either a vegetarian or one is not. On is either a vegan or one is not. It's dead simple really.

You are a meat eater. You mightn't eat a lot of meat, but you're still a meat eater.

[Graye]

Do you happen to know the reply to my question? Do you eat dairy?

[Lady Willow]

As I don't support the meat industry I'm hardly likely to give information which will increase it sales am I?!

No I don't eat diary - if you're looking for information on a dairy-free lifestyle I'd be happy to help, as would the other vegans on this forum.

But I see you've got the answer you wanted from the French forum, rather than us "quasi-self-sufficient minded folk". I was amazed to see you refer to my response as "a pasting"

[Graye]

To be perfectly frank I don´t see why you bothered to comment in the first place if you could not supply the information I asked for. I am by no means an ethical vegetarian and never was one when I didn't eat meat products, neither am I evangelistic about my eating preferences or critical of others. Unless a person eats excusively at vegan restaurants, grows and prepares all their own food or scours every single label they are almost certainly going to eat some sort of meat by-products at some time or another. Think of the gelatine in most sweets and pastries (especially here in France) as a prime example. Or anything with a hint of pink colouring. I could go on and on but I work on the basis that I'm not likely to die from it. I merely raised my "vegetarian" preferences to demonstrate why I had not previously needed to know the French for free range.

For anyone actually interested in my original question - poulet fermier is the answer.

Thanks

PS I assume the weather is pretty miserable today in other parts of France too. We all seem to be glued to our computers instead of being outdoors!

[MKG]

Are you two old friends?

[Millymollymandy]

It's not Poulet Fermier as that just means farm(ers) chicken which could be raised under any conditions. I assume it was Total France where someone told you that.

I buy Label Rouge chickens which are neither free range nor organic but are raised in the next best conditions, more birds per m2, no antibiotics and killed at 70 ish days old and some of them are called Poulet Fermier. They are quite pricey but I buy them when they are on special offer and put a load in the freezer.

I have seen free range labelled as 'eleve en plein air' just like you see on the egg boxes, and organic is 'bio'.

[Graye]

Thanks for that. I´ve just been to our local supermarket to check out what is available and all of the fermier stuff also has Label Rouge on it too. They also have special offers on so I think I´ll buy a couple, joint them and freeze them. Do they ever have the label rouge chicken already jointed?

We have a Bio Coop in Perigueux so I´ll check that out too next time we are there. I know they had some meat products in the freezer and on the deli so that might be a good source too.

[Millymollymandy]

Occasionally I see Label Rouge chicken breasts (boned and skinned) but the price per kilo is ridiculous, so you are better off buying the whole bird and jointing it yourself!

[Andy Hamilton]

Are you two old friends?

I certainly hope so!

[Mrs Moustoir]

"Free range" in this part of France is just that - chase it around the garden, catch it, dispatch, pluck etc and then into the pot!

[Millymollymandy]

I was in the supermarket yesterday and looked at the free range chickens which were called either 'eleve en plein air' or 'eleve en liberte'. They were priced around €7 a kg but then I noticed they were Label Rouge birds. The cheaper LR were €5 and still free range.

This suprised me so when I got home I had a look in my freezer and found that all my cheap special offer Label Rouge chickens were free range too!!! I had no idea as it's written in quite small writing and so it means that I have been buying free range chickens all these years without knowing it!!!!

[Graye]

Thanks for that info. I'm off to the supermarket right now armed with my specs to have a really good look at the labels.