Even once you’ve managed to decipher what those labels on your chicken actually mean, choosing sustainably sourced or ethically raised birds isn’t easy. Fortunately, there are a handful of poultry purveyors that have made it their mission to ensure their poultry practices do just that.

Here, we offer six brands that are striving toward a more humanely and ethically produced product.

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Bell & Evans

While Bell & Evans may be one of the oldest chicken brands in the U.S., that doesn’t mean this Pennsylvania-based company is stuck in the past. Rather, they’ve been at the forefront of the march toward a more sustainable poultry industry. Certified organic and antibiotic-free, Bell & Evans’ Humane Animal Welfare Standards help prioritize minimizing stress on the birds, beginning at hatch and continuing through the end of the life cycle.

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With his vision of ethically raised chicken, Blue Apron co-founder unveils new breed

Cooks Venture

The Arkansas-based farm and company was founded by former Blue Apron COO Matt Wadiak with the goal of providing quality, good-for-you poultry that leaves the Earth better for the next generation. Cooks Venture raises, slaughters and sells heirloom poultry using humane breeding and raising practices, and they also employ farming practices that help restore and maintain soil health and limit overall environmental impact. Their heirloom, Animal Welfare Certified chickens are cultivated on quality feed, air-chilled and are given unrestricted access to pasture.

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Farmer Focus

Founded and led by asixth-generation farmer, Farmer Focus (previously Shenandoah Valley Organic) partners with other Virginia farmers who share their commitment to organic, humane and non-GMO practices, all of which are certified. In addition, all Farmer Focus products include a Farmer Focus Farm ID, which allows buyers to trace their purchase back to the family farm on which it was raised. All of the organization’s chickens are free-range with outdoor accessibility year-round (except during inclement weather) in pastures that meet organic standards. 

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Greener Pastures

Pasture-raised and certified organic, Greener Pastures offers classic-style whole birds, as well as select cuts with or without the skin and bones, including breasts, thighs, legs and wings. Like many of the vendors featured here, Greener Pastures credits the juiciness and superior taste of its birds as a reflection of a high-quality, nutrient-dense diet of forage and feed, and to the safe and healthy environment in which they live. Their chickens never contain fillers, preservatives or artificial ingredients. 

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Mary’s Free Range Chicken

Produced by Pitman Farms, a family-owned business that has been raising poultry for three generations, Mary’s offers organic and heirloom slow-growth birds, both of which are air-chilled, fed an organic vegetarian diet and pastured-raised. 

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Pasturebird

What started out as one man’s search to improve his health through dietary changes has grown into Pasturebird, a California-based chicken purveyor that offers birds that live on pasture 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, providing them with a healthy environment to prevent sickness. Lab testing on this company’s poultry has shown higher levels of omega-3 as well as a vitamins A, D and E. And by rotating the chickens to fresh pasture every day, Pasturebird goes beyond sustainability to rebuild healthy, regenerative soils.