Do you know what it's like to take delivery of 10 (or more) recently dispatched chickens? I hope you do. It's an important part of knowing our food. What I've come to realize is how important it is to me to receive them fresh and whole.
First, Why Whole?
The simple part of the answer is that it's less expensive for everyone. When they have to go through each bird and remove bones and bits, it gets expensive.
But wait! There's more.
If you've bought a chicken with it's neck attached, you know how much work there is yet to do whether you want to fry it, roast it or spatchcock it. Every cut opens up a new world of microbiology, not only for your GI tract but also to rot the bird. With the labor market tight for low paying, manual labor, the people left to that work aren't necessarily worried about your family as much as their own... and for good reason.
Second, Appreciation of our Food. The other night, we feasted on a chicken roasted over potatoes and garlic. That meal has survived memory partly due to spontaneous celebration. Our not-quite-4 year old enjoys sucking meat off the bones. His excitement was channeled into a song, Chicken On The Bone. I'll try to record it for posterity, and Prom, soon. Yesterday, I took the picked bones of that chicken and with a bag of chicken and turkey carcasses from carving pieces from our previous CSA birds, I made about 4 gallons of stock. Some of this has joined the remaining chicken meat and egg noodles for dinner tonight. This is a toe to beak meal, to be sure. As our boys grow up, I hope the learn this appreciation of buying "Chicken on the Bone" and the joy and celebration of that on which we dine.
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