"Free range" typically means the chickens just get slightly bigger cages. Misleading, I know.Elivercury said:Wow this is fun, big can of worms stirred up here. I can't help but wonder though, that while i respect your decision (even if i think your reasoning is weak), it sounds to me like you're more concerned with animal welfare than the fact someone on your plate used to be furry and cute. Which there is nothing wrong with at all, in fact it's to be commended in my opinion. But if this is the case, why not just buy from sources where the animals are treated correctly? Jumping straight to vegetarianism seems like jumping with both feet first where, walking would do.
I personally only buy Free range chicken and eggs, which i know have been given the best life possible in captivity (which honestly probably is more pleasant than in the wild...do chickens even exist in the wild anymore?). Cow i only buy British beef, which is generally from a farm, and cows just sit around in a field in the wild, so i fail to see how a fence and someone to make sure they don't get sick bothers them. Fish i'll be honest I've never bothered much about as i'm not a big fish eater, and while i probably SHOULD check the sources, i don't buy it often enough that it affects me (probably less than once a month).
http://www.cok.net/lit/freerange.php
http://www.peacefulprairie.org/freerange1.html
If you can stomach wikipedia, check the US section of the article they have on free-range products. Free range, in most cases, doesn't really mean anything. It's mostly a marketing term. Maybe the animals are fed more grains. It doesn't have a lot to do with cruelty. This is consistent with the claims made in Peter Singer's Animal Liberation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-range
So no, that doesn't neccesarially mean you're avoiding animal cruelty.