The Australian Chicken Meat Federation (ACMF) invited media professionals to visit two NSW chicken farms in late 2014 as part of the ongoing education drive aimed at better informing the public about how meat chickens are farmed.
Tour groups visited farms at Peats Ridge, north of Sydney, on October 29 and nearby Somersby on November 12.
ACMF Executive Director Andreas Dubs said the tours, arranged two to three times a year, are designed to give attendees such as journalists, bloggers, nutritionists and teachers a first-hand experience of the processes involved in getting chicken from the farm to the plate, and a chance to speak with a range of experts from the industry.
“The industry continues to proactively tell its story and set the facts straight,” Dr Dubs said. “The opportunity to host these tours and be transparent about what happens on the farm is invaluable.
Those on the half-day tours experienced the conditions inside a chicken shed, heard from the farmer about his role in raising and caring for the chickens and learned more about issues of importance to the industry, such as animal welfare, food safety and environmental impacts.
