Why no GMO or Soy?

People often ask us, "Why not GMO* or soy"?  First, we need to consider this: What  exactly is USDA certified "organic" poultry?  In large part this means the chicken is fed certified organic grains from the first or second day of life.  It does not mean anything in regards to welfare or genetics. The majority of the USDA organic chicken in stores are Cornish Cross (See East of Eden | Heritage Poultry). And let us reiterate: just because your purchase USDA organic does not mean you are purchasing humanely raised poultry! 

Our chickens are given plenty of pasture and fed a USDA Certified organic feed.  We require it to be certified organic so we can insure it's free of all GMOs.  Many our of foods today, particularly the row crops in America, have been genetically modified to resist certain chemicals and/or to grow or taste better.  We believe these modifications are ethically un-sound and violate human boundaries in creation.  The health risks of eating GMOs are unknown. Therefore East of Eden chooses to avoid all GMOs in our chicken feed.

It is with greater conviction that we do not include soy in our feeding.  A typical commercial chicken feed ratio includes between 35 to 48% soy beans.  Soy and corn are the most abundantly found ingredient in all poultry feeding.  East of Eden avoids soy for two reasons.  First, around 96% of all soy in american is GMO. So the ability to acquire a non GMO soy on a regular basis is difficult and difficult to insure its validity.  Secondly, we believe soy can be detrimental to human health.  See Soy Alert! - Weston A Price Foundation and The Truth About Soy Foods.  Soy is also proven in studies to transfer to the egg and meat of the animal digesting.  We avoid soy as a family and will not subject our animals or customers to what we believe to be toxic. 

*Genetically Modified Organism