Chickens Eat Locally to Help Fight Climate Change

Ex-chef Matthew Wadiak is working on a large-scale environmentally friendly alternative to factory farming, raising a new breed of chicken in the United States that eat locally grown and sustainable food.

Chicken is the most consumed meat in the world, with 9 billion slaughtered in the United States every year.

Wadiak, upon learning that around 80% of carbon emissions from farming chickens comes from growing crops contributing to deforestation and climate change, decided to find a greener method. So he and his team are working with farmers to raise the new “carbon-friendly” chicken on 5,000 acres of land used for “regenerative agriculture” – agriculture with better soil health that can more carbon.

“There’s been a lot of studies to show that we can, in theory, affect climate change on a global scale by creating better systems,” says Wadiak. “Grow the food where your animals are and do it in a way that is restorative to the soil, increase drought resistance and reduce propensity for desertification.”

The former chef has been selling his chickens since April and is soon expanding across the United States.