Interesting to note that in the U.S., much of the food-borne health risk in eating poultry comes from the way we process it: large numbers, in huge plants, all done by machine. The risk of cross-contamination is pretty high. From a food-safety standpoint, these mercado chickens, processed very locally and recently, in small numbers by hand, have a good chance of being safer. They're certainly fresher! Of course, that doesn't deal with the 'chicken-feet-in-the-air' factor. They're probably used to seeing us gringos running for cover! :-)
Take a peek at where I provision. No factory farming here. Straight from the fields/ocean to the Mercado, which is open 7 days a week. The Mercado can be found in most larger cities in Mexico. Notice the color of the chicken - yellow skins due to the Marigolds that they naturally eat. I wont post the photos of the Cows or Pigs....in their almost alive state.....which confirmed for me why I am a sea-atarian. I took Alex and Blake here, and they needed to leave asap. Perhaps is was the un-refrigerated meat......notice how the chickens are on the counter - no ice..........with a few flys buzzing around, or the smell of flesh lingering in the air. But I think it was the guy, covered in blood, with a freshly butchered cow on his back, along with whole pigs hanging by a hook. Not a sight for most USDA shoppers to see. We like our meat all packaged and pretty looking. I can, for what ever reason, handle seeing whole fish sliced and diced, but can not stomach the cow or pig, or even chicken. So I stick to the produce/sea section of the Mercado.
Interesting to note that in the U.S., much of the food-borne health risk in eating poultry comes from the way we process it: large numbers, in huge plants, all done by machine. The risk of cross-contamination is pretty high. From a food-safety standpoint, these mercado chickens, processed very locally and recently, in small numbers by hand, have a good chance of being safer. They're certainly fresher! Of course, that doesn't deal with the 'chicken-feet-in-the-air' factor. They're probably used to seeing us gringos running for cover! :-)
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