In recent years, American consumers have become more aware of how animal-derived products are sourced, with many focusing on animal welfare.
The industry, in turn, has responded with labels like “cage-free,” “free range,” “humanely raised,” and more.
But according to one farm owner on TikTok reacting to a Vital Farms customer’s video, those labels may not always mean what people think they do.
What Is The Farmer Claiming About Vital Farms Eggs?
In his reaction video, which got over 894,000 views, TikTok creator and farm owner Chris Newman (@blackbirdcoop) reacted to a video posted by TikToker Frank (@civilianhummer).
In Frank’s original video, he shows a carton of Vital Farms pasture-raised eggs, saying they cost $13, which seemed high until he checked the side of the package and saw a QR code.
When he scanned it, it took him to a video showing several chickens in a lush green garden.
“All right, that’s it. I’m breaking character. I had about enough of this [expletive],” Newman says jokingly.
He then makes claims about how Vital Farms produces its eggs, using his own farm as an example.
“Viral Farms has millions of hens across several hundred farms,” he says. “That means tens of thousands of hens per farm.”
According to Newman, if that many hens are roaming outside most of the time, “you’re gonna see lots of hens absolutely everywhere.”
What That Actually Looks Like On A Farm
He says he only has 3,000 chickens, yet they fill his entire farm.
“It’s chickens drinking over here,” he says, pointing to a large group near water containers.
“It’s chickens all up in the woods, all up in here,” he says, filming more as they run away from him.
“There’s chicken in the grapp all up in here and over here,” he says, filming large groups again as they pasture and walk around.
“Even more chickens hanging around these feeders over here,” he says, filming another large group.
He explains that on his farm, chickens have to come outside if they want to eat or drink, using large areas of land for that purpose. He claims Vital Farms does things differently.
“Vital farm chickens are fed inside of a barn, which means that their day-to-day life looks more like our broiler chickens for the first three weeks of their life before they go to pasture,” he claims.
He then films inside his barn, showing small broiler chickens in a large indoor space.
“These guys are coming out of here in just a couple of days and they’re going to a place that looks like this,” he says, inserting a clip of chickens in a greenhouse-style barn.
He claims that chickens advertised as pasture-raised most likely spend 90% of their time in a barn like the one he showed.
Newman added in the caption, “If a farm has 20,000 hens on it and a pre-recorded video of that farm’s range shows a handful of chickens… then 19,940 hens are in a barn all day every day.”
What Did Viewers Think?
In the comments, users mostly agreed that labels like “free range” and “pasture-raised” don’t always mean what people think they do.
“I took animal welfare in university and we had an entire section of the course taking about how businesses use wording to lie to you about the welfare of their animals and now I’m destined to spend the rest of my life trying to tell people free range doesn’t mean what you think it means,” one person wrote.
Another farmer chimed in. “I have 24 chickens on 20 acres,” they wrote. “I can’t look outside without seeing chickens.”
“Sir. If I were in your service area, I’d a thousand percent buy your product,” a third wrote. “But I do vote you put THIS VIDEO on a QR code on your egg cartons.”
Is ‘Pasture-Raised’ Actually Defined In The U.S.?
According to a HuffPost article, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has historically offered loose guidance around what qualifies as “pasture-raised.”
According to the publication, the agency updated its definition, stating that birds should spend the majority of their lives on physical pasture to carry the label. However, there are no clear definitions of exactly what this “significant portion” of their life means.
According to the Farm Forward label guide, there’s no third-party certification of farms that raise these animals, which sometimes makes the label misleading.
According to Vital Farms, however, their hens have access to pasture every day. “Every morning when we open up the doors on the barns, we see them heading out,” the company wrote on its website.
On the product description of their pasture-raised eggs, Vital Farms wrote, “All our pasture-raised eggs are laid by hens that are free to roam on healthy pasture, with at least 108 sqft. each, and plenty of fresh air and sunshine.”
@blackbirdcoop If a farm has 20,000 hens on it and a pre-recorded video of that farm’s range shows a a handful of chickens… then 19,940 hens are in a barn all day every day.
BroBible reached out to Vital Farms and Newman via email for comment, and Frank via TikTok messages. We’ll update this article once they respond.