Happy birds, happy life

IF IT’S really true that you become what you absorb from this world, will eating a happy bird make you happy as well?
It seems true for Tina Morados-Papillon, the co-founder of Pamora Farm Inc.
During a luncheon at the Peninsula Manila on Aug. 20, Ms. Morados-Papillon’s laughter rang out through the room. Citing the unsanitary conditions at commercial chicken farms, she said that no poultry raisers eat their own chickens, but “I eat my own chicken,” she told ����ý. “Kung hindi niyo bilhin, eh okay, kakainin ko na lang (If you don’t buy it, that is OK, I’ll eat it myself).”
The dancer-builder duo of Ms. Morados-Papillon and her husband, Gerard, established the farm in 2000 up in Abra. The pair specialize in free-range chickens, which means that the birds are given room to roam and lead their natural lives for about 80 days, as opposed to the 30 days imposed by big poultry farms. And while Philippine National Standards (PNS) for organic poultry requires a minimum of 70 days for the chickens to grow. Pamora follows the French Label Rouge standards and their Premium chicken (1 to 1.850 kg) lives for a minimum of 81 days, sometimes up to 100.
The bigger poultry farms coop up their chickens in small houses, and rush along their growth using antibiotics and hormones, according to Ms. Morados-Papillon.
The tight housing conditions, according to her, suffocate the chickens with nitrogen gas and bacteria from their own manure, which is why the chickens need antibiotics, she said. On labels in veterinary drugs, it says that the antibiotics should be expelled by the birds after about seven days. Breeders don’t wait for this period, according to Ms. Morados-Papillon, because it’s not really good for business. Thus the antibiotics remaining in the chicken flesh get absorbed by the human body, and lord knows what that will cause (hint: antibiotic resistance is one).
“With Pamora free-range chicken, you will eat 100% chicken. No hormones, no antibiotics, no chemicals,” Ms. Morados-Papillon was quoted as saying in a press release.
All right, so her birds are healthy, and eating healthy birds makes for a healthy human. But does the chicken become more flavorful, thus adding to the pleasure of the human consuming it? Well, since the birds are allowed to age naturally, they develop more flavor, she said. Comparing commercial birds to hers, she said, “Actually bland. Wala silang lasa (they don’t taste like anything). That’s why you need broth cubes.” The freedom of movement also apparently gives them more musculature, contributing to a better bite. Plus, Ms. Morados-Papillon feeds the birds a concoction of herbs and spices, all fermented in lambanog (coconut liquor) or gin. This serves as their natural antibiotic, but, in jest, she said, “Buhay pa, marinated na. (They’re already marinated while alive).”
Some studies show that an animal that has been stressed prior to slaughter yields worse meat, which Ms. Morados-Papillon says is true, based on her experience. Her chicken-dressing plant is located within the farm, because several years ago, her chickens were once dressed outside the farm. The birds were slaughtered after a four-hour drive in a cramped truck. A client then complained that the chicken tasted different, and the texture of the meat had changed.
Pamora is the only National Meat Inspection Services accredited “AA” Poultry Dressing Plant in the Cordillera region and the only dressing plant in the Philippines that caters exclusively to free-range chickens, using air-dry chilling process that is compliant with the EU standards on poultry dressing facilities, according to the press release.
So ideally, if you choose to live a life that treats you well, and having just a small number of bad days — maybe eating a chicken from Pamora, a chicken that has had one bad day (the day of its slaughter) will boost your karma. In a mixture of English and Tagalog, Ms. Morados-Papillon said, “For me, I know that I treated them well before I killed them.”
Right now, she services clients like Sagana Restaurant, James & Daughters by Le Jardin, The Peninsula Manila Hotel, City Of Dreams, Novotel Manila, Element Boutique Hotel, Marriott Hotel, and Makati Shangri-La Hotel. Her birds are available in Santis, Terry’s Bistro, and other specialty shops in the country. There is also a Pamora stall at the Ayala Alabang Village Saturday Market, and the chicken products can be ordered online through and .
Pamora’s product line includes whole dressed chicken in different sizes, choice cuts, eggs, chicken burger, chicken nuggets, and chicken tocino. Pamora also sells paté which are creations of Gerard Papillon using recipes from his grandmother. — Joseph L. Garcia