Buzz
Heirloom tomatoes like Black Krim and Aunt Ruby’s are my top picks for gardening. As a devoted apple enthusiast, I also cherish vintage varieties such as Roxbury Russet and Zabergau Reinette. While I’ve never sampled heritage chicken breeds (though I once cooked a wild turkey), I was fascinated when my husband brought home an heirloom chicken from the store.
Heritage roasting chickens are said to offer richer flavor compared to standard supermarket poultry, though they come with less breast meat and a higher price tag. However, the chicken my husband purchased resembled and tasted much like a regular store-bought chicken—and cost $3.19 per pound. While this is slightly pricier than average, it’s far below what I’d expect for a heritage breed.
After researching the brands and label details, I had a revelation—this was marketed as an heirloom chicken, not a heritage chicken. Wait, what’s the difference?
The term “Heirloom” applies to vegetables
My introduction to heirloom tomatoes came in the early 2000s, tied to the sustainable food and organic gardening movement. These are varieties such as the irregularly shaped Brandywine, with seeds preserved across generations, contrasting with the hybrid types commonly found in supermarkets.
Heirlooms boast numerous advantages. They are typically cultivated for unique traits or specific uses, such as exceptional juiciness, distinctive flavors, or vibrant colors. Their decline in popularity often stems from their inability to meet the demands of large-scale commercial farming—where durability during transport trumps qualities like juiciness.
While unsuitable for factory farming, heirloom tomatoes thrive in home gardens. Gardeners can savor varieties of tomatoes (or beans or carrots) that wouldn’t survive industrial farming, as they aren’t operating on such a scale. Importantly, many heirloom plants are open-pollinated, meaning their seeds can be saved and replanted to yield the same variety the following year.
In contrast, hybrid tomatoes are first-generation (F1) crosses of two distinct varieties. Saving seeds from an Early Girl tomato won’t produce more Early Girls; you’d need to recreate the crossbreeding process. While seed companies manage this, home gardeners typically avoid the hassle.
Interested in growing heirloom seeds in your garden? Consider these unique late-season vegetables:
Royal burgundy beans (purple when raw, turning green when cooked)
Dragon’s tongue beans (featuring pink and white streaks when raw)
Golden Detroit beets (vibrant yellow in color)
Black nebula carrots (deep black hue)
Round parisian carrots (shaped like radishes)
French breakfast radishes (elongated, resembling baby carrots)
In the apple world, older varieties passed down through generations are referred to as “antique” rather than heirloom. An apple expert once explained that “heirloom” is a broad term for varieties believed to be old, while “antique” refers to those with well-documented histories. I’m unsure if this distinction is widely accepted or just their personal interpretation. (Fun fact: apples don’t grow true to seed, so they’re propagated by grafting branches onto rootstock. The concept of “open-pollinated apples” doesn’t exist.)
The term “Heritage” applies to livestock
Returning to chickens, older breeds of poultry, pigs, cattle, and other animals are labeled “heritage” breeds. The Livestock Conservancy specifies heritage chicken breeds as those recognized by the American Poultry Association before the mid-20th century. You can explore a complete list of recognized livestock breeds on the Livestock Conservancy’s website, including details on which breeds are at the highest risk of extinction.
Similar to heirloom tomatoes, heritage chicken breeds (and other livestock) were once widely popular but have since fallen out of favor in modern, large-scale farming. During the 1940s and 1950s, poultry breeders organized a nationwide contest to develop the fastest-growing, meatiest chickens. The winning hybrids and similar birds now fill supermarket shelves. Today, finding these traditional breeds often requires visiting a specialized farm.
There’s a reason the term “heirloom” chickens isn’t familiar
How did a “heirloom” chicken appear in my local grocery store? Initially unaware of the terminology shift, I contacted the company to inquire about the specific heirloom breed they offered. A representative explained that they had spent a decade developing a new breed from heritage-breed parents, such as the Transylvanian Naked Neck and the Delaware. They named this breed the Pioneer. This means it’s not an old breed but a modern creation. While it can’t be labeled “heritage,” the term “heirloom” is used freely, even though it’s not a widely recognized term for chickens. (It certainly sounds convincing, though.)
The outcome of this breeding effort is a chicken that the company claims is healthier and better suited to outdoor living compared to standard factory-farmed poultry. (The bird we purchased was pasture-raised and Certified Humane, both positive indicators.) While I can’t fault their intentions, the use of misleading terminology still feels questionable.
