Depressing Fried Chicken

The problem: Whatever you do to your home-cooked meats, don't kill the meat's nutritional value by frying it. And don't hit up your local fry joint, either. The factory-farmed chicken most of those places toss into the fryer is regularly dosed with low levels of antibiotics that are suspected of causing antibiotic resistance, and a recent study from Johns Hopkins University found trace levels of caffeine, antidepressants, painkillers, and allergy meds in factory-farm chicken litter.

The fix: Try the aforementioned homemade grilled chicken in place of fried. And source it from your local farmer's market. Local poultry farmers who raise their birds on pasture don't use routine antibiotics dosing or arsenic in feed. Can't make it to the market before your picnic? Buy organic from your local grocery store. Standards for organic include bans on the use of antibiotics, arsenic, and many other unappetizing chicken-farming practices.