Higher Welfare Foods

barker77

All,

I am wanting to start buying higher welfare foods after watching Jimmy and the Giant Supermarket.

Out of the big three Tesco,Asda,Sainsburys where is the best place to shop price/range wise to buy these sorts of foods.

Also does anyone know what foods represent the best value when switching over from lower cost alternatives?

blackandwhitebunny

I would recommend that the first foods you swap should be milk (start buying organic), eggs (buy at least free range) and chicken (again you best would be organic but free range is a start.
You can also make sure you only buy British meat as the welfare standards are a little higher than many other places and try for free range for pork.
Organic foods with the soil association logo have the highest welfare standards generally but it can be a shock to the budget if you swap all at once.
One of the other things to think about is buying British veal - available from Waitr*se.

Edwardia

I went organic in March after finding dried glucose syrup, sodium acetate and 11% added water in plain pork chops.

Just as home-cooked on a pub menu can quite legally mean frozen catering ready meals microwaved in the pub kitchen, free range can mean the eggs come from hens in barns with outdoor access.

I would recommend doing some research into the various schemes, because at heart they are marketing logos. UK farming standards are not necessarily better as farmers are only obligated to meet EU standards.

Red Tractor means British, but it doesn't mean GM free.

Researching before buying means you get what you want and aren't being (quite legally) misled by farmers' marketing organisations and supermarkets.

Sainsbury's is great eg 500g organic free range chicken thighs and drumsticks 3.50, Cloud Nine organic meatballs 2.49..often have offers on organic veg and lots of own brand organic stuff too such as cornflakes, biscuits, milk, eggs, Extra Virgin olive oil, tomato ketchup, tea bags, bread, porridge, salad dressings, bacon.

Amaretti_2

I have always bought free range or organic eggs, need to buy more organic milk as well.

Watched the Jimmy's farm programme (I think) where he explained the difference between regular and free range pork, regular meaning the poor pigs are kept in cages where they cannot move and alone, terrible. Free range meaning they live good lives in piggy communities doing their thing in the mud. So instead of buying two packs of cumberland sausages for £3 I bought one pack of Jimmy's free range sausages for £2,99. Double the price but my conscience is clear and I must always remember to look for free range when shopping in future.

Good thread, money saving is all well and good but not when it comes to animal welfare, THEY come before saving money.

pawsies

I would recommend buying direct from farmer or butcher as opposed to supermarket so you can see the conditions for yourself.

Free range is so controversial- farmers can put free range despite the fact they have a dripping tap over the exit of the barn for chickens (chickens don't like water).

Similarly you have outdoor bred and outdoor reared- outdoor reared being the better one. Outdoor bred just means they had a bit of grass when they were born but have since been kept in a pen.

Amaretti_2

Well I cooked my Jimmy's free range sausages yesterday and I'm sorry to say, they weren't very nice.

TravellingAbuela

The nicest sausages I have had are Debbie & Andrews http://www.debbieandandrews.co.uk/section.php?id=100. I first discovered these at York Food Fair a few years ago and they really are delicious (but not particularly cheap). They make sure their pork comes from farms where the animal's welfare is important. Originally they were only available locally but are now available nationwide.

Edwardia

I think sausages are a rip off since they aren't 100% meat and have fillers and additives. Duchy Originals outdoor reared organic free range unsmoked back bacon from Waitrose is fantastic and so is the organic back bacon from Sainsbury's.

I'm bothered by the rise in farms selling via websites claiming their products are organic, without being certified. Unless you live near enough to the farm to visit you have no way of knowing whether that's true. Local is not organic either. My local butcher admits it doesn't sell organic at all so the beef etc could be GM fed

walwin

From what I understand this thread was started by OP as he/she wanted to buy higher welfare food.

It seems to have been hijacked by some pro-organic posters.

It may come as a surprise to some but organic doesn't necessarily mean higher welfare.

Edwardia

Since when did buying organic food become a bad thing ? :rotfl:I think if you look at the Soil Association website you'll find that their standards are higher than Red Tractor for example.

Why would a farmer rear a product he expects to get premium price for in a bad way ? The farmer risks being chucked out of the scheme and much of the animals products are batch tested so the buyer can tell whether an animal was fed with banned antibiotics or on GM feed etc.

When it comes to slaughtering, farmers don't often do this themselves because abattoirs have to be licensed and inspected. So wherever you buy you don't know how humanely the animal was killed.

If you Google you'll find that much of the meat and poultry sold in UK supermarkets is halal even if not labelled - the Daily Mail did an expose piece.

An exception to this that I know of is Jody Scheckter's Laverstoke Park Farm https://www.laverstokepark.co.uk which has its own abattoir. Sainsbury's sells some Laverstoke Park Farm products as do Waitrose and Ocado.

RSPCA Freedom Foods.. https://www.rspcanotwhattheyseem.blogspot.com

Amaretti_2

walwin wrote: »

From what I understand this thread was started by OP as he/she wanted to buy higher welfare food.

It seems to have been hijacked by some pro-organic posters.

It may come as a surprise to some but organic doesn't necessarily mean higher welfare.

I think I read somewhere that free range eggs can mean that the hens have access to the outdoors but organic means they actually go outdoors. I also heard that the dairy cows used to produce organic milk are treated better. I am no expert though so could be wrong. Perhaps someone in the know can elaborate on this.