Hugh's Chicken Run (Merged Discussion)

competitionscafe

geordie_joe wrote: »

I make me wonder, although the program was shown on national TV, he did state several times that he was trying to get the people of Axminster to eat more organic/free range meat. And from what I gather, there's only him and Tesco's sell it in Axminster.

He could have used the words "Great Britain" instead of Axminster and the program would have still been the same. Surely if he cares about animals he would want everyone to eat free range chickens and not just the people who live near his shop.

He is trying to get the rest of the UK to eat free range - the Chicken Out campaign is a national campaign - the references to Axminster was the attempt to make it Britain's first free-range town as an example for others to follow.........

As for the free-range chickens on sale in Axminster, when he was on the local radio he mentioned a number of places where they could be bought, including the butchers shop and without mentioning his own shop - he also tried to persuade as many places as possible to stock free-range chickens including the co-op.

geordie_joe

competitionscafe wrote: »

He is trying to get the rest of the UK to eat free range - the Chicken Out campaign is a national campaign - the references to Axminster was the attempt to make it Britain's first free-range town as an example for others to follow.........

As for the free-range chickens on sale in Axminster, when he was on the local radio he mentioned a number of places where they could be bought, including the butchers shop and without mentioning his own shop - he also tried to persuade as many places as possible to stock free-range chickens including the co-op.

The woman on the program said "we used to have a butcher in the town but it closed down".

However, there is still the fact that he has a shop selling free range chickens, or it soon will be. He may be trying to persuade other shops to stock free range chickens, but has has just become a free range chicken supplier. Probably the only one in Axminster.

Once you start buying free range/organic stuff it is a small step to start buying it from local sources.

Which ever way you look at it, he has just gotten heavily into producing free range chickens and gotten heavily into persuading people to eat them and shops to stock them.

competitionscafe

geordie_joe wrote: »

However, there is still the fact that he has a shop selling free range chickens, or it soon will be. He may be trying to persuade other shops to stock free range chickens, but has has just become a free range chicken supplier. Probably the only one in Axminster.

But that's not true - the Axminster Tesco sells free-range chicken as do the butchers (Complete Meats) http://www.completemeats.co.uk/our_shops.html

NemoToad

kethry wrote: »

NemoToad: with regard to eggs in things - one thing that came up in one of the programmes, which you wouldn't know about, obviously - Hellman's have pledged that as of June this year all their products will be made with free range eggs. a lil bit of good news at least.

in addition, the legislation is not, as many people think, going to outlaw battery hens in favour of free range hens. All that will happen is that hens will still be in cages but they will be given more space, more hens to a larger cage, they'll be given perches, nesting boxes, and things to peck at so they'll have a better life (less bored) than battery hens. They're still by no means free range however. oh. and you got the date right.

HTH

keth
xx

Thanks for that! That's great news about Hellmans, especially as as a household it gets bought anyway by my less ethical boyfriend and housemate. Maybe more companies will follow suit as a result.

I think Marks and Spencers seem to only use free-range eggs in their products too but they're too expensive for me.

The legislation seems like it is a step in the right direction for the time being, but not what it seems to be branded as in the media/news. So I shall continue buying my free-range organic "happy" eggs beyond 2012!

competitionscafe

NemoToad wrote: »

I think Marks and Spencers seem to only use free-range eggs in their products too but they're too expensive for me.

M&S use free-range eggs in all their products, not the cheapest place I agree but depends what you buy - eg: Hellmans Mayo 200g jar: 81p (at Sainsburys and Tesco), M&S mayo 230g jar 99p - so only 18p difference for free-range eggs and what is a slightly bigger jar (just over 10% larger) and I think the M&S one tastes nicer - the one I have is the roasted garlic mayonnaisse which I prefer but the standard is the same price.

geordie_joe

competitionscafe wrote: »

But that's not true - the Axminster Tesco sells free-range chicken as do the butchers (Complete Meats) http://www.completemeats.co.uk/our_shops.html

When I said supplier I meant someone who supplies shops with chickens, not someone who sells chickens to customers. Although he does that too.

Plushchris

We had been buying free range eggs for ages before the program and had made an effort last year to buy free range chickens too, just because of the taste.

We have only bought meat in a supermarket once in the past year (and then wished we hadnt)

I would urge anyone to find a good local Butcher and once you have you wouldnt go back to buying that plastic packed, pumped full of crap, artificial looking and tasting stuff they pass off as meat in supermarkets again.

As for that woman on the Chicken run program saying she cant afford to pay the extra few quid to buy a free range bird, that just made my blood boil. She obviously ate well and I bet she wasnt short of all the nice things in life like SkyTV, latest mobile phones, fags, stella etc. and I bet her kids are the same. Hugh F-W looked truly saddened when he see her buying those chickens in the week they had tried to make the town go free range. She could have at least tried for that week but no, she was too pig headed and stubborn and HAD to buy her two for a fiver, totally ignoring everything that Hugh F-W and the rest of her community was trying to do.

I realise that some people are on a tight budget and the thought of 2 for £5 is tempting but if you spend around £7 or £8 on one bird its usually far bigger and far tastier, and you can get plenty of meat out of it to stretch for 3 or 4 meals.

Seriously, I cant see why anyone in their right mind would want to eat a chicken that has had to have its legs cut off to hide the fact that its life of being knee high in !!!!!! had actually led to chemical burns.

~Chameleon~

I think Waitrose is another one that only uses free-range egg in it's products, as well as only stocking FR egg and chickens.

I was in my local Co-op earlier and the chickens they had were greatly reduced, due to a huge slow-down in sales - (they don't stock FR there and the labels on their fresh chicken is also very misleading as it depicts an outdoor scene of blue sky and corn fields :mad: )


ETA: The Co-op's view on Animal Welfare

geordie_joe

Plushchris wrote: »

We had been buying free range eggs for ages before the program and had made an effort last year to buy free range chickens too, just because of the taste.

Sorry but your post has really annoyed me!

How can you criticise someone when you know nothing about them! How do you know she bought the cheap chickens simply because she was "too pig headed and stubborn". As for "totally ignoring everything that Hugh F-W and the rest of her community was trying to do" She has the right to do this and it has nothing to do with you. She was taking part in the program so I would hardly saw she was completely ignoring what HFW and SOME of her community were trying to do.

"She obviously ate well" that'll be all the 2 for a fiver chickens!

"and I bet she wasnt short of all the nice things in life like SkyTV, latest mobile phones, fags, stella etc. and I bet her kids are the same."

So what, she has the right to spend her money as she sees fit, and I bet she doesn't throw her teddy in the corner when complete strangers don't do what she wants them to do.

"if you spend around £7 or £8 on one bird its usually far bigger and far tastier, and you can get plenty of meat out of it to stretch for 3 or 4 meals."

Not this again! How can you say one bird will be far bigger? Chickens are sold by weight, if you buy a 3.5kg battery chicken a 2kg free range one will not be far bigger!

As for stretching it out to 3 or 4 meals, YOU CAN DO THAT WITH AN ORDINARY CHICKEN!

How many meals it stretches to depends on how many people you have to feed.

Eat free range chickens and eggs if you want to, just don't try to take the moral high ground and throw your teddy in the corner when others choose not to.

I really wish I was a vegan now, then I could really take the moral high ground and pick on you for eating defenseless animals.

geordie_joe

Just been thinking, both HFW's and Jammies programs had a woman that she wasn't going to buy free range chickens.

Was there really only one person in each show, or did they cut the others out but left one in just to balance the program, or create a talking point for people.

Or was their nobody who was going to carry on buying ordinary chickens, so they paid/encouraged some just to say it.

As we have just seen, the person who is going to carry on buying ordinary chickens gets picked on. I can imagine, say in the work place, people discussing the show and picking on that woman for not changing. And their colleagues who also aren't going to change keeping their heads down, or nodding politely hoping it gives the impression they are buying free range, thus saving them from being picked on.

This would have the effect of making the campaign seem more popular than it really is.