Hugh's Chicken Run (Merged Discussion)

KingFlump

In the past 3 weeks, ive complained several times to Asda about their lack of free range chicken. This is a direct quote from the reply Asda sent me:-

"There aren't enough free range farms in the UK to meet the demand for free range chicken. To meet customer demand we would need to buy the products from Europe, but as we're committed to supporting British farming this is not something we want to do."

As far as Asda are concerned, it seems if you want to buy british, they you have to buy battery farmed chickens.

Fortunatly my local sainsburys sell locally reared free range chicken, so goodbye Asda

margaretclare

I think, realistically, it is not going to change overnight. As Hugh says, it will be customer-led, and there'll always be those people who just want cheap chicken, no matter how unhealthy it is, full of fat etc, and don't care how it has been raised. On the other hand, it takes time to raise free range chickens because they live longer, and it is going to take time for (some) producers to change their methods.

However, that's not an excuse for 'forgetting' about this campaign. I'm another who has been committed to free range for many years, but I've only recently managed to convert my DH who likes going to the supermarket - I hate supermarkets! He's recently started going to the local butcher, who can tell us where everything he sells is produced, and most of it comes from within a 40-mile radius. We can also go to a local farm which sells to the public 1st and 3rd weekends of every month: http://www.woodfordmeats.co.uk/

It's worth looking around where you live, look on the BigBarn site for local producers. www.bigbarn.co.uk

Keep up the pressure!

Margaret

Ben84

I can't quite believe you can buy a whole chicken for £2.50! That just seems wrong to me as I often spend more than that for a packet of 12 eggs, so it would seem logical the chicken costs more.

I have never actually bought a chicken, or any other meat. I don't even walk down the meat isle at the supermarket, there's no reason to. I had no idea what meat costs, but I assumed it was expensive as it would seem to consume more resources to produce.

The supermarkets are telling us something that isn't quite true about prices. They present the idea of more for less and constantly lowering prices, but it doesn't make sense in reality. Inflation is devaluing the prices that stay still, and those that get cheaper are fighting against all normal economics as I know them. It's a totally unreasonable and unsustainable trend, and something has to account for it, and sadly it seems to be the quality and production methods.

When I realised a chicken costs less than a packet of eggs, I instantly thought something wasn't right - and it seems that's correct too. It's just that consumers have been sucked in to the supermarket reality where everything is upside down with the prices. From lost leaders to inflated prices and the many supermarket cheats, like 1/3rd empty boxes, we're being sold a lot of items at crazy prices which almost entirely hide the true value of our shopping. We don't question enough and aren't cynical enough about their prices. When millions of people take it at face value that a chicken costs less than its eggs, something is clearly wrong.

Supermarkets are hard to avoid now, but I'm starting to wonder if I really want to keep shopping somewhere that plays so many tricks with the prices of items. I'm wondering if the supermarkets have really managed to give us more for less, or just less products for more profit.

I see too many products full of fillers. Perhaps these composite extrusions that look and taste something like the items they claim to be are not really cheaper, just less real and accordingly less costly? If you remove the fillers, how much real product remains? Do the fillers provide anything worth eating, or worse are they bad for you? Too many questions and no answers, but my gut feeling is that something is very wrong with supermarket prices and I've been a fool to ever believe they make sense.

Refund_Queen

Hi,
The left over chicken risotto sounds lovely, has anyone found the recipe anywhere please?
Thanks

prettypennies

It is on The chicken out site here:http://www.chickenout.tv/3-meals

margaretclare

Ben84, you've written so much that makes absolute sense and rings a bell with me. I think you're right - we've been suckered into this whole 'convenience' idea and have just gone along mindlessly allowing supermarkets to get away with murder (almost!)

My DH likes shopping and I let him go to the supermarket. Our local Tesco, not content with opening 24 hrs, has extended and remodelled the whole store. I went with DH a couple of times recently after Christmas (I don't go near them in the weeks before Christmas!!) 'Why do you like it?' I ask him. 'I like the choice' he says. But, but, but.....we walked what feels like several miles before we got to what we were looking for. Rows and rows of cakes, for a start. We don't eat cake because DH is diabetic, and if we wanted cake occasionally, I'd make some. Then there are the 'ready-meals', rows and rows of them, and I think these are what you mean by 'too many products made of fillers'. I still think of supermarkets in terms of grocery shopping, but there are plasma TVs, DVDs, CDs, and you walk past rows and rows of them before you get to any groceries. Apparently this is the way people shop nowadays, and mixing everything up together like this is the way supermarkets can undercut other shops, like book shops for instance.

Over the last couple of weeks I've managed to 'convert' him from buying meat in the supermarket. So, rows and rows of meat products that we walk past and don't buy, so what's the 'choice'? Basically, all we buy now in Tesco will be things in tins, jars and packets, things we probably couldn't get anywhere else, things with recognisable names like Fairy washing up liquid, loo rolls, Heinz baked beans.

A lot of people criticise Waitrose as being 'too expensive', but I've always liked them because I can find my way around in there much more easily. They don't tend to face you with a lot of plasma TVs before you get to the things you really want. DH chose to go there yesterday because, he said, he likes the quality and choice of their fruit and veg. We got some really nice rolls which we had for our tea. People say 'the older people can't afford to go there' but there were a lot of wrinklies (like us!) there yesterday. Because the aisles are wider it's easier for people in wheelchairs, of which there were several yesterday.

I think the TV ads about 'we're reducing prices all the time' are very misleading. As you've said, this just can't be possible.

Someone on the Radio 4 'Food Programme' made a very telling comment recently, that people no longer shop to a list. They use the shelf labels as a 'memory jogger' and just buy what they see displayed. The fact that people no longer plan what they buy, plan ahead about meals, has led to a lot of food being wasted, because of 'impulse buying' and really, shopping being done in a very mindless way.

At least a few people are now thinking differently.

Margaret

Lotus-eater

I don't think we can blame the supermarkets for trying to sell as many different things as possible, they are trying to make money after all. But we are being (most are already there) indoctrinated into believing we need all this other stuff on the shelves for a good shop.
What Margaret and Ben says is right,


When I go to the supermarket, go to fruit and veg, walk through meat to see if anything good is on cheap, to buy yogurt and marmite, coffee, loo roll, thats about it. The rest of the shop is really mostly useless.
Anything processed has already had "value added to it" ie it costs you more for the same basic thing.

geordie_joe

My local Somerfield has taken it's first steps towards selling free range chicken.

They don't sell whole chickens yet, but this morning they have a new range - Free range chicken legs.

They actually work out cheaper than their "Finest range", which was the best they did up until today.

The finest range is chicken from farms that meet Somerfield Animal Welfare Standards, although it doesn't say what that standard is.

The finest range legs were £2.50 for 600gm which equals £3.33 for 800gm. The free range lags were £3.00 for 800gm.

Well done my local Somerfield.

Lotus-eater

geordie_joe wrote: »

The finest range is chicken from farms that meet Somerfield Animal Welfare Standards, although it doesn't say what that standard is.

Guessing that would be the same as the Tescos Willow standard. Which from memory is the same as the rspca's standard, ie big barn, toys, slow growing.
Please be free to tell me I am wrong.

geordie_joe

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Guessing that would be the same as the Tescos Willow standard. Which from memory is the same as the rspca's standard, ie big barn, toys, slow growing.
Please be free to tell me I am wrong.

I can't say as Somerfield don't say what their standard is. It can't be that good otherwise they would be telling us what it is.