Hugh's Chicken Run (Merged Discussion)

kethry

chardonnay wrote: »

i've watched 2 out of the three shows so far. there are a couple of points i'd like to raise that haven't been addressed so far on this thread;
1. both chickens from the intensive and free range side where being culled....

3. the main problem seems to be that the supermarkets only pay the producer 3p per bird yet are selling them 2 for a fiver. obviously if the producers are being paid so little per bird then to be financially viable they have to 'cram' them in. even with the additional costs the supermarkets have there must be a large profit margin. this profit margin could be decreased slightly to increase the cost they paid per bird with set care guidelines.

thanks for some good points.. to respond to point 1 and 3:

1) I had wondered how many were being culled from the freerange side as well, before i watched last night's show. However, its important to remember a couple things: a) farmers *are* running a business and cannot afford to get sentimental. b) with birds that are culled, sometimes there are veterinerary reasons for the culling (i.e. disease), and sometimes the culling is called for because of health guidelines. Do remember that farmers - any farmers - have a huge load of rules and regulations to abide by that dictate what they do, even when they don't necessarily want to. You only have to look at bird flu and so on to understand the reasons for culling: in a flock, a chicken with a slightly lame leg/under the weather is going to be the first to fall ill.

3) This blog is written by a man who runs a smallholding up in Scotland. While he comments some on the programme and some of what Hugh has said about being given access to intensive poultry farms, he also writes about what he's been able to find out from the blogs of actual poultry farmers, and i think its illuminating to your point. What i wonder is how the profit margin on chickens break down: are those 2 for £5 chickens loss leaders for tescos? How much does the average battery chicken/free range chicken actually cost at the point it leaves the slaughterhouse (i.e. before all the middleman costs are added on)? if you take the price of £8.76 for a 2.35kg chicken that bunty109 bought, how much of that goes to the farmer? how much of that chicken does the supermarket take for its actual operating costs (i.e. overheads, staff salaries etc.) and how much works out as profit? how much goes into keeping the price of other goods artificially low in order to tempt us into shopping at the supermarket?

its clear that while the supermarkets - all of them, not just Mr T - need to change, in the long run, many of their practices, we, the individual, also need to change how we perceive food, our finances and so on. I think i remember reading somewhere that we now spend the least, proportionwise, in Europe, on food out of our paypackets, and yet our diets are extremely bad. I honestly think (and fervently hope) that these years are the beginnings of a quiet revolution, and that in years to come, my generation (i'm 36) will have our grandchildren looking up at us and going "why did you eat such nasty things, nanna?".

<climbs off soapbox>

keth
xx

grahamliza4

I saw this last night and thought it was great that people were waking up to the dangers of battery farming - until the blonde lady's husband said

'this is great, why don't you now put pressure on the supermarkets to bring down the price of free range chickens?'

I feel they missed the point somewhat!

Two for a fiver anyone?!

brogusblue

Hello

I have been watching hugh's programme with great interest i have always agreed what he try's to do,

This programme has been a eye opener and at times shocking to see those poor chickens being cooped up and hugh getting upset when he had to kill some of the birds, I thought the allotment holders did a good job rearing those chickens it was pretty sad when they had to kill them that poor couple named there chicken they could eat him so they put him in the frezzer untill christmas.What got me was that hayley at the end when hugh caught he red handed with 2 for £5. :mad:

I must put up my hand and say that i eat a lot chicken and i used to buy the cheap chicken it wasn't untill about 2 years ago i tried a free range chicken and never looked back the taste is amazing, I must try a corn feed chicken i always keep seeing them and thinking must try one for those.

I always go to my local farm shop for my meat but a christmas i was a Dobbies garden centre in milton keynes and they have a foodhall in there and they have a brilliant old fashioned butcher and knows his stuff i purchased from him free range chickens 2 of them they tasted amazing a real chicken taste moist and juicy they best chickens yet and the price wasn't bad to 2.5kg - 2.7kg £9.97 each,

I am a limited budget as i am a carer for my disabled mum so what i am going to do now is bank some money every month goto the butchers and purchase the meat and make meals up for the month ahead.

I will be watching the rest of the programmes and also the kill it cook it eat it on bbc3.

Cheers
Brogusblue

winthropwoman

Hi, anyone able to tell me how the programme ended. Hugh was just about to open the envelope with the figures on when our recorder stopped recording!!!!!!:mad:

sammy_kaye18

Lol

Well i jsut went for my shop at the supermarket and thought - oh ill have a look round and see how much the chickens are and how good they are size wise (more how much meat can i get off it) and there was no whole free range chickens at all!!!!!!!!!!

Wonder if this is a clever ploy to sell th eless better quality intensive farmed chickens by not havign the option of free range - i will definately be getting one free range asap.

not only do i fancy a roast dinner but bf jsut text sayign can i make him a chicken curry next week so thats where soem more of the chicken will be going - only a shame i dont eat curry so sandwiches it is for me (or antoher roast! lol)

anyone elses tescos not got free range in????????? Im quite ashamed too that workign in a coop for my usual roast i would buy one of there chickens, no bloody more i tells you!!!

purpleivy

approx 60% but that was only of fresh chickens, not inc prepared meals etc

sammy_kaye18

winthropwoman - he said that the sale of free range had gone up and they had done well but that he couldnt declare them the first free range town because they had excluded ready made meals etc form the list and only focused on whole chickens and not thought abotu other chicken containing products

Cazzdevil

The show was filmed last year, I wonder what percentage of Axminster is STILL opting for free range.

purpleivy

I'd like to have seen a blind taste testing done. My dh has suggested I do this

Cazzdevil

From the Chicken Out homepage - written by Janet Street-Porter for the Independent:

"It's easy to sneer at successful entrepreneurs like Hugh, who don't have to feed a family on a budget. But the truth is, we slather our faces in "age-defying" lotions, and yet we seem perfectly happy to give our children chicken that has stood in its own faeces and never seen daylight.
You can eat well cheaply (if you learn how to cook) and as a nation we eat far too much meat anyway. If we made fresh vegetables, pulses and pasta everyday food and treated meat as something special, then everyone could afford free-range.' "