'Hugh's Chicken Run' A Moral Dilemna for DFWs?

ZTD

novelli wrote: »

these high profile peoiple should spend more time campaigning for better healthcare/education etc for now instead of how we kill animals!!!

It's not how they die, but how they are raised that is the issue.

novelli wrote: »

theres nothing wrong with the chicken/pork/beef etc that i serve up on a sunday, its delicious and doesnt cost me an arm and a leg!! its regretful if the animal has had to suffer for me to buy it at that price, but hey at least its been put out of its misery!!

Misery does not equal cheapness. Shortcuts equal cheapness, misery is merely a by-product of it.

jessbrown100

we tend to buy less meat but buy the stuff that we know the origins of. as well as the ethical issues, the amount of hormones, chemicals etc that are fed to intensively reared animals scares the s**t out of me. also very excited cos we're getting four 'rescued' ex battary hens in 12 weeks time- can't wait to see them stretching their toes in our back garden!

benbenandme

It will make me think a bit though before I buy a cheap chicen next time ... I dont know if I would pay for free-range but I may just not buy chicken at all

boredofbeingathome

postingalwaysposting wrote: »

I think hugh would have done a better job trying to pusudae the legislation to change in govenment to allow chickens to be raised this way. I think if someone can find a middle ground between 'outdoors' and 'mass produced' that still keeps the price relitively cheap then all will be happy ~ i hope. However there is a big but, work out the price to keep loads of chicks in a glorified shed with food and water and the price to keep less chicks in a shed on land and the price rockets.

No matter what anyone does/says people will vote with their feet and as i sit here today i am 100% sure if someone was given a choice between two chickens in plastic trays covered in celophane, with a price difference of £2 between the two. I know which one the majority of the UK will buy. Sadly this is the world we live in today, i would love to raise my own food/grow my own food. But when you need to earn at least £1k per month just to live a basic life in a town these days many of us have no choice ~ cheap food = more money for us = better life :rolleyes:

sadly i think the show did show that, and i dont judge those who can't afford the price of free range and buy the cheaper alternative. i know its easier to think of food just being food if it is pre packaged and we dont have to think about how it got there. i remember going off lamb when i was younger because i couldn't bear the thought of how it got on the table. I totally agree about he cost of living as well it's a weird old society we live in- totally consumerist, completely stressed and all trying to do the very best we can for our families.

postingalwaysposting

rog2 wrote: »

I don't understand it eiher, pania.

Simple battry hens are raised in glorified sheds with 100's per square meter. These sheds can be built on mormal concreate land and basically can be packed in. Now take into account free range, you need 'land' and barns, fencing, straw. Thats before you even invole defra and then the big one employees. As said on the program by the 'keeper' ~ when he would care for battery hens you just check on them twice a day then close them up for the night and the hours 'caring' for them is minamal (prob 3~4 hours) now in a free range farm it needs constaintly maning, checking, cleaning (the barns) etc and thats a full time job ~ this adds cost to the final product, hence why battery hens are cheaper ~ much cheaper.

boredofbeingathome

jessbrown100 wrote: »

we tend to buy less meat but buy the stuff that we know the origins of. as well as the ethical issues, the amount of hormones, chemicals etc that are fed to intensively reared animals scares the s**t out of me. also very excited cos we're getting four 'rescued' ex battary hens in 12 weeks time- can't wait to see them stretching their toes in our back garden!

Wow i wish i could do the same, but i dont have the space and i reckon the local cat population would have a field day.Good luck with your project:j

ZTD

pania wrote: »

I don't understand why the extra cost, the chicken still costs the same to purchase, the slaughter cost would still be the same, the barn would require grain to be pumped round and artificial lighting, free range that isn't required, the barn takes up land, make the barn smaller and allow outdoor space for the chickens. Surely the costs would be comparable, it is purely a marketing reason that the cost is higher on free range. mr tesco or miss sainsbury should recognise that and make the changes themselves.

• They're kept warmer, so they grow in size quicker (less food expended on producing energy).
• They can't move, so they grow in size quicker (ditto).
• They can't be kept out of doors overnight (foxes/mink), so the size of the barns would not change - they are the absolute minimum (probably smaller than) that is needed to keep that many chickens.
• If you mistreat freerange, they will stay away - that takes either manpower to bring them in, or losses to foxes/mink.
• A closed barn is a powerful barrier against infection - only airbourne can get in, and that is kept at bay by constant doses of antibiotics. Well - usually anyway. That works out cheaper too.

Of course they do have higher margins on decent food as well - but it is more expensive to start with.

fc123

I have really strong feelings about this subject and used to belong to Compassion in world farming when I was in my 20's.

I was about 7 when we went on a family outing / walk and came across loads of huge sheds (my memory is vague, I just remember clearly the noise and peering inside one), it was full of caged chickens, thousands of them and there were loads of sheds. This was back in 1970. My mother never bought a chicken again.

I am now a DFW on a V tight food budget and buy free range or organic meat occasionally (twice a month)...always from a good local butcher, never the supermarkets. I pay the price that it should be.

To make our diet interesting, I clip recipes (vegetarian) and have discovered some really tasty stuff!


A worthwhile read is "Not on the Label" by Felicity Lawrence...don't believe that the main supermarkets are interested in feeding you well at a fair price.

Their behaviour to farmers and producers is almost medieval.

Sorry to be a bit rude about one of the participants on the show, but the big mum who was caught buying battery chickens during the week really wound me up.

I have cut my weekly food bills massively by NOT going to Asda for veg, meat, fruit. I used to be a terrible shopper! (overworked, run ragged by kids etc!!)

jessbrown100

Hi bored- have two cats but 'chicken lady' of the rescue centre reckons a chicken will see off a cat no probs- it's just mr foxy i'm bothered about LOL (sorry for moving slightly off topic!)

rog2

ZTD wrote: »

It's not how they die, but how they are raised that is the issue.

True - in fact the 'final moments' were exactly the same for both 'battery' and 'free-range' birds.