Cheap and well cared for meat? Can we have it all?

Penelope_Penguin

angel81uk wrote: »

This whole debate concerns me as I feel people are failing to look at the bigger picture. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for only buying organic and free range but producing free range food requires more space which we just don't have in this country anymore. Our population is increasing at a phenomenal rate and land is increasingly being used for housing rather than farming. So we have more and more people needing food and less space to produce it.

How's it going to work? We either need to start eating meat as a luxury rather than a staple or we end up having to import meat from countries whose animal welfare policies are less strict than our own.

Or, we use what we have more wisely, and eat everything rather than throwing away the 25% (I think was the figure but please correct me if I'm mistaken) that we currently do. Thet'll also help to reduce the growing rat population, and people harping on about the percieved injustice of having to pay to dispose of their waste.

Eating less meat (and everything else, in fact ) will have a positive effect on public health, too.

Penny. x

angel81uk

That's my point exactly penny, we need to start eating less. We're very good at trying to fix problems that have been around for years but now we need to start working towards preventing them before they reach crisis point. I completely commend the chicken out campaign but whilst we're looking at what we're doing wrong why not take a few minutes more to look at the bigger picture and think about how we can make other changes too.

I know I'm probably preaching to the converted here, us OS'ers are pretty damn good really! I'd just hate to see the solution to one problem causing another.

vikki_louise

catowen wrote: »

Also on the budget i am on, i regularly shop at Primark, Asda, Tesco etc and pick up the cheap clothes, even though i know that the cheaper the clothes, the chances are that they had been made in a sweat shop somewhere where women and children are being exploited, but what can i do?

I shop in Primark, my Mum shops in M&S, I was concerned about the way primark clothes must be made to get it at that price, it turns out (i looked it up on wikipedia) they pay the workers (and have better conditions) more than what M&S does. they still aren't good but I was slightly more reassuredthat a cheeper brand didnt mean the workers were worse off

overlykeensaver

Another solution to getting cheap but well-cared for meat is to ask your butcher and start cooking with some of the cheaper and less well known cuts of meat. For instance, instead of buying chicken breasts, get f-r chicken thighs or legs, get the tougher stewing meat from f-r beef and lamb. As long as you cook it nice and slowly and for a long time in a casserole, it will be delicious!

thriftlady_2

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

I know many people here have to shop on a budget, me included, but actually Free Range chickens aren't as expensive as some people seem to fear. I posted on another thread last night that for a family of 4 making a 2kg chicken stretch over 2 meals that the extra cost for free range would be less than 25p per meal.

.

Absolutely, I posted on the other thread -Chicken out one, that I made a 2Kg+ free-range chicken make 18 portions (includes stock for soup) for 33p a head -not as good as you but it aint bad is it.

ViksB

Another option is to buy direct from the farmer or small holder. You would normally need to buy 1/2 a pig or 1/2 a lamb etc (not sure about beef), but works out much cheaper than buying it individually and you get to be much more inventive with your cooking using the entire animal.
You discover cuts of meat which are gorgeous in stews etc but are really sold.
Buying eggs is often cheaper to buy direct from the farm rather than supermarkets and you even get to see the chickens wonder round.
OK this only works for those of you that live in the countryside or near enough to them.
Asking at Farmers Markets would probably work too.

Viks

orchid-96

I have been reading this with interest. about the cooking of the cheaper meats slowly, both myself and dh cannot stand to eat meat if it has any chewy or fatty bits in it...but I am not an experienced cook so I always use chicken breast/braising steak (and cut it up to oblivion to get out anything fatty)...can anyone give me some advice about cooking these meats so as not to get fatty bits inside...

Also is there a thread anywhere about bean/vegi recipes as I would like to make more of these but tend to stick to basic stuff like pasta dishes and fish dishes

maypole

Nigella, in her Express programme, said she preferred to use the thighs of a chicken rather than the breast, as it was tastier and more tender and also cheaper.

Not that she needs to worry about cost

kethry

Those who are interested in this subject may want to watch Dispatches on Channel 4 tonight at 9pm - "The Truth about Food", including whether food lives up to nutritional claims and packaging and so on. Promises to be interesting!

keth
xx

lindseykim13

wow that was a nice debate to come back and read lol

I do think that most msers are already not wasting food anyway its the other unconverted part of the popullation thats the problem but we can only change what we do ourselves unfortunatly.

I am all for free range but can't afford it even if it is only £1 extra i buy a chicken a week and thats an extra £52 a year is alot of money for those in debt and on tight budgets.

Fair enough for those who buy chocs, biscs and fizzy drinks to cut back on one to afford the better meat but i cant buy any of that anyway, i have nothing left to cut back on. So the problem is now that i either buy the cheap chicken and feel guilty or find an alternitive meat at 2.50! and as for not eating meat we only have 2 meals a week which contain meat and i think for a balanced diet my kids need some form of meat.

Did anyone else see what was on the news (was it last night) about conditions being improoved for battery chickens by 2012 long way off but will this be the end of cheap chicken anyway?