'Are cheap chicks chic?' Poll discussion & results

LouBlue

I was in Sainsburys today and there were more people around the free range chicken part than the cheap chic part.

TheBaldwins

The sad fact of the matter is it's all down to the money you have. Animal welfare in poorer countries is poor in comparison to better off countries, and this goes for the poorer/richer in our own county too. Those who can afford to buy ethically tend to do so, and those who don't have the money don't have the time or energy to think about it because there's so many other things to worry about and pay for.

It's all about survival. If you're trying to survive on a low wage then animal ethics will be the last thing you think of when you go shopping to try to buy enough to feed your family for a week.

Personally I won't eat it if I can't bear how the animal or bird is treated/grown, however it is easy for me to say that with my decent budget for food every week. Even so, where I might have had chicken at least two nights a week, I now have it once a week/fortnight because I buy free range, and where I might have had a roast chicken twice a month I now have it once in a blue moon, and I've done this since I could afford to be picky!

Don't berate those who choose the "cheep" (sorry for the pun) option - it's just a matter of survival.

njf_3

I've every sympathy for people on a really tight budget, but...

1. a normal whole chicken provides four big portions and enough scraps for a risotto to which you can add other ingredients like mushrooms, peas, celery etc (you can boil up the stripped carcass and bones for chicken stock, in a pressure cooker if you have one);

2. You can usually get RSPCA-approved Freedom Food chicken for around £1 more than standard chickens (before special offers);

3. maybe I'm lucky, but my local butcher's sells what they say are locally produced free-range chickens of varying weights at £2.99, £3.49 and £3.99 - and you know what? They taste a damn sight better than equivalent supermarket chickens - and I'm sure whoever produced them gets more than the scandalous 3p (THREE PENCE!) per bird producers get for cheap chicken (who gets all the profits, I wonder?). They also sell free-range eggs at 99p a half-dozen, so that's where I shop now.

You can sign up for the RSPCA's welfare-friendly chicken petition at www.supportchickennow.co.uk

Tiglet

TheBaldwins wrote: »

Don't berate those who choose the "cheep" (sorry for the pun) option - it's just a matter of survival.

I wasn't berating them - just pointing out that veggy options can be much better value and that poultry can be paltry (equally bad pun) by comparison.

wiganshale

Most of the respondents to this thread will be of the "think of the poor chickens" genre. They should not delude themselves into believing that this means that most of the population is like-minded. My local supermarket is well stocked with two for £5 and I expect that situation to continue, because consumer demand carries more weight than postings attempting to sway public opinion.
I like chicken and I doubt if it will taste any different if it is cared for or, more likely, it is simply sold off as having been lovingly reared as a family pet by souls more sensitive than myself.
If DEFRA isn't doing it's job then write to your MP and ask for them to see why DEFRA is so callous towards farm animals.

LouBlue

wiganshale wrote: »

like chicken and I doubt if it will taste any different if it is cared for or, more likely, it is simply sold off as having been lovingly reared as a family pet by souls more sensitive than myself.

Oh I can definitely taste the difference between battery and free range. Obviously not knowing how all battery chickens are treated but its pretty obvious I would think, all that fresh air, being able to roam around, not sitting in its own... . as Jamie would put it, pi*s and sh*t. I am not just saying that, I really could taste the difference, the first time I tasted free range.

njf_3

It's not just that farmers are getting a raw deal (3p a bird for cheap supermarket chickens selling at £3 or so). What do you think the workers on the sexing, weeding-out, slaughtering, packing etc conveyor belts are getting paid? The cost of cheap chicken for the consumer is also low pay for sh*tty work that most of us wouldn't stand doing for even half a day, let alone week in, week out.

It's about time people realized that dirt-cheap goods (as Jamie pointed out, cheap chicken costs less per pound than dog-food) can only be produced using dirt-cheap labour - it's not just about chickens, it's about human exploitation. (You can't afford welfare-friendly chicken? Maybe you're getting exploited too.)

Sarahsaver

I use the bones of a chicken, I make chicken stock with them. Therefore I use ALL of the chicken.
I noticed some of the die hard 'cheap chicken eaters' on these programmes probably could cut their food bills in other areas...
A lot of people do not care about what they put in their own bodies let alone think about how the chickens are treated.

ceridwen

JCD_Capulet wrote: »

If I don't eat chicken I'll have no meat in my diet at all.

I'm puzzled as to why that matters I wasnt aware ones health depended on eating meat - I'm perfectly healthy despite it being literally years since I ate any meat - and, yes, one of the reasons I am vegetarian is I cant afford ethically-produced meat.

LuciferTDark

You forgot an option:
E. Turn off the TV or radio when those smug chefs appear.

At the end of the day I buy what I can afford. end of story.