I didn't know it was on, but I was intending on seeing Jamie Olivers programme on the same subject. Jamies Fowl Dinners, 9pm, this Friday.
Is anyone watching Hugh's Chicken Run?
Hugh’s Chicken Run; Elephant Diaries - Times Online
I'm convinced to change to freerange after watching last night's episode. Will you?
I didn't know it was on, but I was intending on seeing Jamie Olivers programme on the same subject. Jamies Fowl Dinners, 9pm, this Friday.
Chicken = KFC = Yum Yum!
Have bought free range chicken and eggs for years, ever since seeing the Animal Film (first day of broadcasting on Channel 4!!) (Oh, and in the late 80s / 90s my Dad lived next door to a broiler farm - immediately before the lorry came to pick up the current batch for slaughter the stench was indescribabel.)
The problem though, is McDonalds, the local curry house, and manufacturers of the 'Chicken Chow Mein' etc microwave meals - people like that. They will buy the cheapest crap they think they can get away with, and until that changes the factory broiler farmers are hardly going to notice drops in supermarket sales.
Jamie Oliver was involved with Hugh's chicken run too.
The only possible argument one woman came up with for not buying free range chicken is that it costs about £2 more per chicken, but Hugh came up with a solution. He took the remains of a free range roast chicken (there didn't seem to be much meat on it at all) and made a chicken risotto for 6 people. He didn't waste any of it, even making stock from the bones.
When you see the difference between standard farmed chickens and free range, it's a no brainer for me. I'd never considered a chickens quality of life before last night, but I'm sold on the idea now and will be buying free range from now on.
That's the problem isn't it. To go completely Free Range you'd have to give up fast food altogether...oh well, no more chicken balls for me.
Last edited by Double Trouble; 9th-January-2008 at 03:03 PM.
Only temporarily, if enough people stop eating this stuff, the companies will be forced to change their policies and use cruelty free chicken (possibly not free range, but better looked after). I believe that M&S (OK, not alot like KFC!) started using free range eggs in their products because of customer pressure.
Being mostly veggie, I didn't watch this - I eat eggs, but have used free range organic ones for year anyway.
to everyone making a change though, hope you stick with it!
I have only bought free range eggs for years now and recently have bought free range chickens. We decided a short while ago to try to eat more veggie and the money we save means that we should be able to buy more free range.
When I worked for a Broker, we Insured one of the larger producers of chickens and was so saddened by some of the claims that came in. Whole flocks would be suffercated when some idiot forgot to check the thermostat or alarms. It really is all about cost.
Whilst we are on the subject of animal welfare, does anyone still buy Danish Bacon? I haven't bought it for years, as their 'welfare' standards are not as high as ours. I will only buy English and then if I can, outdoor reared.
Elaine
I watched another issue of the programme tonight and thought maybe it was time to switch to free range, but then another thought said we are carnivores and we farm meat. Two for £5 or a free range chicken at £6.
Hard decision to make unless to consider that two free range chickens=£12.
Couple of weeks at that and you could get a tank of petrol in this ever inflated day in age.
Maybe another suggestion would be to stop taxing food all together and that would drive prices down maybe making us able to choose free range easier.
Seems no matter what channel you watch there's something off putting about food on.
Hugh's Chicken Run was one thing , then there's this Kill it , Cook it, Eat it program on the other side about raising young piglets and veal calves and eating them.. oh but their "gimmick" is a live slaughter of the animals before a studio audience !!
I don't eat much in the way of red meat anyway.. but even less now.. I'm not a veggie, I eat fish and chicken, but I'm going free range from now on. The ASDA/TESCO cheap chicken deals are beginning to leave a "fowl" taste in my mouth !
I thought that food was zero-rated for VAT?
Well, apart from the fact that the chickens are treated badly, what I've realised that will make me change is that the standard chickens all look un-healthy and sick. Why on earth would anyone want to eat anything so repulsive once they've been shown it?
If they're too expensive, why not buy one instead of two? Hugh F-W showed how easy it was to make to meals for a family of 5 out of 1 chicken.
Try using other foods for the other chicken meal. Pulses are cheap, extremely nutritious and lower in fat than meat, whilst being high in protein and fibre. And they'll make a change - if you want the meaty flavour, am sure you can make stock from your left-over chicken carcass.
I guess that it's up the individual conscience though
Yes, we are carnivores and yes, we farm meat. For me though it is about how the animals are kept though.
We have three deer that often come into our garden and just before Christmas, a gamekeeper was employed locally (not sure by whom?) to cull excess deer. The venison is sold locally and I suppose that I should consider this. However, until last week, we had not seen 'our deer' for a few days, feared the worst! So was not really keen to buy venison, but I will now consider this again.
Unlike other animals, they (and game birds, such as pheasant) do have a totally free and natural life, up until the point that they are shot. From an animal welfare point of view, this has to be better than buying animals that are kept in an unnatural environment.
Elaine
Technically, homo sapiens sapiens are ominvores.
I've bought free range eggs for years, but will now start buying free range chicken, too.... And if I can't afford it, I'll eat veggie food instead!!
If you look at how many meals you can get out of one chicken, I really don't think £6 is bad.
I don't want to watch Jamie Oliver's program tomorrow. It would probably turn me into a veggie instantly. I rarely buy ready meals anyway, but will probably buy even less after seing programmes like these (even the trailers are enough to put me off!).
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