Anyone watch Hugh Double-Barrell Whatisname's 3 parter about free range vs 'standard' chickens which concluded tonight?
I have only bought free-range or organic since I read an article many years ago about how the vast majority of chickens are raised. So now I pay between six and seven quid for a chicken in the knowledge that I can get 2 for a fiver in the supermarket.
Do I have more money than sense? Possibly, but I like to think that I am buying a bird that has enjoyed a more natural and comparitively better quality of life. And from a purely selfish point of view, I know I am buying a bird that is tastier because it has had the privilege of running around and exercising its muscle tissue.
Chicken used to be a luxury just a few decades ago, something people had as a treat for christmas. Now it's about the cheapest meat you can buy. Cheaper than seagull in fact.
Nowadays I worry about what kind of chicken goes into my Chicken Pathia, my Chicken and Chips or my Kung Po Chicken. When dining out, I can only assume that I am eating 'standard' chicken unless free range or organic is specified, so I tend to avoid it.
Ten years ago I may have been considered a freak but nowadays I know I'm not alone in wanting to know how the animal I am about to devour was raised and what quality of life it enjoyed. Carnivores have ethics too.
Chicken Tonight?
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Bob Jefferson
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SoupDragon
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I only ever buy free range eggs as I abhor the living conditions of battery hens. I'd do without rather than buy the cheaper ones.
I also have worries about pig rearing so tend to avoid supermarket bacon although it's a lot cheaper than Findlays.
Although dearer I think the butchers bacon tastes nicer and doent have that white junk when cooked. Their sausages are great too.
I also have worries about pig rearing so tend to avoid supermarket bacon although it's a lot cheaper than Findlays.
Although dearer I think the butchers bacon tastes nicer and doent have that white junk when cooked. Their sausages are great too.
Huge FurryWhittingstyle
I just loved it when the Tesco manager thought HFW called him an a***hole
Hamlet had Yorick's skull.
I have a Lava Lamp.
I have a Lava Lamp.
Didn't see the programme myself, but Homer told me all about it 
After watching a similar programme a few years back, showing how cheap chicken imported from the Netherlands had mould washed off it before being put on supermarket shelves here
, I decided free range chicken was the only one to buy.
Organic chicken is, however, too pricey for my palate.
And I agree with Soupdragon; you can't beat Findlay's pork products.
After watching a similar programme a few years back, showing how cheap chicken imported from the Netherlands had mould washed off it before being put on supermarket shelves here
, I decided free range chicken was the only one to buy. Organic chicken is, however, too pricey for my palate.
And I agree with Soupdragon; you can't beat Findlay's pork products.
Re: Chicken Tonight?
I'm with you on that, I'd rather have 1 tasty but expensive, "ethically" reared chicken than 3 from one of the supermarkets. When I watched/read how chickens in supermarkets get those "burnt" bits on their legs, I vowed to avoid them at all cost from now on....Bob Jefferson wrote:I have only bought free-range or organic since I read an article many years ago about how the vast majority of chickens are raised. So now I pay between six and seven quid for a chicken in the knowledge that I can get 2 for a fiver in the supermarket.
I now try to do the same when it comes to all meat, and buy organic, free-range, local when I can. Yes, it's often more expensive, but it also is usually tastier and worth the extra pennies, not least in the guilt-free(ish) feeling.
I can now taste the difference when it comes to eating mass-produced chicken/pork/beef/lamb than meat that has been raised ethically...and I would never go back.