One Man Banned Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Good luck with the supermarkets. It would be interesting to see if people's buying habits change for the immediate moment while the attention is on Free Range. What worries me for the moment is the sheer commercialism these days. If the stores run out of their as current small range of free rangers, they will still have an adequate stock of the cheap birds. The clever marketing types always get the consumer to buy what they want us to buy, so they simply won't stock up with the free range birds (and probably inflate the price for the short-term if they do) and thereby lead the customer to buy the cheap birds that they have lots of stock of. Best thing would be not to buy unless you can get the free range bird and just get cheap chicken "as it's all they had left!" A Xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 I haven't watched last night's yet, but DH saw a bit and told me about it. It was the interview with Tesco in Axminster which showed that 60% of the chickens sold that week were free-range. The system is set up to automatically adjust to the buying trend so that less shelf-space was automatically allotted to 'standard' birds and more to free-range. No human being needed to be persuaded because the system is automatic. DH wanted to go and buy all the free-range chicken on the shelves. A point that we feel quite strongly was missed is that better quality meat is more filling and therefore goes further. You get more for your money, so it doesn't really work out any more expensive. I was reading something similar about carrots this morning. Cheap carrots are forced and have 25% more water content than organic carrots. Therefore, the article said, 'you get more carrot per carrot' if you buy organic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 I've got my BHWT sticker up in my car! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One Man Banned Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 I was reading something similar about carrots this morning. Cheap carrots are forced and have 25% more water content than organic carrots. Therefore, the article said, 'you get more carrot per carrot' if you buy organic. Quite often the Organic range has been on special offer and cheaper than the standard produce. The last one I noticed was the seedless white grapes. Half Price Organic, making it £1 a kilo cheaper than standard We posted together on this one Ginette. I am wary of the system changing the stock level with Tesco. A while ago I posted that our local Tesco had stopped selling Grove Fresh organic juice, then after my complaint it was back on the shelves. We buy about 10 cartons of juice a week at least as I rarely drink cola or fizzy drinks as well as the rest of the suburb who must also have been buying it. They've stopped selling it again at our local store. Time for another word me thinks A xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 I've got my BHWT sticker up in my car! me too but i think i'll put a poster in a side window, where it shouldn't obstrict visibilty. i was toying with the idea of contacting the local paper. What with hen welfare being in the news, they might want to do a story about a garden chicken keeper. Need to run it past DH first. **edit** haha, obstrict, a contraction of obstruct and restrict! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyBoo Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 i was toying with the idea of contacting the local paper. What with hen welfare being in the news, they might want to do a story about a garden chicken keeper. What a good idea!! Anyone know what did happen to his intensive hens? Mrs B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 iAnyone know what did happen to his intensive hens? Mrs B no idea, they were sent for slaughter so i assume they've been eaten by someone or something!? Maybe the people on the RC forum might know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Just got back from reading where I listened in on an interesting confrontation in M&S. A lady was asking an assistant if their chicken is free range, & the assistant could not answer one way or the other,but said that the hens used were specially bred to be slower growing & tastier. It was great to see someone taking the time & trouble to ask about the meat they buy - shame she couldn't have got a more clear answer though On the subject,when I saw HFW on Richard & Judy he said that Tesco Willow farm is not free range, which is in direct contradiction to what the store staff told me a month or so ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 I think HFW has a very good heart, but he is naive. I really felt for him last night when he was being critisized for trying to sell more of his own free range chickens and using the whole campaign as a marketing tool, I genuinely believe that it had never crossed his mind that some people might form that opinion. He is a hard worker and a man of principle but has had a priviledged upbringing and he will always have more success putting accross his message to educated like minded people. Jamie Oliver may have more success appealing to the masses but I am a little concerned that too much coverage of this subject in one go will turn people off and possibly make them more stuck in their ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theherd123 Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Not too sure if this has been mentioned before so excuse me if this is a repeat. There was one point in last night programme where i was crying with laughter Huge was in Tesco and discovered that his posters hadnt been put up as promised and said ' There's your answer then' - the manager misheard him and thought he called him something rude and told him to leave - it was so funny!!! The look on Huges face Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jomaxsmith Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 That programme got me in marital strife. Dh automatically takes the opposite stance to any programme that tries to persuade you to change your ways (much like most of the British Public, I expect) and we'd had several heated words about my theory that it's better to eat less good quality meat than to buy cheap meat and also a frank discussion where he denied ever saying that the free range chicken I buy tastes better than cheap stuff ('all I know is you get less meat on it') so when the lady came on saying that someone had seen a chicken costing £18 in Hugh's shop I laughingly said 'well, I paid £13 for one from the butcher' it all got rather tense. Oops! We did laugh about the other comment though - classic! Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 I think that Hugh made a big mistake by not answering the comments about the prices of his own free range birds because they were probably large birds and they are farm reared and slaughtered therefore a more expensive product to supermarket free range which really do cost very little more than standard chicken. He may have been better to talk to people about price more because there is a huge range of free range chicken out there to suit all pockets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffie Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Not too sure if this has been mentioned before so excuse me if this is a repeat. There was one point in last night programme where i was crying with laughter Huge was in Tesco and discovered that his posters hadnt been put up as promised and said ' There's your answer then' - the manager misheard him and thought he called him something rude and told him to leave - it was so funny!!! The look on Huges face That was brilliant wasn't it, we cracked up at that Em. I think the manager judged himself BBxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 I think that Hugh made a big mistake by not answering the comments about the prices of his own free range birds because they were probably large birds and they are farm reared and slaughtered therefore a more expensive product to supermarket free range which really do cost very little more than standard chicken. He may have been better to talk to people about price more because there is a huge range of free range chicken out there to suit all pockets. too right, I'd have found that info useful because I now mistrust free range chicken but don't know where to go to get ethically slaughtered birds, so you're dead right there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenanne Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Did the program say how many chickens were sold in a typical week in Tesco? Not sure if I missed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 OK no comment on last nights programme yet as I havn't seen (Lighterlife meeting) BUT I was doing corporate identity with a year 9 class today and I talked about how some companies have slogans as well as logos and the "Every little helps" slogan was mentioned. So I said that these could also be used against them and asked "did anyone see Hugh's chicken programme?" About half the class had and then started discussing how awful it was! The word is really spreading! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 There is a programme on Friday showing killing chicks i don't understand why they're doing this either, we'll have to wait and see what the context is but it does seem a bizarre thing to do on the face of it. I hope Jamie Oliver explains that ALL chickens regardless of whether you eat free range/organic/cornfed/standard are put through this screening process. My dad has managed a chicken hatchery for over 40 years (where Jamie Oliver filmed last October for this programme) I will be really annoyed if the JO programme does the same as the HFW one and cleverly edit bits. I think some members of the viewing public who are easily confused will think that just standard chicks are just dealt with in this way. To sum up really - I think as long as you choose to eat meat you have to realise it has to be killed. I dont like viewing any footage of an animal suffering, but if you eat meat then its your choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 To sum up really - I think as long as you choose to eat meat you have to realise it has to be killed. I dont like viewing any footage of an animal suffering, but if you eat meat then its your choice. Well said Chelsea! The only way to ensure that the food you eat is free from confusing rearing/killing/ methods is to raise/grow your own. That is the only way to guarantee your food is ethically ok for you to eat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 To sum up really - I think as long as you choose to eat meat you have to realise it has to be killed. I dont like viewing any footage of an animal suffering, but if you eat meat then its your choice. Well said Chelsea! The only way to ensure that the food you eat is free from confusing rearing/killing/ methods is to raise/grow your own. That is the only way to guarantee your food is ethically ok for you to eat. Exactly Christian, if you buy from a small local farm/farm shop whom you know slaughters their animals themselves or if you grow you own then thats fine. Everyone else that buys from a supermarket that has been mass produced then apart from the way it was housed - everything else is the same as in the progammes shown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flo Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 What this programme has done for me is made me think about where I am buying my food and what has happened to it before it gets to my plate. I have been a veggie for years so do not have a problem there, but reading around the subject on the Chicken Out website and BHWT it has really made me think about all the products I buy and things that I have (naively) taken for granted. We have become so used to what the products supermarkets provide that we take for granted where they come from. I read somewhere (can't remember so if anyone knows...) that farmers are having to destroy huge amounts of food (animal or vegetable) as they do not reach the standards of the supermarkets for size, colour, shape! It is ridiculous that in a world where people are starving, good food is being wasted to maintain profit margins. Who is "the customer" who is demanding all of these standards? And don't get me started on excessive packaging! Sorry for the rant, but this programme has really made me think and my new years resolution is to think about where I get my shopping from and attempt to avoid supermarkets all together without breaking the bank! Flo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Would you "adam and eve it" ....just got off the phone from my mum and she is only buying free range from now on! she is on low income, (she is retired on state pension) but they always buy the "value own brand" at the supermarket, so if THEY can afford free range then so can most others! im so proud of her!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Carol McGiffin (used to be married to Chris Evans apparently ) was on Loose Women saying that since watching Hugh F-W's programme she will only buy free-range chicken. And she commented that it really wasn't much more expensive. Let's hope more people mention it in passing on the TV - there's a massive audience to reach who won't have watched the Chicken Out programme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 The supermarkets have forced the industry to mass-produce cheap cruel chicken and selfish people are always going to buy it. I wouldnt have classed it as selfish Dan, before having my own chickens I bought standard chicken and I wouldnt consider myself as selfish.. I would say more "un-educated" and I wasnt aware or didnt want to be aware of what was going on. Even though I dont eat meat I was fully aware of how livestock (cows/pigs/sheep) were raised/slaughtered, I never took an interest in chicken before I got my lovely girls. I blame the supermarkets and we no longer have any choice but to buy from them. Wolverhampton City Centre does not have a greengrocer or a fishmonger and we have just two butchers. The supermarkets have killed off all competition in the towns and now they are spreading out into the suburbs with their Express / Metro supermarkets in petrol stations and on bits of unused land - these are popping up in our area and putting the local off licences and corner shops out of business... I totally agree with this part though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Trouble is, we all make a choice somewhere - we are all feeling smug about only eating free-range chicken and free-range eggs, but what about the other meat in your shopping list - do you only buy free-range beef, pork and ham? Do you buy farmed salmon? If you buy organic veg, are you sure they haven't been picked by exploited migrant workers? Do you only buy Fair Trade chocolate? Look around the house - where were your electrical goods made? Are your shoes and clothes all produced at full price, or do you congratulate yourself on the bargains you bought, even though they may have been produced in China by poorly-paid workers in dangerous conditions, possibly even by children? Do you care? Of course you do - and I couldn't answer yes to more than a couple of those questions either - the point I'm trying to make is that we live in a complex and commercial world, where we rarely see how something is produced. Being totally ethical is nigh-on impossible, at least if you have limited funds, live in a suburban area and have to go to work and interact with other people - so we all close our eyes to some things, and we all draw a line somewhere. Hayley and others like her have decided that the price of chicken is more important than the true cost; and some people will go on doing that, even after seeing these programmes. That's where they've drawn their line, a bit lower than some of us but they have their reasons. The only thing that will change their buying habits is if supermarkets stop stocking cheap meat, or the government legislates to prevent these production methods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 but what about the other meat in your shopping list - do you only buy free-range beef, pork and ham? Do you buy farmed salmon? If you buy organic veg, are you sure they haven't been picked by exploited migrant workers? Do you only buy Fair Trade chocolate? Look around the house - where were your electrical goods made? Are your shoes and clothes all produced at full price, or do you congratulate yourself on the bargains you bought, even though they may have been produced in China by poorly-paid workers in dangerous conditions, possibly even by children? Do you care? I completely agree Olly, we were only just discussing this tonight. all of the above exists and chicken/free range eggs only just scratch the suface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
