Crooked Chicken Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Well, I was having a conversation with my neighbour the other day (this is the lady who looks after my chickens whenever we go away), and she came over with some of my empty omlet boxes. I said thanks, and that her timing was great, as I'd run out of boxes. She said that in future she'd save all her egg boxes for me, which again, I thanked her for. However, 2 mins later she popped back with a box that says on the front "ASDA Smart Price, 15 eggs from caged hens"!!!! What does one do? The thought crossed my mind that this might have been given to provoke me, but I seriously don't think she's like that. These MUST be the cheapest eggs you can buy, and I can't believe she's buying these when she's got me across the road, who GIVES her gorgeous free range eggs from happy chickens. Don't people think about the chickens lives!! Oh I just don't know what to think. What would you do? (I'm not very confrontational) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Put a sticker on your egg boxes which say "From happily uncaged hens". I found a poem by Spike Milligan last year and posted it on another forum. Some members of this particular forum decided to print it out and stick it on their own eggboxes - I don't know if they are still doing it but the poem speaks volumes.... Rage In Heaven If a robin redbreast in a cage Puts all heaven in a rage How feels heaven when Dies the millionth battery hen? Spike Milligan ....might be a good label for happy hens eggs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 (edited) She obviously likes an appreciates your eggs. Do you give them eggs to her free of charge. I am only asking as I was told and have found it to be true, that sometimes if you give something - on a regular basis - it is not appreciated as much as if you make a charge however small. I think that there might be two reasons for this completely innocent. (a) if the eggs have been given as a gift, she would not feel comfortable asking for more when she needs them. (b) your eggs are probably associated as coming from pets - which in her mind might not relate in the slightest to eggs from the supermarket. People generally are not on the same wavelength. Most people still shop the for the cheapest - rather than have one thing of quality. Hence eggs kept in cages. After all (and don't shout everybody) a person not in the know might look at our chickens in in their Eglu run and think that they are chickens in a cage. (Shock horror - I know we know the difference) But the average Joe Bloggs neither knows nor cares. I could ramble on for pages on this subject. So ...................... A possible solution. Thank neighbour very much for the egg boxes. enquire very low key and politely - did she collect them all herself (she might not have you know. (My friends have a habit of collecting things from others if they think they might be useful for me - which they often aren't but I smile, and say thankyou and bin them discreetly). If they are hers and she bought them (and you can spare them) mention that you hadn't realised that she used so many, and ask if she would like some from you. Mention had she noticed the difference in the yolks etc - if yes them mention that the supermarket eggs are from chickens confined. Try not to lecture You can also say that you can not sell your eggs, but can accept donations towards the chicken's upkeep. So you could contact her whenever you have spare eggs if she would like some and suggest perhaps a donation of the same price she is buying the supermarket eggs for. Or just tell me that I am talking a lot of rubbish. I just like a quiet life and try to think of the good in people - she might truly not realise - I am sure that is the reason. I give my eggs free to my neighbour too. And she leaves bags of peelings mixed up with veg and mouldy white bread and guess where it goes (the veggies in the sack with the chicken litter for composting and the bread in a sealed bag in the black dustin.) I often pop a wholemeal loaf next door still hot from my oven, and I know for a fact that they wolf it down in a day or so - depending on the size of the loaf. They are not hard up either - got a posh house to our bungalow - so why are they buying horrid white muck bread - the cheapest brand you can get - and sliced! Edited March 1, 2006 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Put a sticker on your egg boxes which say "From happily uncaged hens". I found a poem by Spike Milligan last year and posted it on another forum. Some members of this particular forum decided to print it out and stick it on their own eggboxes - I don't know if they are still doing it but the poem speaks volumes.... Rage In Heaven If a robin redbreast in a cage Puts all heaven in a rage How feels heaven when Dies the millionth battery hen? Spike Milligan ....might be a good label for happy hens eggs? That is wonderful - I was busy typing my lot whilst you were typing this - which says it all in a few words. Think I will delete mine now if it will let me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 No! Leave yours! It's well said . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel (& Paul) Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Brilliantly said both of you Cor I wish I was half as clever and articulate as you two Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Brilliantly said both of you Cor I wish I was half as clever and articulate as you two Ith one taketh the mickith Mel? If not please can I have that in writing. You've just done a presentation for goodness sake! I would not be any good at giving an interview board any presents! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel (& Paul) Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Definitely NOT taking the mick love! (and you didnt have to endure my presentation - although it might have been better if it was something I had a real passion for (chocolate, chickens, alcohol, cake, biscuits, dogs, chickens, the omlet forum, horses, alcohol, cake, biscuits, chickens............ ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Cor fanks Mel - that made my day - I was brung up you see and the only letters after my name are AGNQ - still it is at least some! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel (& Paul) Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crooked Chicken Posted March 1, 2006 Author Share Posted March 1, 2006 Thanks so much for the replies. Kate, that's a great poem, and would make a superb label. Spike's poems are fab. I bought one of his poem books for my niece last Christmas, but as I was leafing through it, realised that I would appreciate it more than her so kept it !!! Kooringa - wow what a reply, and so well said. I think as you say, half the problem is that I give them away for free, to all my neighbours, when I have spare eggs that is, (and I've always insisted on that - I just wouldn't accept money for them). I don't think she was being malicious about the egg boxes, but I do think it was a thoughtless and insensitive gesture. A bit like me giving a vegetarian a meat sandwich!! Hey Ho. Different folks, different strokes, and what a boring life it would be if we were all the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 She just didn't think - just console yourself that some peeps that are like that are missing out on so much. Don't you change - stay caring - but keep a shield for days like this!! xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffie Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Oh just to say I put a photo of the girls who have laid the eggs and happy cox chickens on the box BBx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel (& Paul) Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 I print out little labels with different pictures of the chooks and a little note saying that these eggs were laid with love and care by one of the girls! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Nice one buffie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Mine have pictures of the girls on the front too! I need to change the photos though as it says "fresh eggs laid by Jennifer and Clarissa" and Clarry's not laid since last June and Jenny's on strike so perhaps it should say "fresh eggs laid occasionally if I'm lucky by Izzy!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley-Jean Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Oh just to say I put a photo of the girls who have laid the eggs and happy cox chickens on the box BBx Brilliant idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Mine have pictures of the girls on the front too! I need to change the photos though as it says "fresh eggs laid by Jennifer and Clarissa" and Clarry's not laid since last June and Jenny's on strike so perhaps it should say "fresh eggs laid occasionally if I'm lucky by Izzy!" It could only happen to you Kate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twiglet Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Just to say that when discussing future eggs (none yet - too early) with friends, they were all happy to take up any overspill but quite a few of them DID NOT KNOW that Asda smart price and similar "cheap" eggs came from confined hens. They were amazed when I told them and said they would not buy them any more. They just thought they were cheap because they were "Asda price" I think unless you are of the same mindset as a lot of us, others do not make a conscious decision to check out the origins of their food, they have other priorities perhaps. I now see it as part of my contribution towards a greener planet to inform them of this type of information - including my pet hate of too many plastic bags given out in shops that take 100 years to biodegrade or thereabouts, they are not needed if you go prepared with your own shopping bag and politely refuse ones from the store. Yes I do get a few puzzled looks from shop assistants but will soldier on and keep making an informed choice. Sorry - does this sound a bit like a lecture? Didn't mean to it's just i get carried away a bit sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali-s Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 I take my own shopping bags to the supermarket (sometimes if I forget I hold the world record for getting the most amount of items into 1 carrier bag). It really annoys me if I am buying a bottle of shampoo and the assistant puts in a small clear plastic bag. Or 1 birthday card it gets put into a small clear plastic bag. As quick as the assistant is putting things in I am taking them out and leaving the bag on the side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 I too have a 'thing' about plastic bags. I went into a little health food shop to day and bought a bottle of essential oils (tiny thing) having been talking to the owner about making soap, 'green' cleaning recipes etc. I in the time it took to get my money out she had put it in a huge plastic carrier bag. I was holding a material bag at the time! It was so small it would have almost fitted in my purse! I politely took out the bottle and thanked her and said that I would pop it in my bag and save her a plastic bag -as I like to recycle. She said that they were recycled bags! She totally missed the point! I just smiled and walked out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Blue Sky Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 The Co-op do plastic bags made from cornstarch which biodegrade in about 18 months. Why can't they all do that ? I think it is because they just don't care enough - they don't know that we care! Drops of water make a channel in the rock... And I agree with you Kooringa that people can't make the connection between Real Live Hens and factory produced eggs - but if we all keep on drip drip dripping away we will in the end make the difference. Spike Milligan was an amazing man; lovely poem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 I used to refuse bags in the local village store where I used to live, especially for bananas. The owner used to make fun of me even though I pointed out that we owed it to our future grandchildren to preserve the world in which they were going to grow up. He just laughed and informed people in the queue that I thought I could save the world single-handed I stopped using the store eventually. My son was just asking tonight why the other supermarkets can't follow the Co-op and use corn starch bags? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel (& Paul) Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 If I am buying veggies from the supermarket I dont tend to put the loose stuff into bags (except for things like mushrooms) and I did use the brown paper mushroom bags for other things (e.g. tomatoes if I was buying a lot - but I got into trouble - I think they thought I was trying to pull a fast one ) I tend to take the stuff out of the little bags that the checkout ladies put stuff in - cards, shampoo etc. I do like Waitrose for their local organic stuff but I have noticed that a lot of their food is prepacked. What a waste Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 If/When the proposed rules re paying for the amount of waste we leave to be collected for landfill come into play, I hope you will all join me in unwrapping every item that is unnecessarily wrapped - whilst still in the supermarket at the checkout - and ensure that Messrs. Tesco/Morrison/Asda etc. have to pay the extra? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
