Guest Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 I went here today http://www.thescotchbeefshop.co.uk/ and we bought; 6 lovely plump free range chicken breasts (1 breast does the both of us for a stir fry which makes 4 meals for just 1 breast) 2kg best braising steak (tons and tons and tons of scouse! ) 16 rashers dry cured bacon 8 pork sausages 4 chilli burgers (very big burgers, probably 1 each would do easily!) 6 lamb cutlets 2 marinaded chicken kebabs 2 marinaded beef kebabs 2 rib eye steaks **edit** forgot the 2 gammon steaks they make their own sausages, kebabs and burgers and cure their own bacon and it's all top quality, free range, outdoor reared meat. All that lot cost £69 and will last ages. We found out the chap who owns it lives near us so they even offered to deliver for free if we were ever stuck getting there. I don't think that's expensive, does anyone else? They were really nice and chatty. Woolton village is lovely too. It manages to keep its villagey type charm while being so close to Liverpool. We're ordering our free range turkey from them nearer the time, they get the turkeys from www.copasturkeys.co.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fleur Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 That's dreadful! I really don't know how people can buy cheap meat, i've just finished my degree and am so poor that some weeks i can have only £20 to buy all my food and toiletries, but I still make sure that any meat i buy is higher welfare at least and often free-range, so if i can then surely anyone can! (and i'm certaintly not the type of poor that waits for taxis outside tescos with bazillions of bags ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 I'm sure you find it goes further Fleur? People will choose the phrase "can't afford" when what they mean is that they can't be bothered to make an informed choice and unfortunately, many will put meat at the end of their prorities........ after things like large TVs, booze and ciggies etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 We don't do cheap chicken either. We used to buy 4 normal chicken breats to feed the 4 of us,but the free range organic ones are so much bigger that 2 easily does it. And that is a family with 2 teenage daughters & a builder hubby with a vast appetite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keanie Bean Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 OK here goes, I'm waiting to be jumped on . I work in Sainsburys and had to check this one out. Last night I had a look at the basics chickens. They are £1.76 per kilogram which means the average chicken is between £3.50 and £4.00. I'm not condoning it but the original figure in this thread is not correct for a whole chicken. Either way I dont buy cheap meat, just so you know. Sarah.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedusA Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 Sorry that I hadn't seen this (not been online for the last few days). Well done Mrs B!!!!! Brilliant e-mail. I think you made your point very coherently and eloquently! Mind you, as a veggie for over 23 years, I have only got the animal welfare issues in mind, not the cost of meat. But still...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 Well done Fleur, I know what you're talking about. As a student (many years ago) I also eked out my grocery housekeeping, and lessons from my grandparents, learned during war-time rationing came in handy. I still do the same now as a single parent with not a lot of dosh. Mixing meat with other ingerdients, eating less meat and 'beefing up' casseroles with beans and pulses makes it all go further. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyBoo Posted June 11, 2008 Author Share Posted June 11, 2008 Thought you might be interested in this reply, which I was reasonably impressed with.... Thank you for your email. I understand you are not happy that we are selling our Basics whole roast chicken for £1.75. I can certainly appreciate your concerns, especially with all the media attention surrounding the welfare of chickens. The welfare standards for our basics chicken are exactly the same as our standard chicken. The reason they are classed as basics is due to the size and weight of the bird. Basics chicken meets Red tractor (Sainsbury’s Fresh British chicken) standard. Fresh chicken reared indoors to Assured Chicken Production standards. Basics whole bird accounts for just fewer than 5% of whole chicken sales. The Red Tractor logo means the chicken has been reared in the UK to the Assured Chicken Production Standard. This farm assurance standard is designed to ensure that nationally agreed standards of food safety, traceability, chicken diet, health and welfare are maintained throughout the food chain. The chicken is reared indoors and is housed in specially equipped purpose built barns. Assured Chicken Production (ACP) is an industry-wide initiative that addresses all the important issues concerning the production of chicken. It is an independently assessed assurance scheme designed to deliver confidence to the customer. Currently all the fresh and frozen chickens and eggs we sell are British and we are one of the few retailers who can make this claim. We also sell chicken and eggs that are produced in a variety of ways, from Assured Food Standards (Red Tractor) to Free Range and Organic. We will continue to take animal welfare very seriously. We are constantly looking to raise both minimum standards and to lead the introduction of new standards. You may have seen in the press that we plan to stop using eggs that are produced by caged hens by 2010 and we have been presented with a Good Egg Award by Compassion in World Farming in recognition of this commitment and the work we have done in developing Woodland Eggs. In addition we are working closely with both the RSPCA and the Woodland Trust to make significant improvements in our chicken production methods. If you would like more information about our approach to animal welfare, please visit our corporate responsibility website. You can find this at www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/cr. Thank you again for contacting us. The comments we receive from our customers are very important. I know you have been a loyal customer and I am sorry that you now feel reluctant to continue shopping with us. So I was quite impressed with that, but here's what Compassion in World Farming has to say about the Red Tractor Scheme.... From the animal welfare viewpoint, there are two broad categories of farm assurance schemes: 1. Schemes for which high standards of farm animal welfare are fundamental and inherent in their design. These are typified by the the Soil Association's Certified Organic Standard. 2. And then there are the industry-led schemes that include animal welfare by implication but do not necessarily make it a priority - the Red Tractor scheme falls into this category. These schemes are more concerned with creating the image of welfare rather than the reality. For example, did you realise that the Red Tractor scheme allows the following: Intensive methods for rearing broiler (meat) chickens in which birds can be crammed even more tightly than recommended by Government guidelines - up to 18 birds in a square metre! The use of narrow farrowing crates for breeding pigs. Animal mutilations such as the debeaking of chickens and the tail docking of pigs. Over production, the demands of which can lead to health problems. So, impressed that my reply was obviously a handwritten and considered one and, if they didn't know about the red tractor scheme, then it would be quite impressive. But I DO know about the red tractor scheme, so I'm still not impressed. And I STILL won't be buying any more meat, or veg if I can help it, from Sainsburys Mrs B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Like you said; very nice of them to bother with an individual reply rather then just a generic one. They're still not free range though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abwsco Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Good that they replied but they're telling porkies with this Currently all the fresh and frozen chickens and eggs we sell are British as the free range ones in our store are French, or were the other week when I was in. I must go this week and double check! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 They had those at Te$co too - were they called 'something rouge'? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abwsco Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 They had those at Te$co too - were they called 'something rouge'? Yes, they're the ones Clare. I stood there loudly complaining so that everyone nearby could hear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizinsa Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Our Sainsburys had a sign about the French chicken and said it was due to demand of free range chickens and lack of supply due to HFW's campaign. I presumed that they were free range but didn't buy any meat so didn't look too closely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 are you going to mail them back to contest the welfare of red tractor birds, based on what you've discovered? Go on Mrs B, follow it thru and give 'em what for! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfrock Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Good that they replied but they're telling porkies with this Currently all the fresh and frozen chickens and eggs we sell are British as the free range ones in our store are French, or were the other week when I was in. I must go this week and double check! I was just about to post exactly the same thing - they have been selling the French ones in our store too. Still at least they have had to courtesy to reply promptly and at length in an informed manner and show they are are taking such matters seriously, even if it isn;t quite as we would wish. It is still much better than some of the other big stores - some of whom fail to even bother to reply, or send some half hearted acknowledgement with very minimal info or reference to your concerns. I remember emailing Tesco about something, and 2 weeks later they sent me an email saying they had received a lot of correspondence recently and if my original enquiry was still outstanding I should send it again . Of course this was the one and only time I had forgotten to save (my rather lengthy) email - and I am sure they were banking on people not bothering to resubmit. It was also incredibly difficult to find a contact email address for them in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 i'll just post this link again, it's got a really useful postcode search and you can (hopefully) find a butcher local to you or if you know one that's not listed, add it. I find it really useful and it means i don't have to get my meat from the supermarket any more. http://www.freerangereview.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 The meat in their processed food (ready meals pies etc) comes from Thailand if you read the packaging Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhapsody Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 The meat in their processed food (ready meals pies etc) comes from Thailand if you read the packaging *banging head on desk* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 I discovered this one evening I was unexpectedly kept very late at work so I ran up to Sainsburys to get something to eat and just picked up a ready meal curry to ping in the tea room as I had zero time and sat and read the packaging as I ate it It put me right off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Same as goes in pet food no doubt Apologies to anyone who is eating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fleur Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 'due to the size and weight of the birds' eh? , they had these same chickens in our sainsburys today, and they were pretty much the same size as the normal chickens, they were approx 2.6 kilos etc, which means that the price per kilo is pretty pathetic. they looked all flabby and pale as well, poor things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abwsco Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 I bet they're only selling the French free range as they can get them in at a lower cost. Another way of screwing the UK farmers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 I bet they're only selling the French free range as they can get them in at a lower cost. Another way of screwing the UK farmers Not wanting to fight any corners here, just making a comment, but I'd heard that they'd brought in the foreign birds because of the demand for free range poultry - the British farmers couldn't convert over to free range quickly enough. Still no excuse though - what they hadn't bargained for was that we didn't want to buy foreign chicken either. that's why loads of the French birds were reduced in Te$co over the following few weeks No idea really, have they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abwsco Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 I bet they're only selling the French free range as they can get them in at a lower cost. Another way of screwing the UK farmers Not wanting to fight any corners here, just making a comment, but I'd heard that they'd brought in the foreign birds because of the demand for free range poultry - the British farmers couldn't convert over to free range quickly enough. Still no excuse though - what they hadn't bargained for was that we didn't want to buy foreign chicken either. that's why loads of the French birds were reduced in Te$co over the following few weeks No idea really, have they? Perhaps I am just being cynical Clare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
