Poorly chicken

[Leicester_H]

So as not to hi-jack the M&S chick thread, I've started this new one - hope that's OK ?

 

I NEVER buy Dutch or Danish pork/bacon/gammon etc and would rather go without! .... So I only buy British OUTDOOR reared now!:

 

Same here. I was/am trying to buy a British (preferably out door reared) smallish ham (or gammon) for Christmas Eve. On searching Sainsbury's web site (they're the nearest to me), only 3 of the 30 products were British.

 

I posted on Facebook that I was very disappointed and they offered me some Nectar points. I replied that this wasn't the issue.

1. My choice is on animal welfare grounds and

2. big supermarkets have a lot of power and should be supporting home grown products of all sorts

 

I sometimes think my stand makes no difference, so its nice to hear that others are doing the same.

 

H

[soapdragon]

We are very lucky as we have a great little farm shop - which is mainly local outdoor reared meat - close to us. Not expensive when you take into account the quality and its good to know that the pigs that I pass out in the fields havn't been dragged miles to be slaughtered either (that's done locally as well.) Sometimes I buy supermarket meat but try to go for organic (we just eat less, given the price difference!) but always British.

[mullethunter]

Funny you should bring this up now, because having a free range turkey on order I spent last night searching the Internet for free range sausage meat. Could only find any at Waitrose, but then tracked some down at a farm shop half a mile from my house today!

 

This year I've stopped buying chicken or pork unless I know it lived, and just as importantly, died well. That means I no longer buy either from supermarkets.

 

Luckily a friend of mine raises pigs, so we buy half a pig which lasts us about 6 months. Then I've found a farm about 20 miles from me who raise their own free range chickens which are slaughtered on the farm, who will deliver to me. I pay between £8 and £10 for a chicken which will do 2 of us 2 main meals, plus lunches for most of a week and soup.

 

I don't insist on eating anything other than what I'm served if I eat at someone's house, but if I eat out I'll generally now choose vegetarian or game unless I can be certain of he provenance. This is all on welfare grounds.

 

As I've said on other threads, I won't really be happy unless I can rear and slaughter everything myself, but I live in the suburbs so that's not happening.

[Leicester_H]

I don't insist on eating anything other than what I'm served if I eat at someone's house,

Same here - it would be rude !

 

but if I eat out I'll generally now choose vegetarian or game unless I can be certain of he provenance. This is all on welfare grounds.

Same here (again!)

 

I won't really be happy unless I can rear and slaughter everything myself

I like this idea but I don't think I could slaughter anything.

 

I'm really keen on clear labeling about how food was raised and slaughtered. Have written to MP about this but got standard reply - it doesn't seem enough people are interested.

 

H

[majorbloodnock]

I can only assume it's the same in other parts of the country, but certainly local to me are several very good butchers who compete with the supermarkets on their own terms. Instead of trying to price match from the same sources, they buy directly from local farms or have bought farms themselves to supply their own shops. Either way, the quality stays high, but with the middle men gone the price stays very reasonable. It also allows me as a consumer to ask very specific questions about the provenance, and since the farms are local I can in some way cross-check.

 

Perhaps more interesting is that a number of local restaurants specifically advertise the name of their meat supplier given the good reputation of the local butchers. This obviously means I can have the same confidence eating out at those places as I can eating what I've cooked myself; I could be hoodwinked once in a while, but not regularly and not on the industrial scale supermarkets try to achieve.

 

In short, my conclusion here is to find a good local butcher, support them, enjoy better tasting meat from well-treated animals and have a clear conscience. All without spending significantly more. Is there a down side?

[Olly]

Waitrose guarantee that all their fresh pork is 100% British and as a minimum standard comes from outdoor reared pigs.

 

Not much help if you don't have a Waitrose near you.

I agree a local butcher is best but they're a rarity round here.

[AndyRoo]

We are very lucky as we have a great little farm shop - which is mainly local outdoor reared meat - close to us.

 

We used to have this and I miss it a lot.

 

Generally speaking I always try and find local, independent stores for everything. That's one thing I am loving about our move to Bristol: lots and lots and lots of independent businesses... although I am yet to find a local butchers.

 

I try and find ethically produced or fair trade products a lot too.

[mullethunter]

- it doesn't seem enough people are interested.

 

I think you're right. I think most people either don't think about it or don't care (which you could argue is the same thing), and most people who do care don't want to think hard enough about it to ask how their meat was slaughtered.

[soapdragon]

Sadly we are pushed for space; I'd love to have a big chest freezer and be able to buy half a pig or lamb from the local butchers. It must be so much more cost effective.

[mullethunter]

I had to buy an extra freezer - just a small countertop one - when we got our half pig. It wasn't cheaper than the equivalent amount of regular supermarket meat, but it probably was cheaper than buying free range meat by the joint.

[Valkyrie]

So as not to hi-jack the M&S chick thread, I've started this new one - hope that's OK ?

 

H

 

Perfectly fine to me!

 

I agree our nice farmer has his piggies outside until nearing dispatch date and then he has them in a covered barn (no sides but little straw shelters) so he can monitor them. There aren't many at any time - he only does what's usually needed and they all run round after him for a scratch. Sort of bitter sweet! But at least you can see them and you are encouraged to walk around and look for yourselves. At the moment hubby is curing a huge lump of pork in the fridge ready to be made into ham for Christmas.

 

I was visiting my mum yesterday and drove by a piggy farm on the way - they always rotate the pens so that the ground grows nice rich grass for the newbies to turn into mud again, but the water feeders must have had a bit of frost trouble - some were spraying and as it was quite a pleasant day the piggies were having great fun.

[WitchHazel]

I buy a half pig twice a year from a lady I met on a poultry forum and we butcher it ourselves (although she'd happily do that for us). She has 2 sows and a boar, and has 2 litters a year. The pigs are kept in fabulous conditions.

The first time, we had to get a small freezer in the shed to accomodate it.

It isn't a cheap way to buy, but I know EXACTY how her pork is raised.

 

If she stops doing this, and I couldn't find someone else locally with pork-raising ethics I like, I'd get a half pig from Pipers Farm online.

 

They do lots of pork (and beef - we buy their beef regulaly) so might be worth a look? http://pipersfarm.com/

 

They send their meat out by next day before 12 delivery (I've had suppliers previously who just use a next day service and the meat sometimes doesn't arrive until 5pm). It's well packed, using sheeps wool insulation and freezer blocks.