£2 chickens

[WillowTheWhisp]

Originally Posted by Eric

If you are paying $4.00 for a chicken you are getting ripped off .... the cost of living in England must be going thru the roof! Ah well, I remember the days when fish and chips was only a shilling, and they would throw in a couple of dabs.

Those are the CHEAP chickens Eric. We can pay $10.00 for a chicken. What would you think of that?

People on a limited income aren't going to worry about where the chicken came from. They are going to be far more concerned about where their next meal is coming from.

[Alvin the chipmunk]

Whether a chicken costs 20 quid or 2 quid, once its on a plate with mash and gravy i couldnt give one. Might sound horrible but animals are our food. Thats the way it is, and how its always been.

[jambutty]

Being a single person I don’t buy whole chickens unless I want to have chicken for several days on the trot.

It may be that my memory is playing tricks on me or my taste buds have died but it seems to me that the chicken that we buy today is totally tasteless compared to the chicken that I used to eat many years ago.

I guess that’s why we have chicken gravy – to give the meat some taste.

[panther]

I think you must be cooking it wrong, that or ya taste buds are gone

my chickens taste 'bootiful' as my kids say

[jambutty]

Originally Posted by panther

I think you must be cooking it wrong, that or ya taste buds are gone

my chickens taste 'bootiful' as my kids say

Your chicken might taste ‘bootiful’ to your kids but they don’t have anything to compare it with. We doddering old goats do.

I accept that as a person gets older and older there is deterioration in the efficiency of the old taste buds but then I wouldn’t be able to taste steak, apple pies and all sorts of other things, would I?

It is the same with the so called wet fish. It too is tasteless but then it has been lying about half frozen for several weeks before being sold as wet fish.

I’ve eaten cod, hake, halibut, trout, salmon etc within a couple of hours of it being caught and they all had taste. Today the only taste that you get is from the various sauces that can be poured over fish.

50 years ago we could take a trip to Fleetwood and buy fish that was caught that day. Cod tasted like cod and hake like hake. Plaice had its own unique taste.

[grannyclaret]

After watching a programme about battery chickens a few weeks ago,, i now only buy free range,,, same with eggs,,,,,

[blazey]

Originally Posted by grannyclaret

After watching a programme about battery chickens a few weeks ago,, i now only buy free range,,, same with eggs,,,,,

It irritates me how it takes tv programmes to make people think. No offence to you Grannyclaret, but I assume you had enough knowledge and intelligence before any tv programme to associate the words 'battery farm' with cruel treatment to animals and harsh living conditions.

Where would some of us be without television eh?

[grannyclaret]

Originally Posted by blazey

It irritates me how it takes tv programmes to make people think. No offence to you Grannyclaret, but I assume you had enough knowledge and intelligence before any tv programme to associate the words 'battery farm' with cruel treatment to animals and harsh living conditions.

Where would some of us be without television eh?

It certainly made me feel guilty....the chap in that programme was non caring ,,and as long as he got his wages .diddent bat an eyelash..

[blazey]

Originally Posted by grannyclaret

It certainly made me feel guilty....the chap in that programme was non caring ,,and as long as he got his wages .diddent bat an eyelash..

Just like most people dont think twice when they buy a pack of eggs or a cheap chicken. Yet its strange that most people dont care as much when they surely must be fully aware of the conditions chickens are kept in in those types of places. KFC is widely known for its battery farming and most of your youngsters will probably have some idea of what battery farming is.

I think its like the Holocaust for chickens.

[Margaret Pilkington]

There are a lot of people in this world who cannot afford to get ethical about what they eat......a lot of them in this country too.

In an ideal world it would be good if everyone could choose ethically reared food......but until then, there are always going to be people who put the feeding of their families before the welfare of the animals that are killed for food.

[cashman]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

There are a lot of people in this world who cannot afford to get ethical about what they eat......a lot of them in this country too.

In an ideal world it would be good if everyone could choose ethically reared food......but until then, there are always going to be people who put the feeding of their families before the welfare of the animals that are killed for food.

well said,something those holier than thou would be well advised to think on.

[blazey]

There was a woman on one of the programmes about battery chickens that she didn't mind paying 50p more per head to eat 'ethically' after her visit to the battery farm. Even if it means giving up something else to eat one thing more ethically it'd make a difference.

I don't think there is any excuse, and as I posted in a previous thread on this issue, the government are talking about banning battery eggs, which would mean your going to be forced to eat ethically whether you like it or not.

Maybe you'll have to walk somewhere instead of using car/bus/taxi, maybe you'll have to leave the biscuits and cheese on the shelf in the supermarket, but there are very many people who live on such a basic diet that they have absolutely nothing they can change in order to order a packet of free range eggs.

Smartprice medium eggs are 73p
Asda Free range medium eggs are £1.19

For 46p difference, one chicken is living a happy and healthy life whilst another is living amongst its crap, and it you look at those cheaper chickens in their wrappings you can sometimes actually see where their skin has burnt and been damaged from walking through their own filth.

Cross referencing to the other thread about care homes, would you send your elderly relative to a care home where they'd live in dirty conditions and made to lie in their own filth because it's £50 cheaper? No, you'd find a way to make up the extra money, whether it meant you have to give up something or change something else you did.

The difference is that you don't know the chicken, and its only when its shoved in your face, as Grannyclaret has experienced, that it will make you change your ways. It shouldn't need to be put in front of you to make you see though when you already know its happening.

[claytonender]

Blazey, I think you are missing the point of Margaret's post.

There are many people who simply can not afford to spend any more money on food. They are on such a limited budget, that they have nothing to give up. I know that you are a student, and probably consider that you have a very small income. But you try feeding, clothing and paying all your household bills for a family of 4 (or more) when you have a very small income and your ethical ideas might go out the window.

I speak from experience - when my children were small, we had a low income and were not entitled to any state help. (We had 50p too much a week to be entitled to Family Income Supplement).

Also consider the postion of single pensioners, anyone with an income of more than £119.05 a week, you have to pay all your household bills, feed and clothe yourself, pay for dental care, and if you own your own home, be able to pay any repair bills for your home. Try turning down a £2.00 chicken on that sort of income.

I think you have a lot to learn about life.

[blazey]

Originally Posted by claytonender

Blazey, I think you are missing the point of Margaret's post.

There are many people who simply can not afford to spend any more money on food. They are on such a limited budget, that they have nothing to give up. I know that you are a student, and probably consider that you have a very small income. But you try feeding, clothing and paying all your household bills for a family of 4 (or more) when you have a very small income and your ethical ideas might go out the window.

I speak from experience - when my children were small, we had a low income and were not entitled to any state help. (We had 50p too much a week to be entitled to Family Income Supplement).

Also consider the postion of single pensioners, anyone with an income of more than £119.05 a week, you have to pay all your household bills, feed and clothe yourself, pay for dental care, and if you own your own home, be able to pay any repair bills for your home. Try turning down a £2.00 chicken on that sort of income.

I think you have a lot to learn about life.

£119.05 a week to feed, clothe and maintain your own home? I have £40 a week to do that. OK i dont have to fork out as much as a homeowner on maintenance, but I have insurance for things like emergencies. As for dental care, well I have to grin and bear it because very few students have money for that sort of thing. I would do without chicken if I couldn't afford an 'ethical' one. I rarely eat chicken, i'm more of a chop person, but I can afford to eat ethically even if that means I don't do anything else all week.

I have known some very poor people in my short time, but none have lived on such a tight budget that they can't spare 50p. When I meet someone who lives in that situation maybe I will think twice, but until I do I will still not agree with anyone who buys cheap produce, even my own mother. Its just not right.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Thankyou for clarifying my point Claytonender.
I too have been in that position......choosing whether to pay a bill or put food on the table.....you can guess which won.
Choosing ethically reared produce is a luxury that some families just cannot afford....and as you say, they have nothing to give up....all of their finances being spoken for.
Some pensioners will fall into this category.....having to choose whether to eat or to stay warm as they cannot afford to do both.