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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Aibu to be angry with people who do not buy free range eggs?

646 replies

ohnoudidnt · 08/04/2011 19:58

I know that they cost more, but surely it is worth the extra to know the bird has had a better standard of living.

OP posts:
expatinscotland · 08/04/2011 20:25

YABU.

I buy mine from a shop downstairs, they're from a farm down the road. But I only do this because they are about 40p cheaper than from a supermarket.

A lot of people around here are really skint due to its being a rural area with sky high petrol prices - £1.40/litre for diesel now - and having to use a car to go to work or for transport due to lack of pavements, poor weather and incredibly expensive and sometimes non-existent transport.

We have £10 to do us till Tuesday and that will have to go to feed hte power meter.

Not everyone lives in a nice city with competitively priced food.

No, there's not always anything else you can cut back on, particularly if you are already veggie and have next to FA to begin with.

Itsjustafleshwound · 08/04/2011 20:27

I hope your fanatasism pledge extends to all foods containing egg product, milk, milk products and such-like...

Starting a campaign like this, just leads to having to make some pretty stark choices and worrying about a few chickens is just the tip of the iceberg

goodbyemrschips · 08/04/2011 20:27

I will buy what I like but thanks for your interest.

Bogeyface · 08/04/2011 20:27

I think that there are certain people posting here that really have no idea what it is like to try and feed a family of 4 for a week on £20 because thats all you have left after bills etc are paid.

I have. When ex DH lost his job he hadnt been there long enough to get severance pay, and we were trying to keep up with our financial commitments that we took on pre-job loss and keep a roof over our heads whilst he found another job, we had to count every penny. And I really couldnt have given a toss about a whether a chicken got fresh air or not. I was more concerned that my children didnt go to bed hungry, as my ex and I sometimes did.

We were lucky, it was temporary as he found another job very quickly, but some familes have to live like that permanently through no fault of their own. And implying that a frigging chicken is more important that a decent diet for their children is insulting in the extreme. Value ranges are popular for a reason, and its because it is all some people can afford.

expatinscotland · 08/04/2011 20:28

'As for "can't afford it", then don't eat eggs! And remember in WWII one egg a week per person was the usual ration. '

I don't live in WWII times.

I use eggs because I bake loads. Can't afford to buy shop-made stuff.

I buy what I can afford to feed my kids.

We have FA to spend till Tuesday. We waste nothing. No garden to grow anything in, either.

hissymissy · 08/04/2011 20:28

Some people do eat too much protein, but it is the general cost of everything that has to be taken into consideration. Eggs are cheap, quick (therefore cheaper to cook too, therefore more carbon friendly, unlike beans and pulses that take hours on the stove using up valuable fuel) , filling and easy.

Anger is a pretty strong feeling to have towards someone over something relatively minor. I could understand it if you said it was child abuse, or domestic violence.

expatinscotland · 08/04/2011 20:29

Exactly, Bogey.

thefirstMrsDeVere · 08/04/2011 20:30

I have bought free range for about 20 years. During that time I have been as skint as you can be (in the UK) and okish off. When I had more money I also bought free range meat. The meat is waaaaaay out of my price range now but I would rather go without eggs than buy battery ones.

I dont think anyone needs to buy battery. I dont think anyone should. It is a small adjustment that could make a huge difference.

They are more expensive but the price difference and the amount you use them is not enough to say people are too poor to buy them.

I am trying to explain (badly). e.g. you can buy 6 free range instead of 12 battery and you will not go hungry.

I suppose its about priorities. I only buy organic milk because we use so much of it. When we are skint I will keep buying it but I wont buy posh yogurts and I dont mind buying cheap bread (I think it makes nicer toast anyway).

expatinscotland · 08/04/2011 20:30

Inflation at 5% by the index that takes housing costs into consideration. Wages stalled. Tax credits not going up. Petrol prices at an all-time high.

Anyone want to swap?

I can't put the heat on tonight though there's a ground frost warning here because I can't afford another bottle of gas till Tuesday.

LoopyLoopsChupaChups · 08/04/2011 20:31

I know lots of people don't think that animals are as important as humans, but I don't see how it is leagues apart from human abuse. It is still abuse.

scottishmummy · 08/04/2011 20:31

only worth extra if you can afford,have disposable income and make that choice.its a bit like organic products,fine if you can afford but not compulsory

pragmatically people have to stretch their money best way they can,to eat to, pay utilities and certainly i wouldn't think better of worse of someone for not buying free range

buying free range doesnt make you better person or more worthy consumer

ChickensHaveNoEyebrows · 08/04/2011 20:33

YANBU.

LaWeasel · 08/04/2011 20:33

You can't buy 6 free range instead of 15 battery if you need 15 eggs! Free range eggs don't magically have twice the calories and nutritional value!

expatinscotland · 08/04/2011 20:33

Well, 6 wouldn't be enough to stretch to all the meals and food I need to make till Tuesday to keep us going.

I have to use the last of it for power.

expatinscotland · 08/04/2011 20:34

There are five of us to feed and the increase in food, petrol and cost of living rises have hit us very hard because everything else, like wages and CB, is frozen.

We're fucked and teetering on the brink of insolvency.

Excuse me if I have to eat.

LoopyLoopsChupaChups · 08/04/2011 20:35

How about getting some rescue hens and feeding them scraps? Sure that would be cheaper, a la WWII.

beesimo · 08/04/2011 20:36

You can smell a battery hen shed from up to a mile away they live in their own shit and urine- as urine rots down into ammonia it burns the hens feet. They fight and injure each other the dead are left among the living. Do you really fancy giving a egg thats come out of the backside of one of those pitIful creatures to your bairns?

By the way we are farmers and I can quite happily ask DH to neck a chicken for our supper but I could never leave one of my 'girls' in a caged living situation. if you can't 'afford' to treat a living creature decent you shouldn't be allowed to be in charge of it

LaWeasel · 08/04/2011 20:36

expat doesn't have a garden and I live in a rented house with strict rules about pets.

anyway, aren't rescue hens generally ex-battery and non laying or male and therefore a bit useless for egg providing purposes?!

GwendolineMaryLacey · 08/04/2011 20:37

YABU. It is not your place to decide what people should be offended at. Everyone has their own moral compass and their own lifestyle and budget. Worry yourself about what's in your own basket and leave other people to theirs.

zukiecat · 08/04/2011 20:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ChickensHaveNoEyebrows · 08/04/2011 20:37

Ex-batts are hens that have passed their maximum laying potential (approx. a year old). They still lay plenty of eggs and many people do rehome them. Obviously not everyone is in that position.

amberleaf · 08/04/2011 20:37

Too poor right now to have principles.

sausagerollmodel · 08/04/2011 20:38

Most people nowadays know about the bad conditioins of battery hens, if they still buy them its probably because they are skint, not uncaring/nasty. A few might not care but most probably wish they could afford free range.

AgentZigzag · 08/04/2011 20:38

It's the vulnerability factor that gets me, anything happening to animals or children gets me more emotional than I normally would be.

It's not that I don't think chickens have feelings or should be treated with no respect, but they're less emotion provoking than other animals like cats/dogs/bears.

thefirstMrsDeVere · 08/04/2011 20:38

I am not well off and never have been. I have been very very skint.

I have always bought them because its important to me. As I said I would econimise on something else. I might econimise on something that someone else wouldnt i.e. bread, cheese, washing powder.

For a brief period before OH's dx and then DD's dx we had a bit of disposable income and I would buy posh meat. I am a vegetarian and it was nice to be able to buy it for while. No way I can do that now. I buy as little as I can get away with of the cheaper stuff and hang around the discounted section.

Personally I would rather buy 6 fr than 15 b eggs. I would use less.