to feel sorry that chickens' happiness isn't worth 60p to most people?

[oohdaddypig]

So - in my local Sainsburies you can buy pre-cooked whole chickens. Free range cost 60p more than the battery farmed variety.

Girl behind the counter told me almost no one buys the free range ones.

Now, I know things are very very tight these days for many families. But this is Sainburies where the average shopper is probably slightly better off.

Doesn't anyone care about where their food comes from now at all? Is the only thing that matters now the cost?

I'm not vegetarian - but I try to shop reasonably thoughtfully, locally when I can etc,

poor chooks!

This may get me flamed to high heaven but I really couldn't give a shit about the hapiness of chickens.
There are people dying of incurable diseases everyday.

So you can't care about incurable diseases and animal welfare? I didn't realise you had to make a choice.

Of course you can but im not going to lie, the plight of a chicken really doesn't affect me in anyway shape or form. Bigger fish to fry (scuse the reference to fish cruelty there)

What really irritates me are people who get so upset about fox hunting but don't think twice about eating intensively farmed meat. I'd rather be a fox running around the countryside and get killed by hounds than be stuck in a barn for all of my short miserable life.

Disclaimer: I do not hunt!

FutTheShuckUp

You should be made into a saint when you die. I think you are the most caring ,loving person in the world

I bet you cry yourself to sleep every night thinking of the millions of people (some of them you have not even met and do not know) who are dying of incurable diseases every day

You are a shinning light and a great example of humanity that we could all learn from

I find it really hard to understand how anyone can not be affected by the idea of animals living such unpleasant lives for our consumption :/

Is it because its "just a chicken" ?

What about pigs? (said to be as intelligent and full of personality as a dog) Cows? Sheep? Do you genuinely not care or just not let it cross your mind? Serious question.

Failing to see the point of either of your posts FutTheShuckUp unless you are heavily involved in trying to cure incurable human diseases.

Someone said earlier that they thought free fange chicken was double the price of battery cage chicken - it isn't. A free range medium chicken from Sainsburys costs about £6 to £7.

I think animal welfare is just not an important issue for many people, and wouldn't really influence their decisions. Or perhaps some are not convinced of the benefits of 'free range'?

Wouldn't buy either myself as I don't eat meat, would probably go for the free-range one if I did out of a vague sense of it being 'better', though I agree that from an animal welfare perspective even the free-range is likely to be problematic.

i think it's because most people who care enough about animal welfare to want to buy 'free range' food will avoid supermarkets at all costs

'free range' does not mean best kept/welfare as MoreBeta says

oh i just love those "its only a chicken/rat/dog" types. They tend to be quite self absorbed and have no empathy.

If the general population of mumsnet cared for my happiness, they would all paypal me 60p.

I am outraged that they dont.

It is a one off. Not a weekly matter. A ONE OFF.

Pm me for paypal details, so you can contribute to my happiness.

YANBU, and I understand where you're coming from, but I'm going to be honest and say I don't really give a shit. Sorry it makes you sad, and it probably is sad, but that is the way it is.

I was joking by the way.

60 p is nowhere near enough.

I used to buy free range and organic. When we had lower bills, no children and both had good jobs.

Now I watch every penny meaning I check the difference of 5p on each item. I shop where the vouchers/deals are. If I have vouchers or points to use for sainsburys I go there. Same for tesco. I even did an ocado delivery once which was fabulous but I had got it all for half price (fab voucher for first timer).

So it doesn't make us richer. I also go to aldi regularly.

I wish I could buy the organic and free range meat. I hardly buy meat as it is anyway and scrimp. My other half had steak for the first time in over 6 months the other day as I'd go lucky in the reduced section.

I used to say I's give up something to spend the extra on quality meat - but I can't give up fruit, vegetables and other essentials that my family needs.

Sorry to have gone on. I'm on my phone and don't have time to read back and edit.

How happy is the pre-cooked free range chicken?

YANBU to be concerned about intensive farming practices, animal welfare and the availability of ethically produced meat in British supermarkets. However, YAB-a abit-U to lay the blame for this at the feet of the everyday consumer, to whom 60p (or whatever the price difference is) may actually be quite a significant difference in their shopping budget.

"Free range" isn't all its cracked up to be, as others have said. I watched a shocking video about the Happy Egg company and it really opened my eyes to supermarket misrepresentation of so-called ethical food. Don't be under any illusion that meat you buy in any supermarket will have come from an animal that was genuinely well treated for its entire life. It's the same story with "Fair Trade" foods, sadly. The Fair Trade brand has come under a lot of flack for not actually giving farmers that great a deal after all and locking them into poverty (www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2009/dec/12/fair-trade-fairtrade-kitkat-farmers). Nestlé have Fair Trade certified products, ffs! That says it all...

Anyway, the moral is: buy locally produced meat and groceries where possible. It is the only way you'll ever really know you're not supporting a horribly exploitative food industry.

I do tend to get eggs free range and local though. So many people sell them around me and they're cheaper per dozen than supermarkets.

Steamingnit...now that is a good question.

Apparently very!

quint

Seems to me that most of those acting all holier than thou concerned for the chickens know about as little about it as those who are less bothered by it.
"you nasty folks eating battery chickens from cages while we use our cash on lovingly hand reared free birds...wait, there are no cages? And the free range ones, well, aren't? " Mop up your bleeding hearts and learn before you lecture others.

ladyintheradiator I feed my children well too and give them good quality meat, fruit and veg. I don't care however how happy the chicken/pig/cow was or how much grass it had to wander around on. I wouldn't buy really cheap meat because I would worry that it had been injected with water to bulk it out, but I would never specifically look for free range. I suppose you are right that my children will grow up with the same attitude, but that's fine as far as I'm concerned. Once they are old enough they can, of course, make up their own minds and they may be more bothered by these issues than I am.

i would have to ask you how you know free range hens are happier than barn reared hens? Are you projecting human feelings onto a hen? The free range hens I see at teh 'egg production unit' on a farm near us are all pecked to heck and seem to want to spend a lot of time inside anyway.
But really I can't say I care much. My family's well being is much more important to me and i wouldn't be able to justify the extra 60p