to be shocked at the price of chicken these days

[holdyourown]

it's so expensive compared to what it used to be! It's very hard for people to afford to eat well now. That's all

I think it's more the point that these days you can buy a childs outfit for the same price as a leg of lamb!! Lamb was one of the cheapest meats when I was young (I'm 40 now) and we had it virtually every Sunday. Chicken was rare because it was much more expensive.

I bought my first leg of lamb in 5 years earlier this year because it was half price. Can never normally afford it.

I miss lamb .

Chicken is really cheap compared to when I was a student 25 years ago. Then I could buy two TINY chickens on a saturday afternoon for 5 that had to be cooked by the Sunday. Nowadays you can get three medium/large chickens for a tenner and they are much bigger and still have several days on them. When I was a child a 3lb chicken fed a family. They are so fatty and big now I think we expect to eat much more to get the same nutritional value.

I miss lamb too Trisis. It's been over a year since I enjoyed its sweet deliciousness.

What phantomnamechanger said. It's too cheap, if anything. I'd rather spend a bit more on a bird that was raised ethically in the UK than buy one cheaply from a country with dubious animal welfare standards.

Yes, prices have gone up a bit lately, but on balance I think that's a good thing. We just eat a bit less chicken than we used to.

I realise many people are struggling to make ends meet, but the ridiculously cheap food we've all good used to in recent years is unsustainable and, in many cases, unethical.

As a farmer I get really annoyed at this sort of thing. The general public don't have a CLUE what in entailed in the production of their food and what it costs.
People are perfectly happy to pay through the nose for the latest games console or flash car, sky TV subscriptions, fags and booze but when it comes to food - you know, that stuff which keeps you alive (kind of important don't you think), people want it for pence. They also want the cute fluffy animals (that they prefer not to think about while eating them) to live lovely happy , free range, organic lives - but again, don't want to bear the costs associated with better welfare.

MAKE UP YOUR MINDS - YOU EITHER WANT DIRT CHEAP FOOD OR YOU WANT HIGH ANIMAL WELFARE STANDARDS AND FOOD THAT IS PRODUCED IN AN ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE WAY - YOU CANNOT HAVE BOTH!

Our co-op have really good chickens for £5 and are often £4 on offer. If I go in at 6pm when they are reducing goods I can often pick one or two up for £1 each. It makes a good cheap meal.

Holy shit.... you clearly have NO idea how these chickens were raised do you!?

Dh used to work in poultry and I remember him saying it mostly depended on grain prices because that was the biggest cost.

I listened to a Radio 2 phone in a few weeks back on Jeremy Vine's program where they were discussing battery eggs over free range. A listener rang in to say his friend asked him to accompany him to a trip to a free range farm as he was thinking about purchasing it.

This guy said the place was horrific. It was a huge warehouse packed full of chickens, the smell was eye watering where the faeces fell through the mesh and wasn't cleared leaving ammonia thick in the air. Towards the centre the chickens were tightly packed and around the edges where they were able to move they were all walking on their elbows. He believed that was because they are bred now to get to their adult weight as quick as possible and their legs aren't strong enough to support their body weight, so most of them are disabled.

Fucking hell it was a depressing phone call. I had been buying free range eggs thinking I was doing a good thing and obviously I am totally blinkered to the real situation. There is a house near me that sells the eggs from the chicken in their garden, that might be a good place to buy eggs on the future as I assume those chickens can walk.

Just to illustrate the cheap food thing, DP and I were in Italy this summer. People were telling us beforehand that everything would be dirt cheap because of the ongoing economic crisis there and the relative weakness of the Euro against the Pound. It wasn't.

We went to the Saturday market in Turin - masses and masses of fresh fruit and veg, meat, eggs, pastries, delicacies - you name it. It was known as the 'cheap' place to shop in the city - lots of very obviously poor people - and yet prices were considerably higher than you'd pay in a market or supermarket here. The quality, though, was amazing, and that's what Italian shoppers tend to care most about. We watched them picking up the fruit and veg, sniffing melons for freshness, asking the stallholders about the exact ingredients that had gone into the cakes, or which region of Italy the mushrooms had come from. We also overheard an Italian couple in a restaurant quizzing the restaurant owner on the precise origins of his ingredients before they placed their order.

I think, by contrast, we're often pretty mindless in our shopping and eating habits here in the UK, and are often just after a quick bargain.

I'd be very surprised if the profits are being passed on to farmers. If they are, fair enough. I do think food prices especially meat and fish have gone up astronomically in comparison to other things

'MAKE UP YOUR MINDS - YOU EITHER WANT DIRT CHEAP FOOD OR YOU WANT HIGH ANIMAL WELFARE STANDARDS AND FOOD THAT IS PRODUCED IN AN ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE WAY - YOU CANNOT HAVE BOTH!'

Agreed.

I know that the regulations on battery hen conditions (for eggs) changed recently to improve their standard of torture living, so perhaps those concerning welfare for chickens farmed for meat have too? I sure hope so.

The price of grain has risen too, so this will also impact on the cost of chicken rearing.

Their lives are still crap though... don't buy them, or at least buy FR /organic.

Poor harvests worldwide (unpredictable weather due to climate change), cost of grain going up, increasing fuel prices, increasing population. It's not just the supermarkets being evil (not often I say that! )

It's easy to have both. Eat good chicken occasionally - bonus it will taste much better than factory stuff - and eat chick peas (or whatever) more often.

Yes, chicken is (and was) too cheap.

I also agree with TempsPerdu - on average, British people spend a far lower proportion of their income on food than continental Europeans. We simply don't prioritise it in the same way. A shame.

What do you buy then Newera?
I've heard that sort of story before, normally from apologists of intensive farming.

Seriously are you saying I made that story up? Not sure what you mean by 'apologist'.

I buy free range eggs but once the man down the road starts selling then again I'm thinking he would be a better source than a large supermarket.

It's the equivalent of my hairdresser's neighbour. Unfortunately many people hearing that story are likely to say 'what's the point'- and buy battery- the sum of hen happiness is reduced :(
I'm glad you buy free range and agree that chippy down the probably has even happier hens. lane

We get 3 baby chickens for £6.
They're not too small. 1 can feed 3 people.

Chickens are so cute.

Not a vegetarian or anything. Just saying.

Yes.
Also, if you buy the eggs the chickens will work out much cheaper. True story.

Agreed that chicken is far too cheap. I pay premium for the English version of Label Rouge chicken and only purchase my other meats from the local (very) reputable butcher. Costs a bloody arm and leg, but I'd rather eat much less meat (we only eat it twice a week) but give my money to those I am comfortable are not cutting corners in terms of animal welfare.

Our co-op have really good chickens for £5 and are often £4 on offer. If I go in at 6pm when they are reducing goods I can often pick one or two up for £1 each. It makes a good cheap meal.

Holy shit.... you clearly have NO idea how these chickens were raised do you!?

To the contrary. The co-op have higher welfare standards than most supermarkets. Just because I buy everything on the sell by date for 20% of the original price doesn't change how they were farmed!

MAKE UP YOUR MINDS - YOU EITHER WANT DIRT CHEAP FOOD OR YOU WANT HIGH ANIMAL WELFARE STANDARDS AND FOOD THAT IS PRODUCED IN AN ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE WAY - YOU CANNOT HAVE BOTH!

I sympathise with the sentiment, but I think people have made up their minds. Some have made up their minds to dirt-cheap meat at any cost to animal welfare and environmental impacts. Others have made up their minds to eat less/spend more on more ethically-raised meat. A few of us have made up our minds to no meat at all. Farmers are never going to please everyone, so you might as well make up your mind to constant bitching from one sector or another.

Since there are clearly some on here concerned about animals could I ask you to have a quick look at the RSPB Vote for Bob campaign? Nothing whatsoever to do with free range chickens but only takes one click of the mouse www.voteforbob.co.uk

my apologies it's not an RSPB campaign but is supported by them.