To ask if you buy free range meat?

[moutonfou]

With the dominance of free range eggs, I'm always surprised that free range meat hasn't taken off in the same way. That being said I'm lucky to only be cooking for two and not sure I could afford to feed 4+ people on free range. But I was surprised when I learnt that two free range chicken breasts start at £3.00 (depending on weight) in our local supermarket and have only bought free range since then.

Does anybody else buy it?

I didn't realise that barn raising etc was legal in the U.K. Obviously I don't buy much meat but will be much more careful from now on.

I don't have a problem with buying free-range meat if it's discounted or on offer, however I'm not well off enough to throw money away just for the sake of it. It doesn't really bother me what kind of life the animal had - if I were concerned about that, I'd become a vegetarian! Provided the meat is safe to eat and tastes good, I couldn't care less whether it's free-range or not.

Yes always. I've seen animals kept in non free range conditions and it is truly disgusting. I'd rather be veggie than subject a living creature to that existence.

With the dominance of free range eggs, I'm always surprised that free range meat hasn't taken off in the same way

I'm not. The difference in price between free range eggs and non free range is quite small. Free range meat seems a lot more expensive than non free range though.

I generally do - 2 free range chicken breasts cost £4 usually but you can tell the difference, visually they look healthier and don't tend to have the sinew that the non-free range ones do. They also taste better in my opinion, like chicken used to when I was a kid. A whole chicken is around £7-8 but I'd rather eat less meat than non free range now.

I understand why people don't eat it because it is significantly more expensive than the battery stuff, I've certainly not had the option in the past.

I don't really understand why people buy battery eggs though, the price difference is minor.

I only buy organic milk too but that's 50% more expensive than the non-organic stuff.

I don't tend to buy organic fruit and veg though, unless the price difference is negligible.

No but because we are vegetarian. Free range meat is better for the animals I guess but actually worse for the environment! And the whole carbon footprint thing is why we gave meat up in the first place - a much bigger picture than the animal welfare side (which is also important)

Yes where possible, so always free range chicken but not always pork as it's not always available and I tend to do an online supermarket shop mostly. I'd shop at the local butcher more often if they opened past 5.30 any night of the week.....
I never buy chicken breasts though as they are about £4 for two and I can have the whole bird for £6 which does a roast and then a pie or curry as well with the leftovers. My dh can tell the difference in the taste of the chicken and prefers it.

I think the wording used on the packaging has an impact too. If you are buying eggs from caged hens, you can imagine them in the little cages. I don't think non free range meat has to state this so obviously.

Yes. Free range and organic. Which is why we hardly have it at home. We eat vegetarian food most of the time.

Worriedrose Sat 30-Sep-17 14:30:25
I don't understand people who say they can't afford it

I'm poor. I cant afford to eat meat every day and cant afford free range at all. Not sure whats difficult to understand about that.

A not free range whole chicken in asda is £2.98. I cant afford to spend £3 on two little breasts when i can get a whole chicken for the same price. What is difficult to understand about that?

Rubbish DJ! I bet you could afford pig cheeks!

@DJBaggySmalls
I said I don't understand in terms of why people buy cheap shit factory reared meat because they can't afford free range organic. Because for example if you buy free range pig cheek or ox cheek you can make a huge pulled pork stew or chilli con carne and the meat will cost you around 1.50 - 2.00
So, I don't think that's expensive, if it feeds 6 people and can be bulked out with veg
And if you haven't tried pigs cheek then you should. It's like shoulder only cheaper because some people think the cheeks are gross so it's not popular

What do you think people did when they had rationing, they ate cheap cuts of decent meat. They didn't eat a lot of meat.
Eating not a lot of meat is a good thing

But it's BULLSHIT that people can't afford decent meat, you just might not be able to afford the cut you want of said meat.

Why don't people just say "I give zero fucks about animal welfare" and I can't afford it. Because I just can't afford it is a shit excuse

Yep, only use 3 butchers nearby. Two of them raise their own animals on their land, so I know the welfare standards are good. Used to be vegetarian so animal welfare is important to me. We bulk buy meat so usually get deals as well.

Free range meat is better for the animals I guess but actually worse for the environment

Well, no. That's an odd statement. It depends on the animal and the farming practice.

For instance, a sheep that is entirely pasture-fed has minimal impact on the environment (mostly in the form of electricity bills during lambing), and in some cases contributes to its preservation (e.g., Herdwick sheep grazing the Cumbrian fells). Then its meat is often sold directly by the farmer a few miles from where it lived.

Another sheep might be free-range but is indeed bad for the environment because its diet is supplemented with soya feed (from GMO monoculture farming on cleared rainforest land in South America) and its meat is shipped halfway around the world to be sold.

It depends on a person's reasons for being vegetarian, really. If it's an ethical objection to eating animal flesh, that's one thing. But if it's ethical concerns about environmental damage and carbon footprint of meat, then it's less clear cut because some meats are more ethical on that score than a bag of lentils or a veggie burger.

Exactly
Read about avocados and then come back and say that's better for the environment than locally reared food
Look if you buy local seasonal food, or better grow it yourself then I get the environmental element.

I just wish people cared about it all!!!
Palm oil??? Green beans from Kenya
Tomatoes all year round. Battery hens
It all impacts on us one way or another

The fact that people couldn't stomach a pig cheek but could eat a joint of pork just makes me fucking sad

Yes and I deliberately only eat it once or twice a month. There is no reason to eat cruelty meat, I do fine on a mostly vegetarian diet.

I also 'can't afford it' - so I eat it rarely.

I don't usually. I also eat meat in restaurants that probably isn't and from takeaways that definitely isn't.

I would never buy meat other than free range/organic or eggs. I tend to buy less meat as a result but to me it's no contest.

PS I boycott any product containing palm oil. It's destroying the habitat of orangutans apart from other considerations. It's hard having to check the ingredients of everything I buy. Who knew palm oil was in a lot of supermarket bread? I suspect it's why Cadbury's chocolate is shit these days. Never been able to find an equivalent to the old Cadburys

Only free range and organic. We eat meat 1-2 times per week and have the highest quality. Ethical, environmental and health reasons, although I appreciate that going veggie would be the best way to satisfy those concerns (that would be pushing husband too far!)

I am vegetarian, but Son eats meat, as did his Dad when we were a family. I buy free range meat, from named local suppliers, from a local butcher. I began there when I went in to ask about the welfare of their turkeys about 15 years ago, and he gave me directions to the farm to see them.

I have learned that 'cheap' meat is a false economy. It's bulked out with water or whatever. When you cook free range meat, it doesn't shrink, so you end up needing less. It's also much tastier, so again, you need less (I'll trust the ex on this, I haven't tasted myself!).

Always buy free range chicken for cooking, organic mince and sausages, try to buy organic pork or lamb but we don't have those often. But I do buy ham and chicken satays which are not free range or organic.

I rarely buy meat but if pork and chicken always free range, and always UK raised.

Deer and sheep are not intensively raised but on the rare occasions I buy lamb and venison it is always Scottish.

The only other meat I buy occasionally is wild game in season.

Eggs I buy from a colleague who has a small flock of his own ducks and chicken.

I don't eat any animal products in restaurants unless I know the provenance.

NO the animals are still murdered in the end just so you can have something to eat