To ask you to think twice about eating chicken regularly

[Tigofigo]

...it's just not sustainable for us to consume as much as we do.

Intensive chicken farming is polluting and destroying our rivers and also potentially causing breathing difficulties and lung issues in those who live near farms spraying chicken / other animal manure as fertilizer.

Really worrying too, at a time when govt are ripping up EU regs on environmental laws that will further destroy our rivers and the animals, plants and people that rely on them (along with the shit already pumped into them...).

www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/25/chicken-farm-giant-linked-to-river-wye-decline-was-sued-over-water-blight-in-us

www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/14/muck-spreading-could-be-banned-to-reduce-air-pollution

inews.co.uk/news/brexit-bonfire-environment-regulations-otters-dolphins-birds-conservationists-1875799

Lots of people have b12 deficiency. I know several who have to have injections of it. I dont think theyre even vegetarians!
Probably a lot of people should take supplements. Its quite handy now, as lots of people have inadequate diets

@Getoff - plenty of Asian dishes use chicken - just not a whole roast one. I honestly don’t see how you can object to one and not the other.
I don’t suppose many Asian takeaways/restaurants in the U.K. are that bothered about using only free range chicken, either.

We don’t eat much meat at all any more but when we do have chicken, it’s free range. And every scrap is used, including the carcass for stock.
I do realise that we’re fortunate to be to afford free range at all.

By that logic it you must think it's acceptable to mistreat and kill human children because they also don't fair too well in the "wild"?

Children and animals are very different.

Yabu because people are struggling financially so buy what they can afford. I personally avoid most processed foods - this includes all those much cited vegan options, so full of additives (I checked my DD's fresh tofu pack before posting this, so many ingredients whereas my joint of pork has just 2, pork and water.

Quite a few I imagine like meat but consciously choose not to eat it and so a substitute is good. Also meat isn't naturally sausage or burger shaped is it, although traditionally they have been made with Meat they aren't cut off of the carcass to be a sausage or burger; they are processed just as vegan subs are to be a certain shape and texture.

I won't give up buying meat.

I don't understand posts like this. An extra large chicken from our butcher - who sources his chicken from one local farm - costs around £18 yes.

And it does make 3-4 meals for me and two children with big appetites: a roast, a chicken risotto or chicken fried rice, some chicken for packed lunch sandwiches/ wraps and a chicken soup (enough to freeze some for another day, too).

Obviously all of these meals are not hust chicken, so the chicken goes a long way with all of the vegetables/ rice/ bread etc.

I am a lone parent with a full time job. These are basic, simple meals to cook. I'm not sure what's "middle class" about trying to use up leftovers over several meals?

Nobody thinks that but the kg of CO2e per kg of food is usually significantly less for plant based food than animal based food.

@ZeroFuchsGiven

I do eat vegan food sometimes but none of the processed stuff. I eat food that happens by chance not to contain meat or dairy eg dal quite a lot, but sometimes I serve it with tandoori chicken

I was astounded at how tasty vegan food is and I’m not sheltered or young. I’m our western diet we are used to making the meat or fish the star of the dish. It was difficult at the beginning when vegan food meant side dishes.

So I started by looking at vegan versions of the meals I loved and was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t miss the meat/fish element.

Then by looking at vegan recipe sites it got me doing lots of different meals that are far tastier than many meat/fish dishes. So you could make delicious meals with meat in them but most people don’t and they are quite boring.

I don’t like vegan cheese so don’t use it but make delicious sauces etc with cashews for example.

Many things don’t need egg or dairy milk either. Can either substitute it with no loss of flavour or leave it out altogether. Mayo and meringue for example, you can’t tell the difference.

I use nori and seaweed to give me the sea flavour without needing fish.

nutritional yeast is great for when you want the eggy smell.

nuts, herbs, spices, fruit for flavour and textures.

I tend to make Mexican, Thai, Japanese, Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Middle Eastern , Spanish, Italian vegan food as standard…instead of meat and 2 veg.

I was in Sainsbury's yesterday (not somewhere I usually shop) and a bag of chicken portions was £1.55 a kilo. The lamb mince next to it was £8.50 a kilo.
It's all very well you telling people they shouldn't eat chicken when you can afford to buy something else but for some people it's the only protein they can afford.
That's not a dig at you. I fully understand where you are coming from.
Its getting that its not just the rich people who seem to be out of touch with how poorer people live, it's also those who are only one or two steps further up the ladder who are losing sight of reality.

But protein is a vital component of a healthy diet, though! We need protein and we have to get it from somewhere. I accept that it doesn't always have to come from meat and meat-based products, but nonetheless they are among the best sources.

It takes 18x more resources per calorie of animal product than plant.

I think OP was telling people not to eat any meat but using chicken as an example

plenty of Asian dishes use chicken - just not a whole roast one

Yes, they use chicken meat cut up into small entirely edible lumps, which is why it will be easier to replace by chicken-breast grown from stem cells in a factory.

In contrast, I don't think factories are going to be producing whole chickens suitable for roasting, whole chickens that were never a live bird that had to be farmed and killed. Nor will they produce chicken pieces with inedible bits such as bones and cartilage, none of which are present in any of the Asian cooking I eat. (Although a Sri Lankan friend once served curry where a chicken had been cubed regardless of whether each one-inch cube contained meat, bone or cartilage. I did not enjoy having to gently bite on each curry-covered cube in order to find out if the contents were entirely edible.)

Lots of people assume a vegan diet comprises of grass and legumes or whatever, so it's fully believable that people are shocked when someone makes a tasty vegan meal as many are ignorant.

@RainingRubies

Remember many of us are cooking for more people, a standard sized supermarket chicken (£4.25 for the cook in the bag one at lidl last week) fed us 1 meal with pickings for the cat. 4 adults plus a veggie one who obviously has a different main.

A larger chicken would not be worth it as they would eat more!

Pork however is my go to, can get 3 meals out of a £10 shoulder

Great sarcasm there, especially when you consider almonds produce 3.6kg of CO2e per kg and chicken produces 6kg of CO2e per kg. So even the "worst" nut is better than the "best" meat.

great post

I wish there was a like button.

I have to agree with this. I'm already at the point of deciding on fuel, heating and food choices and juggling all 3. I am grateful I currently only have to go to the office twice a week, public transport is crap here so a car is necessary. Not sure how I'd afford to go more often without making serious cuts elsewhere in my budget. I'm looking for a new job because I don't have any progression where I currently work.

I got a payrise of 1.75% last year, and I don't expect much more this year, despite inflation running so high.

And I know a lot of people in the same boat.

I think (and I say this as an ex veggie), vegetarians and particularly vegan seem to think there is something very different about the food they eat and that others will be astounded if they eat it and like it

People eat vegetarian dishes all the time and wouldnt even call them veggie, a macaroni cheese, an egg sarnie, a tarka dhal, pad thai, etc etc

I really havent met someone who has an 'aversion' to veggie food, what they might have an 'aversion' to are discussions about how its better or more moral to be veggie or vegan.

Lamb has a far higher carbon footprint than chicken by far (not that I'm promoting eating chicken).

If you follow the conversation you'll see I was having a discussion about sheep.

tbh, the more pushy & emotive these threads get, the more resolute I get about doing exactly as I please. I was vegetarian for 17 years but never for animal welfare reasons. These threads do a good job of alienating people like me from the animal welfare cause.

We probably have chicken about 4/5 times a week, it’s cheap and filling and a whole chicken can make a few meals.
we had kfc yesterday as a treat!