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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think that if you cannot afford free range chicken/turkey meat and eggs...

755 replies

LolaTheShowgirl · 27/05/2009 09:31

...then don't buy at all?

I mean the suffering these birds go through in cramped, dirty sheds is unbelievable. There is usually no natural light and the birds are usually ill before they're culled.

If you can stomach it, please look at these:
WARNING: NOT NICE PICTURES!
HERE

OP posts:

expatinscotland · 27/05/2009 12:15

solid, you crack me up .

FioFio · 27/05/2009 12:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

christiana · 27/05/2009 12:15

Message withdrawn

HarmonyHunter · 27/05/2009 12:15

I buy a £2 chicken from Sainsburys - it does us for three meals - Shoot me

bronze · 27/05/2009 12:16

they would need a hutch/run as theyre masters of escapology but I got one of mine off ebayfor a tenner and have had another hutch off freecycle. They dont need much space though about a square foot per bird and keep them in groups of about 6/7

bronze · 27/05/2009 12:17

fio funnily enough thats what happens to animals that become meat

Spaceman · 27/05/2009 12:17

It is darker than factory chicken and not so tasty for sure. If I spend a fiver on a chicken then I'd want to make a meal for four, sandwiches for my DP and DD, a stock for a soup and possibly a stir-fry with noodles the next day.

The chicken may have suffered but it won't have been in vain if it makes it into my kitchen.

ItsGrimUpNorth · 27/05/2009 12:17

"self-righteous vegetarian twunts."

I'm not vegetarian but I'm not sure there's a lot of point in silly comments like this nor personal attacks on the OP.

There's an awful lot of self righteous meat eaters out there too. Meat production produces a lot of carbon which affects the environment, my environment.

I really don't see how this thread is an attack on the poor either. It's up to you however rich or poor you are if you want to eat crap meat (and it is crap meat because it's pumped full of hormone to make the chicken breast bigger and tastes like fish because they're fed fish meal too) but don't bleat, "Don't attack me. I'm poor," when someone points out that cruelty is a real fact of animal farming and that there are alternatives to meat, regardless of your income.

If you don't care, that's fine but don't claim the poor card because you do have a choice. It's not about having the right to eat meat. That's a very simplistic way of looking at it.

FioFio · 27/05/2009 12:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

expatinscotland · 27/05/2009 12:18

You do have a point, Get.

I once lived in a deprived estate in Edinburgh.

It was 1.62 miles to the nearest supermarket, a Sainsbury's.

Or you could spend £2.40 on a bus ticket (I had a £40/month bus pass, but I needed it to get to work) if you were unable to walk that distance.

Otherwise, it was the Kwick Save or Farm Foods and whatever was in there.

mamadiva · 27/05/2009 12:18

I buy what I can afford, I'm not particularly happy about the way animals are kept but they will be kept that way whether I like it or not so heyho, when there is a mass uproar that will actually make any difference then I may consider buying only free range.

I buy smart price eggs, if I buy chicken I buy the kind that lives in a barn but is'nt so cramped am I making sense here

But basically I buy what I can afford to feed my family with, although I shall bare in mind not to ask you round for tea

Thunderduck · 27/05/2009 12:19

Free range meat isn't as tasty as factory chicken? Is that because it actually tastes of something,as chicken ought to?

Gorionine · 27/05/2009 12:20

GetOrfMoiLand, your post does make a lot of sense to me.

HarmonyHunter · 27/05/2009 12:22

I've never eaten a chicken that tasted like fish. I would notice as I dont like fish.

ingles2 · 27/05/2009 12:23

OP's like this make me sooo cross and bloody rich coming from a poster who has no children.
IMO you do what you can to feed your children, with what you have.... and if that means cheap birds and eggs so be it.
Anyway, I've skimmed this thread and haven't seen any mention of how you get your free range bird laying all year!
Well as a long term chicken keeper let me tell you it isn't through letting them have a jolly nice life, wandering around your garden and going to bed when they like.
Your chickens only lay when there are enough daylight hours to keep them productive! In winter they have to be stimulated with extra lighting.
They lay a certain quantity and then they become broody, cock or no cock, so then you have to break them up or leave them broody which can knock out another month laying.
I probably get eggs 6-8 months of the year...so how do you think commercial egg producers do it???? and is that ethical?

HarmonyHunter · 27/05/2009 12:24

GetorfMoiLand - a very good post

Lucia39 · 27/05/2009 12:25

nkf Indian food? Whole cuisines based on vegan or semi-vegan diets!
Cheap, tasty, nutritious and in most cases dead easy to cook.

GetOrf [re your outburst] The poor don't have to eat "crap" it's just that in far too many cases they have no idea of what to buy and how to cook it! Not their fault necessarily, but whatever happened to self education? Are there no libraries?

bronze · 27/05/2009 12:25

Why do people keep going on about ops lack of children? There has been plenty of people on this thread agreeing with her who do have children.

OrmIrian · 27/05/2009 12:26

I don't know why everyone is getting so angry. Lola is expressing her opinion and imo she is quite right to do so.

Many choices that we make in life for ethical and moral reasons are hard. It doesn't mean we shouldn't be shown the consequences of failing to make those decisions. Then we can make our choices in a more informed way.

Farm animal welfare is an important issue and one that so many people who call themselves animal lovers are happy to ignore.

LaurieFairyCake · 27/05/2009 12:28

I too think if you can't afford to buy free range then you shouldn't eat it. Meat is a luxury and not a staple. We are lucky enough to eat meat once or twice a week but we are perfectly happy with vegetarian type meals the rest of the time. Not just cos of money but because it's environmentally unfriendly to eat meat more than once or twice a week.

I also think that the gap between rich and poor is too great and that people on benefits are not given enough to feed their families.

When I couldn't afford meat at all I didn't eat it - it would never occur to me to eat battery anything.

Lucia39 · 27/05/2009 12:28

ingles2 Quote ["Anyway, I've skimmed this thread and haven't seen any mention of how you get your free range bird laying all year!"] End quote

try here

WinkyWinkola · 27/05/2009 12:28

Perhaps a lot of people feel guilty that they feel they can't afford to do more to contribute to positive animal welfare? Who knows?

Bring back Home Economics GCSE - should be compulsory like maths and English. Get them all making lentil bakes!

mamadiva · 27/05/2009 12:28

I detest the kebab comment!

Kebabs are surely made from free range lambs

Mintyy · 27/05/2009 12:30

Being concerned about how animals are reared for food is not of concern exclusively to vegetarians or vegans.

mamadiva · 27/05/2009 12:30

Aah see actually does anyone have tips for feeding a family with 2 totally fussy buggers who won't eat anything veggie or cheesey without using meat?

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