To think that the turkey industry is a big pile of poo

[ijustwanttoaskaquestion]

I was tempted, after watching a program about turkey production last night to post "if you can't afford a free range turkey - don't have one" but obviously that would have got me flammed to within an inch of my life - because of course, free range turkey's are ridiculously expensive.

So the fuckers have us by the short and curlies, if we insist of having one of those tasteless birds for our xmas table. This program showed RECENT footage of turkey production and those birds were treated horrendously, with no thought for their welfare whatsoever, apart from to comply with the frankly, pointless legislation for minimum welfare. Chucked onto trucks from a great length, only to be dangled head first into a bowl of electrified water to stun them, only about 80% effective. This is NOT ON!!!

I am not a sentimental lentil weaver but this program made me physically sick

So, i guess we would all have free range if they were the same price or just a tad more - but its ridiculously expensive - but if we all stopped buying those processed birds, that are not only treated like shit, but taste like shit and are pumped full of antibiotics, growth factors and god knows what else - but they are not, they are stupid money/, so most people can't afford it.

Surely the government should be supplementing free range farmers so they can charge less for their produce and that way, the public can have more choice about the meat that they will be eating. It doesn't stop with turkey - dont even get me started on imported meat!!

Well, i was flagging, thinking stuff it, im having turkey - but not after that program, no, i will never ever eat that shit again.

just me then?

I only buy free range. I am having a frozen free range bird from sainsbury's, and its considerably cheaper than fresh. I agree with you, and do think that we should take more interest in where our food comes from. It is possible to source good quality, free range meat at better prices than the supermarket, but you have to know where to look. I imagine it's pretty difficult in a city. I do think that these industries are under pressure, and the more people that refuse to buy cheap meat, the more likely it is that conditions will improve. Public opinion does change things, and eventually (hopefully) free range meat will become more the norm, and therefore cheaper.

I don't think that the government should give money to freerange farmers so that we can all "afford it", because they will have to raise that money from taxpayers - so we'll all have to pay for those people who want to buy freerange, even if we'd choose to buy the cheapest possible ourselves. ("Choose" being an odd word when you don't really have any choice about getting the very cheapest)

Those who are poorest still wouldn't be able to choose to buy the freerange ones if they were even a few pence more expensive, if their taxes had already gone up in order to bring the price down a bit even for those who can afford it now.

But I do think the "minimum" welfare standards ought to be improved to a point where an average person could think about farm animal treatment without feeling sick.

Yes, thats a very good point muminscotland - im far from squeemish, in fact im quite hard hearted when it comes to animals - but i think about turkey farms and it literally does turn my stomach. Was looking at turkeys today in tesco - £10 for a crappy but massive processed turkey compared to £50-£60 for the free range equivalent. That pretty much rules out the average family - there has to be something fundamentally wrong there, because that almost takes the consumers choice away from them. £10 or £60? in a credit crunch, well, its a no brainer We are an average family - nut roast it is then!

Another nut roast here! I became vegetarian back in June after I had time to properly research the meat industry. I used to only buy free range/organic, but, regardless of the welfare conditions of the animals, their deaths are still pretty horrific whether free range or not. Which I do not want on my conscience.

This will be my first veggie Christmas and am looking forward to it!

Yanbu.

We are having a large organic chicken for this very reason. We don't have the £££ for an organic turkey but I won't eat poultry that is not organic, or at the very least free range. So chicken it will have to be.

(and, actually, we all prefer chicken)

YANBU and well done for bringing it up. We are veggies and I really think meat is not a 'right' or an 'entitlement', and that, if you can't afford to buy meat which had high welfare standards when alive, you shoudln't buy meat. I can't afford a holiday, a new car or to not work. Thats life.

Anyone who eats meat has a duty to research the industry thoroughly first. I have no respect for those who choose to be blinkered to the horrors of (some) animal farming, and keep pumping thie rmoney in to it. I respect more those who know all about it and just don't care. We're all differnt but we should educate ourselves.

sorry, their money

We're having a happy turkey but you're right they are very expensive. Not much change from £90 (although mine is free this year due to a delivery debacle last year).

But we would have had an organic chicken if the turkey hadn't been free this year.

I would personally rather have no meat than intensively reared stuff.

We are having a free range one - I've seen them happily flocking around the field when we've gone to the farm shop BUT it is expensive and I'm very conscious that we are lucky to be able to do that. I buy practically all my meat from there now - chicken, mince and sausages are the same price as supermarket but much better meat and joints etc are the same price or slightly more but again much better meat raised with better standards and with the price going back in to the pockets of a local farmers and breeders. Having now got used to this way of doing things I don't think i could go back to supermarket meat if we were hard up. I think we'd just have to go veggie and have this meat as a treat.

our turkey is called vera.

vera is, as we speak - still running around.

poor vera.

yum

That's truly free range Custy! Will you do the deed yourself?

We're having a nice big 3-rib joint of beef, local of course!

no! the lady who rears them does that.

Veggie here too, though of course the dairy industry isn't without cruelty.

My parents only ate free range. They didn't earn much and had meat maybe once a week. The turkey was much like Custardos and was a MASSIVE treat. We expect meat to be too cheap nowadays. It should be for special occassions. Except for veggies, obv!

We will have frozen free range, which is much cheaper than even battery farmed fresh. It will be fine and will make loads of soup and pies. It is £20 but is enormous.
We live in London but there is a free range butcher near us which is cheaper than Sainsbury's free range and which I use for non-festive things. Can't afford his fresh free range turkeys!
I agree about having less meat in general.

thankyou everyone - i was expecting to get flamed to be honest. But you are right in what you say, we have come to expect meat to be on our plate and its weird when we don't. I bumped into my couin in tesco and i was at the price of the free range turkey - she said, oh we cant afford one, so will be having a normal one - no right, i can't afford it, so i wont be having it. That is why we went veggie, we were going to stop eating red meat and stick to free range chicken but its sooo expensive. So now DD has a chicken breast two or three times a week (free range organic) and we just don't eat it anymore. If i could afford free range meat that had had a decent life and killed in as humane way as possible, i would still be eating meat.

Ours is coming from friends at the farm a few doors down from our farm.I don't think it's free range,but was living in straw in a huge dutch barn.I could hear them all gobbling away the other day,but it's a bit quiet now.