Food Fight - Frankly, Fair Fodder for Thought
I’ve been watching the series of Food Fight programmes broadcast this week by Channel 4, relating to the plight of the humble chicken within Britain’s farming industry. As anyone who reads my blog knows, I own 4 beautiful ex-battery hens, all of which having never seen another ‘naturalised’ hen, quite quickly began displaying their natural behaviours within days and weeks of being released from their battery houses. These natural behaviours include dust bathing and scratching, as well as using a nestbox and perching at night. Granted, they had a little trouble learning to perch, but they only had to get the hang of it once before it became the norm for them. So anyone that says that battery, or indeed broiler hens don’t know any different, well here’s two big and very rude fingers up to you. They DO know differently.
I’ve also read a few comments where people believe the barren battery cage is going to be banned, come 2010. Again, this is not a truth as such. They will still be in cages, just provided with a metal perch (barely an inch or so off the ground), and a rubber flap with astroturf to ‘nest’ in to lay. Some may think this better, indeed it is, but is it really enough to justify the whole production and manufacturing process to meet the needs of Britain’s consumers? Let’s face it, in the past 30 or 40 years many have got used to getting what they want, at low prices, and when they want. The modern way of living - yes it’s handy, but is it, in the end, really worth it? There are some that would say yes. After all, on Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, a rather loutish pub-going individual who wouldn’t spend less than the price of a pint delcare that a “fucking twatty chicken” wasn’t worth it. I doubt he’s been within 20ft of a real chicken. They’re not as worthless and stupid as people think.
I’ve also heard the poverty and “tight budget” argument used time and time again. This is not necessarily a valid argument. I posted this on the Guardian website,
“Many believe that this is all that they will be able to afford on their incomes, and that the way to solve poverty is for the government to subsidise and the supermarkets to provide artificially cheap, low quality food. But people must look at the bigger picture here - this gives the Government justification in keeping incomes and benefits lower.
Each year in preparation for the Budget the Chancellor uses a model ’shopping basket’ of basic food items, and now includes a few luxuries. This forms the basis of how taxes should be increased, as well as helping to determine levels of welfare benefits and public sector increases in salary. So obviously the lower the price of goods being chosen by the average consumer, as used in the ‘model basket’, the poorer people are allowed to be. I don’t think this sort of direct impact is taken into consideration by many consumers and those that argue that their earnings won’t allow the price difference of birds (and all animals) produced with better welfare standards…”
So there you have it. And, yes, I know that there are other animals suffering as a result of Britain’s intensive farming industries and the hungry consumer. But they’ve got to start somewhere, and I applaud them for it. I know from reading other blogs that there are so many of us that have been trying to turn the tide for years, so hopefully now something will begin to change for the better. All you have to do is save a few pennies, support British farmers to make the change, and consider - do you really need to buy meat so often, can you make it last? Of course, I probably am preaching to the converted here!
January 12th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Very well said! The irony of the man in the pub drinking the beer and smoking while saying he couldn’t afford a couple of quid to give a chicken a happy life was very sad.
I sometimes feel guilty having to keep my 4 hens in a 10 foot by 6 foot area so I let them out to wreak havoc on the rest of my garden. I don’t know how people can’t feel guilty about the way we treat the farmed chickens.
January 14th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments and the practice - I am just worried that the economics are going to be tricky to sort out in the short-term. Farmers (in general) produce food in response to demand. If the consumers demand ‘more expensive, better quality, less cruel’ food, then farmers will produce it in greater amounts…and it will slowly become cheaper as retailers fight for our custom (Unfortunately, this in turn will turn the screw back on the farmers profit margins).
I think it may be a case of chicken welfare being a ’slowburn’ issue - gradually more people will turn to lower intensity food. I am not sure that overturning the long drive for efficient production that has been ongoing since the late 1940’s and 50’s isn’t going to happen overnight - I remember 15 years ago folks were looked at as ‘knit-your-own-museli’ hippys for buying free-range eggs - now 40% of all sales are free-range.
Personally I am 100% bought into free-range eggs and meat birds…if we didn’t have a cockerel, we would have rescue battery hens this week (subjecting them to Rocky would be too much).
January 15th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Totally converted here! Funny how the ones who shout about being unable to afford free range eggs are usually propping up bars and smoking 20 fags a day. One free range egg still costs 50% less than a single cigarette.
January 19th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Unfortuneately i have been on both sides of the fence in this arguement. Having said that, i think it makes me more than qualified to make fair comment?!
I am the daughter of a farmer, and as such have seen the production of many kinds of animal for human consumption. When i was a child it was my job to collect, wash and grade the eggs from our barn kept chickens, which provided a small but steady income for us. Our chickens were well cared for, had plenty of light, warmth, food and space within the barns. Sadly in the end it was no longer economical for us to keep them in this way and my father killed them all and stopped the egg business altogether. I was heartbroken that my favourite hens had been killed when i came home from school that day (yes, they all had names!) but understood that it was no longer a viable economic option for the farm anymore, because people wanted cheaper eggs and didn’t care where they came from or by what means.
My father told me that the consumer dictates. Indeed he could never have uttered truer words.
I am now a single mother on a very low income. I truly cannot afford the extortionate price of free range or organic meat or poultry. HOWEVER, because of that fact, we just don’t eat as much meat or poultry as we otherwise would have. The simple answer is don’t eat as much of it!
I buy the free range and organic poultry and we have it as a treat. Sadly it means that we have to eat alot of beans and pulses the rest of the time (which can have an affect on your social life!!!) but my conscience is clearer.
I know and appreciate only too well the 24/7 care that any livestock needs and the sheer hard work in any weather conditions involved in it. There is barely any profit too be made in the rearing of livestock for human consumption and it is a thankless task at the best of times.
What we need to do is educate the consumer, and help the farmers. It is all about supply and demand.
We need to remember that the producers need to earn a living, hence the reason intensive farming occurred in the first place.
I have never had a problem with eating animals as long as the short life that they lived was a happy one.
My father no longer produces livestock and has turned the land over to arable. But again, just think about it next time you buy that cheap loaf of bread or box of cereal, where did the cheap grain come from to make it…..
March 29th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
I tried the three meals from one chicken and managed free range roast chicken one day, chicken pie the following day and soup the third day, so a very economical chicken it was !!