Chicken ethics and shopping

[Panter]

I really don't want to start another thread about the ethics of chicken farming here but for those of you who are believers in free range, how are you getting on with your shopping?

I'm really struggling at the moment, free range chicken is in very short supply (a good sign) so we're simply not buying chicken at the moment.
We're also not buying any salad dressings or anything else that contains egg as it will be battery produced.

We keep a few chickens so obtaining eggs aren't a problem, but the weekly shopping is.
How are you all finding it? any tips on shops where you can buy free range products?

 

[simonali]

Farm shops? Being out in the sticks, I have plenty of these around.

With regards to the shopping aspect, I think that a lot of people have become conditioned to buying whatever is cheapest in the supermarkets and that a few of us changing to free range (which I did quite a while back) won't change anything? Just my thoughts.

 

[wafflycat]

Hardly any in the supermarkets. Managed to get an organic free-range whole bird yesterday, which is now in the freezer. Plus some free-range (but non-organic) chicken breasts, which will be curried for this evening's meal.

I've got a coop & run which will be put together soon and post-easter will be getting a couple of birds for eggs. On the egg front, I've only bought organic free-range for years now (the welfare standards are a lot higher than 'normal' eggs) as they were something that, although expensive, due to the amount eaten (not a lot), it was something I could afford to do. Due to that, it seems that the next step is growing my own, so to speak.

 

[Stick on a Giant]

Our local butcher does some great free-range chickens, usually cost £8-9 each, but well worth it, both from a a taste/texture and welfare point of view. In general the butcher's is great - generally cheaper than the supermarket, not organic, but it is locally produced, and you can get exactly what you want, rather than what is in the cellophane wrapper. We live in a fairly small town and there are 2 butchers, although the other one gets all the lamb and beef from Scotland - as we're in Hampshire that rather defeats the point of a 'local' butchers as far as I can see.

 

[Aint Skeered]

I came across this in the Times on saturday, makes interesting reading.
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article3224672.ece

 

[Panter]

Thanks peeps

Obviously the butcher/farm shop option is the best one but I tend to work long hours and struggle to find the time so I was thinking more late night shops really.

Otherwise, I'll just stock up at the butchers at the weekend and freeze some down.

How are you getting on with avoiding battery egges in products, that seems to be the tough one?

 

[wafflycat]

If it doesn't say free-range on the label, it means the eggs used are battery-eggs. So I read labels and tend to put stuff back on the shelf most of the time.

 

[sheddy]

Didn't the rep on Fowl Dinners say that all relevant products sold in Waitrose would only contain ingredients from free range eggs. Not sure what he said about the Chickens. edit: Can't find it on their website

 

[Arch]

I haven't bought chicken since I decided I needed to make more of an effort after H F-W's programme - but I'd often go a long time without buying it anyway. And I'm on super-budget at the moment, so if I'm mostly living off whatever meat I find on the reduced counter, and in between, veggie stuff.

So I haven't really been looking. I ought to be able to get free range, somewhere in York or the surroundings. I went over to free frange eggs a while back, I just eat less eggs.

Probably not so good at avoiding stuff that's pre-prepared I admit - although since my economy drive got me bringing my own lunch in, the refectory sandwiches aren't a temptation... I don't buy a huge amount of pre-processed foods generally, apart from my weakness for basic quick noodles and chicken cup-a-soup.

 

[wafflycat]

Last time I used an organis free-range chicken, I got three meals out of it.

1. roast chicken dinner
2. chicken curry
3. soup

The bird cost £8, so that worked out at under £3 per meal, and each meal can feed four. Useful when you've a freezer to put the excess in for future use.

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

Last time I used an organis free-range chicken, I got three meals out of it.

1. roast chicken dinner
2. chicken curry
3. soup

The bird cost £8, so that worked out at under £3 per meal, and each meal can feed four. Useful when you've a freezer to put the excess in for future use.

Not when our 23 year old son has been mountain biking for five hours and has then spend an hour on the weights.

 

[Speicher]

Slightly off topic. I enjoy fish and chips, but not the sort from Chip Shops, unless I am by the seaside. So I keep some fish in batter in the freezer. I am very careful to choose fish "from fillets". The one I had a few days ago, was distinctly on the wallpaper glue texture side. When I read the packet it said "shaped from fillets". My question is how do you know whether the fish is proper fillets, ie you can separate the individual flakes, instead of eating a sort of fishy mash. What description do I need to look for?

I would add that I buy Proper fish from the fishmonger in the local market, but it is VERY expensive, and I would like to have some in the freezer ready battered.

 

[Arch]

Slightly off topic. I enjoy fish and chips, but not the sort from Chip Shops, unless I am by the seaside. So I keep some fish in batter in the freezer. I am very careful to choose fish "from fillets". The one I had a few days ago, was distinctly on the wallpaper glue texture side. When I read the packet it said "shaped from fillets". My question is how do you know whether the fish is proper fillets, ie you can separate the individual flakes, instead of eating a sort of fishy mash. What description do I need to look for?

I would add that I buy Proper fish from the fishmonger in the local market, but it is VERY expensive, and I would like to have some in the freezer ready battered.

Interesting one. I don't know, to be honest, (my Iceland days are long behind me now), but I think if it says just fillets you should be alright, and the more exra words there are ("shaped from") the dodgier it gets.

A while back I had a fancy for some fish fingers, as a treat, and discovered that it is nigh on impossible to juggle a mean budget, the conservation ethics of cod, and the conservation ethics of palm oil. If I tried to avoid cod, the breadcrumbs had palm oil and if the breadcrumb had veg oil (which I suppose might be palm oil anyway), the fish was cod. I think in the end I went for the cod, and therefore probably had palm oil anyway, and the whole issue was pointless. On the other hand, I treat myself to fishfingers about once a year, so it wasn't too big a deal.

 

[User482]

I discovered recently that Young's are making a pretty good commitment to ethically sourced fish - their pies use pollack instead of cod for example, and some of their products are MSC certified. If you don't want to lay out £££ at the fishmonger then maybe have a look out for their products in the supermarket?

That said, I've just bought some pollack from the farmers' market at £7 per kilo. Not too expensive?

 

[User482]

A while back I had a fancy for some fish fingers, as a treat, and discovered that it is nigh on impossible to juggle a mean budget, the conservation ethics of cod, and the conservation ethics of palm oil. If I tried to avoid cod, the breadcrumbs had palm oil and if the breadcrumb had veg oil (which I suppose might be palm oil anyway), the fish was cod. I think in the end I went for the cod, and therefore probably had palm oil anyway, and the whole issue was pointless. On the other hand, I treat myself to fishfingers about once a year, so it wasn't too big a deal.

On a similar vein, Co-op make a very nice Fairtrade chocolate cake. So which idiot decided it was a good idea to make it with battery farmed eggs?!