Hugh and Jamie....

J

JM07

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can we, collectively, get behind these guys, as has been one for the Amersham Horses and Ponies, to abolish the abhorrent practice of "factory farmed" chickens...

oh and whilst we're all on the bandwaggon, Pigs could do with a bit of support too...


SO.......WHO'S UP FOR THIS CAMPAIGN?????


or are farm animals, kept in appalling conditions different????


i'm sure our Govt, local/national newspapers, MP's/euro MP's supermarkets/hypermarkets etc etc would take note of such a fervent campaign..or as i said, are farm animals different??
 
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I couldn't get outdoor reared pork at Tescos today ,do they still do it?

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no idea...i always buy meat/eggs/fish/dairy from my local farm shop.
 
I'm totally behind it.
Guys take a look at this site - signing the petition on here is a good start but I'm sure there is much more we can do. I'm open to any ideas.

Chicken Out

p.s I already buy free range eggs, and free range chicken + organic or ethically reared meat where we can.
 
I'm totally behind it, but then I always have been, and will continue to do so, but I dont blame the farmers- Its the supermarkets and the ignorant......
 
i'm up for that! bought 1/2 a pig from a smallholder friend last week, the flavour was fantastic, outdoor reared glouster old spot -yum!!
 
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SO.......WHO'S UP FOR THIS CAMPAIGN?????

[/ QUOTE ] Me! Always have been, always will be. Pigs, chickens, cattle, horses - all should be kept in humane conditions. If you wouldn't keep your horse in inhumane conditions - then don't eat meat raised in inhumane conditions. Before you sneer at the neighbour down the road who you feel doesn't brush or ride his horse enough, consider how the lives of the animals you eat and how they compare.
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I have never fully understood why meat rearing producers would want to keep their animals indoors all the time anyway.

Surely by being free to roam and munch grass or whatever else takes their fancy, they are building more muscle from their gentle daily "exercise". Muscle is meat and more meat is more money on the hook price, surely?

I don't buy anything but British Meat with the Farm Assured Red Tractor logo on it. Farms are inspected regularly and all aspects of their animal husbandry is assessed. If they meet the rather stringent requirements, they are granted farm assured status. It's the same with us and our milk. We have to be farm assured before we can supply milk to Wiseman Dairies. Wiseman insist their dairy farmers meet their own requirements for quality too, which exceed the basic standard farm assured requirements.

I don't scramble to buy organic though. Organic doesn't guarantee animals kept in more natural conditions or have more access to the outdoors.
 
I think the whole idea behind indoor farming is controlling external factors eg. chickens exposed to longer light indoors to lay more. They can also keep many more animals in a much smaller space therefore cutting down costs and there is a faster turn over , as it's easier to fatten them up quickly indoors. Unfortunately it's the supermarkets fault. I would much prefer to buy meat from the local butchers/farm shop (there's a great one near me) than buy meat that's either come from another country or from intensively farmed animals which have had to travel a long way to slaughter. Thankfully due to EU directive battery chickens have to be phased out by 2010 so at least that's something
 
In the past I've always tended to try and buy barn/ farmed/organic or free range, but sometimes have ended up buying one of those massive chickens from the coop, you know the sort they sell for a fiver. Never again after watching Jamie tonight knowing their legs are to weak to carry their big frames.
I reckon he's the chicken equivalent of Monty Roberts, and admire him tremendously.
I buy our bacon from the local village butcher, and after a horrible programme a few years ago asked next morning where his meat came from. Before I drew breath he had me outside and about to get in his car to see the local farm and find out for myself..
We're lucky, although I don't buy game it's always fresh and locally reared available in his shop, the eggs can be sourced as can the rest of the meat. The only time I have a dilemma is at Christmas, I can't justify paying £35 for a free range organic turkey when I can buy a humanely reared crown from waitrose for £12... Can they rear turkeys badly? I always thought they died incredibly easily so had to be reared with lots of room and no stress..
Well done Jamie, a very good thought provoking and honest programme.
 
I never have & never will buy any supermarket meat. Local butcher/farm shop every time. (with questions asked) If we could all do this & convince our families of the same then the supermarkets would have to make changes. Lets face it, it's all about supply on demand.
I AM DEFINATELY UP FOR IT.
 
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Can they rear turkeys badly? I always thought they died incredibly easily so had to be reared with lots of room and no stress..


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Nope, they often rear them in exactly the same way as broiler chickens.
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I keep my horses on a free-range turkey farm and my dissertation was an investigation into turkey cannibalism.
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SO.......WHO'S UP FOR THIS CAMPAIGN?????

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ME!! I think that anything and everything deserves a quality of life especially as animals have no way to voice their views.
As a real rural girl who's always had local free range produce i clearly am very naive despite the OH being the local vet and himself having had these experiences it has shocked me so much. I mean lets see how many of the tesco bosses would last in a box with six of them crammed in with no comfort, bedding and being made to work like a machine to then have an undignifed end. Call me a bunny hugger but its just my view.
 
It's as simple as can be. Buy locally, pay a bit more, eat a bit less meat, of much better quality.
Money talks, and no matter how well Hugh and Jamie put the case, the supermarkets will be full of androids programmed to say 'I can't afford to pay the extra' while spending squidzillions of pounds on all manner of pointless rubbish.

Here's how to stop the cruelty:

Stay out of Supermarkets.
 
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I think the whole idea behind indoor farming is controlling external factors eg. chickens exposed to longer light indoors to lay more. They can also keep many more animals in a much smaller space therefore cutting down costs and there is a faster turn over , as it's easier to fatten them up quickly indoors. Unfortunately it's the supermarkets fault. I would much prefer to buy meat from the local butchers/farm shop (there's a great one near me) than buy meat that's either come from another country or from intensively farmed animals which have had to travel a long way to slaughter. Thankfully due to EU directive battery chickens have to be phased out by 2010 so at least that's something

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I don't really believe the more light so they lay more theory. It's a well known fact that the laying life of a battery hen isn't very long at all, that's why ex-battery hens are sold so soon.

My free range hens at home don't stop laying all year through - well they haven't for the two winters I've owned them so far. They're happier and less stressed and laying proves that.

I think battery hens are all about profit. I agree with the less area needed than if they were free range, but it's also a question of less workers needed surely? At the battery hen farm I know of, the eggs roll out of the front of the cages as they're laid are all end up on a conveyor. No one has to go and pick the eggs out of nest boxes.
 
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I'm sure it was mentioned in the programme that the longer periods of light indoors are to make the birds eat more so there are lots of plump chickens for the food industry?

I think what really struck me is that we have rabid animal rights campaigners in this country telling us all how evil animal research is and what appalling conditions experimental animals are kept in. I visited an animal health research facility as part of my PhD to collect samples and was shown round the chicken and turkey sheds and these animals are kept in amazing conditions. If research animals were kept in the same conditions as the as those shown in the programmes as part of the meat / egg industry then the person responsible would be in prison by now.
 
Im sure there are good and bad animal testing conditions Sunflower. And even if they're kept in good conditions, what happens to them can be horrific!

I am totally in support of improving conditions of farm animals. I tried watching the Fowl Dinners thing last night, I got as far as when he put the male baby chickens (who were useless for egg laying) into the box to kill them. When I saw them choking for air, that was it. I burst into tears and simply could not watch the rest. I didnt even think such awful things happened just to get eggs (and thats free range as well)!! I now cannot face eating eggs and dont want to eat chicken ever again.

The supermarkets do not help. My mum tried to buy free range organic chicken last week but couldnt find ANY free range!! This doesn't help. People should have the choice. The supermarkets should NOT support battery chicken farming, I cant think of anyone who WANTS chicken this way?!
 
I've always bought free range for home use, but now I have decided that when out I will not eat poultry unless it's free range or pork unless outdoor reared. It might limit my options but it's time I stopped faffing about.
 
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Im sure there are good and bad animal testing conditions Sunflower.

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not bad in the UK-too highly regulated


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And even if they're kept in good conditions, what happens to them can be horrific!

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but necessary on the whole-its too expensive and difficult to do unless there is no alternative.
 
Well done Jamie and Hugh!
Just maybe theres enough public will out there now to stop the demand for tastless unethical meat and eggs and start demanding healthy locally sourced produce.
We only eat free range or freedom food meat, it just means you have to eat slightly less of it.
Also credit to Hellmans mayo mentioned on the programme last night free range eggs to be included in their mayo as of Feb.
 
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but necessary on the whole-its too expensive and difficult to do unless there is no alternative.

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Not always necessary by any means! Cosmetic testing for example is certainly NOT what I would call necessary. And don't even get me started on animal testing in places like the USA, for example testing the effects of smoking on beagles... and the disgraceful widely known IAMS testing.
 
I am soooo pleased this whole thing has kicked off.

I've been wondering for a long time how come people obsess over their companion animals but don't give a cr*p about farm animals.

Finally, it's out in the open, & in a way that can't be attributed to 'mad' animal rights campaigners. Maybe 'vegan' won't be equated with 'nutcase' any longer.
 
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