Free range or not?

[Kazz]

Has anyone a point of view either way on the "debate" at the moment that appears to be going on about I suppose what could be called the the 'morals' of eating free range or intensive chicken farming.


Whilst I agree, wholeheartedly, that 'Free-Range' meat - whether chicken, Pork or whatever - not only tastes better, but it is immensely satisfying to see that the animals in question have at least been given a 'decent quality of life' before their inevitable slaughter.

The problem remains, though, that 'Free Range' meat is so much more expensive - especially when, as most of us in the world are on a very budget.

Should we buy the 2 for £5 chickens, as opposed to the Free Range birds which can cost in excess of £7 each and if we buy the 2 for £5 (type of bird) should we be made to feel guilty?

Please can I say here this is for your own personal view point and your viewpoint in most cases comes from your budget....We have to live within our budgets and feeding my family is the most important.

[dinahsmum]

Eat less, but better, animal products.
The world cannot sustain every human eating their own weight in meat/meat products/fish/dairy/eggs every week.
We all eat way too much anyway, so eat more veg, good bread etc and much less animal. You don't need food of animal origin every day - if at all.

There you go - there's one way. Save the world and improve your own wellbeing

[Jac]

To be honest Kazz I dont know whether the chicken I buy is free range or not
I buy all my meat and chicken from the market. It's fantastic quality but the boy buy's from the slaughter house. Butchers it and sells it on fresh. There is no middle man so I can buy cuts I wouldn't be able to afford in the shops. Like steaks, big lumps of roasts and chicken breasts to die for. Much thicker and bigger than in the shops.

[Donna]

I buy the 2 for £5 type of chicken. I cannot afford anything else. My supermarket dont actually stock free range food. I enjoy meat and eat it everyday and will not stop. Still eat veg and stuff, but it accompanies the meat.

[MrsH]

No-one should feel in any way guilty over the choices they make! These choices are guided by personal preferences and circumstances.

I buy free-range, organic when I can, but I accept that I'm lucky in being able to have a choice. Having said that, I don't have meat every day, I was brought up to regard it as a bit of a luxury and it suits my life-style to continue to think in this way.

[babycakes]

I totally oppose the intensive farming of ay animal and free range is the only option for me. (and it looks cleaner and tastes better) maybe because you know you have done the right thing. However I agree not everyone can afford to pay for it. However if intensive farming was abolished Free range would have to compete and this would lower the prices so by highlighting the issues so everyone can make an informed choice more people would choose not to eat it and this would let the horrible cruelty die out.

[yola]

DM has summed up exactly my opinion. Even when I was out of work, and had time on my hands, I would scour shops and supermarkets for special deals on higher quality meats rather than going for special offers - you don't get owt for nowt, depsite what the supermarkets say!

I know there is the eternal quandry of time vs money and there are many people who are short on both, so there is no easy answer and no solution that will work universally.

Putting the ethics of free range/organic to one side, bit by bit we as a nation need to step back and consider what we are pumping our bodies full of . . . the alarming rise in behavioural issues is already being strongly linked to additivies in low cost food, and this isn't just colourants and flavourings it is also the extremely high levels of antibiotics present in intensively-reared livestock/poultry.

I will cook vegetarian meals usually twice a week, once might be with some kind of meat subistitute such as quorn which is actually OK in stirfrys and similar. I will also cook fish about twice a week, some kind of white fish once and also a prawn-base meal. The rest is chicken and occasionally red meat. And I really DO try and cook too, rather than warm up in a microwave . . . if you've made the effort to cook it you really are less likely to waste it!

Where possible I will buy free range, and Waitrose do organic meatballs various minces that are actually not hugely more expensive then the ordinary variety. However, I would rather do without that buy the really, really cheapest meat that is offered - I'll sacrifice other non-essentials in order to spend a little more on good quality meat.

Having said that, today we made the decision that we will buy all our future meat and fish from the town's butcher and fishmonger! We'll see how that works out.

[angieh]

Originally Posted by babycakes

I totally oppose the intensive farming of ay animal and free range is the only option for me. (and it looks cleaner and tastes better) maybe because you know you have done the right thing. However I agree not everyone can afford to pay for it. However if intensive farming was abolished Free range would have to compete and this would lower the prices so by highlighting the issues so everyone can make an informed choice more people would choose not to eat it and this would let the horrible cruelty die out.

I really hope that this works, but will it work quickly enough? Quite apart from people in this country on very tight budgets, what about people in other countries living well below the poverty line - intensively reared poultry is probably one of the cheapest foods that can be bought.

Personally, I have bought the 2 for £5 type chicken from supermarkets in the past but have decided not to do so in the future. My dilemma is rather about so called barn-reared birds (the ones not so crowded that have straw etc.) How are their conditions monitored? I bought a barn chicken for Christmas and it was delicious!

I do think that these products must be more clearly labeled so that people can make their own decisions based on clear and correct information.

[yola]

I did want to add, there IS a lot of ambiguity with labelling, and also with the definition of free range. In some cases, an animal need only spend only a small percentage of it's existence outdoors, usually toward the end of its life, in order to qualify for status of free range. Which does kind of make a mockery of the whole thing really

[dandysmom]

I agree that the choice can be determined by your budget. I'm fortunate that I only cook for myself and can afford to buy organic, which I do, both for ethical reasons and quality. That said, I'm not vegetarian, but do cook vegetarian dishes frequently. and eat very little red meat, mostly fish, prawns and chicken. Also, I'm a big fan of Chinese/Japanese cooking, which are primarily vegetable based with meat being an accent rather than the main ingredient. I avoid processed foods like the plague, God knows what all those weird ingredients/additives are doing to our bodies!