Over the last three nights, this look into the pros and (mainly) cons of free range vs. battery chicken farming has been aired on Channel 4, with Hugh Fearnley-Wotsit at the helm.
It has provoked quite a debate - not only in my office but also in other places, including the other place.
I'll start the ball rolling...
Quote by someone else:
I can just imaging the outcry if the price of meat suddenly went up 3 or 4 fold, which is the reality if we wanted to achieve the idealistic farming methods some of you lot are carping about.
Response:
Is this really such a bad thing? Those of us who can afford it through have a decent income ~ either through a decent education and job, or by sheer hard graft ~ will continue to enjoy it. We have earned the money and it is our choice.
The feckless, velour track-suited wastrels reliant on government handouts (sorry, my taxes) will therefore have to make a choice; do I spend my money on another packet of Lambert & Butler (about the same price as a free range chicken) or do I wish to enjoy a nice bit of chicken? If I choose the snouts, can I live on cheap pasta and sauces? Or should I think about eating more vegetables? And if the price of meat goes up, how much will a McDonalds meal go up to? And KFC?
Hopefully. the price of proper meat will eventually become prohibitive and they will be forced to eat solely vegetables and pulses. In the majority of cases, this can only be a good thing.
I have yet to see a scrawny benefit-hound. The reason they buy two chickens for a fiver is purely that it allows them to shovel more food down their fat gobs. They care not for taste or quality and it leaves extra cash for crisps, a bit of blow and some cans of Kestrel Super.
Custards. All of them.
