Diesel

Don’t know if anyone saw that C4 programme about ‘supermarket secrets’, but the way 95% of the poultry we all eat is produced is as disgraceful as the ‘Farm Assured’ and ‘Red Tractor’ marks of quality and welfare they proudly stick on.

Developing chickens so as their mass grows quicker than their bones can keep up is disgraceful - they end up with deformities and broken legs. Also they keep them in their own dirt and this burns through their heels. They called this ulceration ‘hock-marks’ and every chicken I saw in Morrisons today had signs of this painful condition. Some had had the black burn mark cut off trying to disguise the barbaric conditions the bird grew up in.

I long ago stopped buying supermarket bacon as it is full of additives, gives off that horrible white water when cooked and is produced from pigs that have never seen daylight and that live in concrete pens and cant even turn around [mmm Danish…]. So when I saw ‘dry-cure’ bacon there I had a quick look… Unfortunately it was Dutch [think Belsen for pigs] and had flavour enhancer added.

Another thing I saw that made me post this was Jaime Oliver showing schoolkids how chicken nuggets were made. Did you see this? It was 50% minced skin etc disgusting and so the kids went for the salad

I hope people start learning about the compassionlessly produced, corporate profit centric cr@p that is often presented to us as food and reject as I’m starting to do.

djuk

I saw this too, found lots of 'hock burns' in Sainsburys this morning!

unclebuck

Indeed. Education is the only way people can make an informed choice about what they choose to eat. In this country however dyspeptic ignorance is clearly a form of dull bliss.

For example, try reading - Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser, and you will never touch cheap mass produced ready meals etc again.

moses

i think its time to go organic, they chickens r well maintained but a lil dearer and not rammed into one pen

but open farms fenced up and living free

StickyMicky

at the end of the day

your still being barbaric and eating the thing so making it feel a bit nicer while its being fattend up for your gob is pointless IMO

Chip

Diesel,
I buy all my meat from fairly local sources and use farm shops for most of my veg rather than the stuff in supermarkets. I always buy well hung Welsh black beef and never buy anything other than Welsh mountain lamb which like the beef is known to be the best.

There are loads of farm shop butchers within a 20 mile radius of Cardiff, most of whom started selling their own products as they were fed up of getting ripped off by the s/markets.

There are also some very good deli's around as well, where most of their products are produced in house unlike the crap they sell in the s/markets.

Let me know if you want any info on where to buy.

Chip

Chip

No its not,a well produced, organic, free range bit of meat will taste infinitely better than the supermarkets sell which has added salt, water and phosphates in it.

Chip

moses

well said chip


tastes miles better

and stickymicky regarding being barbaric to food

hmm do u wear leather and play football with a leather ball and do u wear trainers and shoes



anything a human eats, never ever goes extinct, always remember that

every other animal we dont, does im not suggesting we should start eating great white sharks and tigers etc, im giving u an example

and let me tell u meat is awesome

but i agree an animal should be slaughtered humanely

i like it slit from the throat quick and easy and blood comes out

Dieseldog

or alternatively... If you're going to kill it to feed yourself, you could do worse than giving it some respect and treating it well during its lifetime.

Chip

Or try one of the excellent mail order farm shops that are about these days.
Delivered the next day as well.

www.minymorfa-farm-shop.co.uk/index.htm

Chip

StickyMicky

of course i do???

but im not winging about how the animals are being treated before i use there skin to kick the **** out of a sewn up pigs bladder

andyr

Looking for 'hock marks' is such a simple thing to do prior to buying a chicken and I looked for and found these marks in a supermarket this week myself : if a large number of customers were to do this and the supermarkets were made aware then there is a chance it would actually affect the rearing of these birds. I wonder whether all that would happen is that chickens sold whole would somehow be produced differently than those that are used for bits (steaks, breastmeat etc) ? - the UK shopper needs to NOT just buy purely based on cost : if you can buy a whole chicken to feed a family of 4 for £3 or whatever then you need to ask why is it so cheap ?!
It's a (relative) pleasure going round the supermarkets that I've been to in France and Italy as the fresh produce almost always seems far nicer probably as the average shopper there will turn their nose up at tasteless fruit, veg and meat - here we don't seem to care and if it's cheap then the masses bu it.
Also the smaller shops that predominate in some other countries allows greater interaction between shopper and the shop owner and if last week the produce you bought was crappy then you'll be able to tell the same guy that served you this week. Not much chance of that at ASDA !

moses

no worries, but its sad mate, coz of the greedy markets the farmers need to make so many and sell them to the supermarkets for the price of peanuts and the only way they can make any money is by cutting corners, i blame the markets, i know of a lad who used to come to my shop and used to supply organic sausages to asda and he used to get problems from them every month they used to decide we want them cheaper and even put in a condition of no sale or return and he suffered the most coz they would always order too many and any left over he would have to credit them

*******s the lot of them( supermarkets) i dont complain though when i get my other groceries on the cheap though

moses

have a read i didnt know non organic meat causes allergies to kids

i was checking for organic halal meats

coz islamically were only allowed to eat halal ( kosher, kushrat laws)

an animal should be brought up in a proper enviroment and not jammed in with the rest of the animals in tight pens but to roam freely and when the time comes to slaughter it, the other animals shouldnt see it happening

the prophet said dont kill the animal twice this way through torture

olden times they used to cover the lambs or cattles eyes with a cloth before slitting their throats

so they dont see the knife


but unfortunately the muslim c;unt slaughterhouses r following suit and theirs a big debate with muslim scholars that if they dont go organic muslims should become vegetarian instead


http://www.eat-halal.com/cgi-bin/yab...num=1103109570

moses

and u can get organic kosher from here

http://www.organickosher.co.uk/

organic food

http://www.alotoforganics.co.uk/cats/manufactures.php


http://www.islamonline.net/iol-engli...07/techng3.asp

paulr

Its just all so confusing...........

Is it being repeated anyone?

Neverguess

Second part is on tomorrow, I think.

David Lock

Thanks Chip - I'm going to give them a go. Have you actually eaten their produce yourself? Would I notice a difference, one way or the other, between Welsh and Scottish beef (I rather doubt it)? Their beef prices look pretty sharp to me. david

Chip

David,
I have eaten their products and was pleased with what I had. I bought it from the farm though and not via mail order.

Next time you via us here in Wales try a few farm shops.You'll be pleasantly surprised.

Chip

David Lock

I'll get my Passport ready then Yep I go down to Bristol a few times (daughter at uni) now so might take up your suggestion..... david

StickyMicky

why if your planning to kill it??

does not compute at this end

give this chicken the best of everything, a decent education the best little chicken clothes, everything

and all the time your planning to eat it

moses

lol i doubt anyone does that

chicken licken i can eat 2 whole chickens easily a day, their so damn tasty specially when u know how to make it via different recipes, spicies coriander etc etc

Dieseldog

It's simply having a bit of respect for something you're going to take life away from. Personally, I'd rather a chicken hadn't spent it's life indoors or in a cage barely bigger than its body. Or hadn't been pumped so full of growth hormone that it's leg breaks under its own weight.

Some people will look for organic, free range, some will not. If you want the cheapest, it's out there - go and buy it Micky.

KiwiGTI

Most of the meat at my local supermarkets is just disgusting. Half the red meat has turned grey and I'm sure that they extend the use by dates, the number of times I've thrown meat out because it stinks even though it's got a couple of days left.

Most chicken has no taste either.

hedgehog

One thing I might add to this is that real meat is available at quite reasonable prices. Some of the best real organic meat available is wild venison or grouse which can, if you are lucky, be had at very low prices, certainly in the case of venison. The amazing thing about this is that many people I know are horrified that I eat a stag that has been shot on the hill. I just can't get to grips with this as the stag lives a totally wild and normal life for 8 or 10 years until, usually, it is approaching a decline in its condition anyhow. Then it is shot. If you have ever seen a stag shot you will know that it is dead before it hits the ground and has no idea what hit it. It isn't herded or frightened before it is killed just because the stalker must sneak up on it to get the shot. In terms of producing food for the table you can't get any more humane than that and yet many of the urban population are horrified by it while they are happy to eat supermarket meat!!!

In some ways this situation and the situation relating to the quality of the food available in the supermarket just highlight the lack of understanding that exists in urban areas when it comes to what goes on in rural areas, on farms or on shoots or estates where stalking stags and hinds takes place. Real environmentalists know where good food and good animal management are and how they come about but it is the "green nutters" who lead the urban population astray and who, ultimately, give you crap food on your table because it wouldn't be PC to give you anything else.

The last venison i got was shot for me in the first week in September so it was taking on a slightly stronger flavour but yet wasn't too strong. It cost me about £2 per good sized steak of truly wild organic meat that lived a wild and natural life and the supply kept me going all winter. For the same money those who don't want to kill bambi can have some industrially processed bit of chicken that lived a short and unpleasant life and that has no taste. You have the anti-blood sports and green nutter propaganda to thank for your less than appealing dinner.

moses

mate u can go and shoot a venison near jedburgh and buy it aff the lad for 40 quid for a whole roe buck

corradoboy

I've been buying my meat from a local farm shop for a while, but recently their stock seems to have changed and their produce is looking more like it's coming from similar suppliers to the supermarkets. Is there anyone on here can recommnend a good farm supplier in Yorkshire. I don't mind travelling from Leeds into the Dales as long as the produce is worth it. Skipton, Ilkley, Grassington ????

Mr doo

You could stop buying these from supermarkets and pay double for corn fed organic chickens. It might have a small impact , but I bet when the 20 chickens go into the reduced shelf they all go are sold at no real loss to the company.
Also I think the supermarket is only a small consumer in the chicken world.

fatherpierre

I no longer buy any food from supermarkets - haven't for a few years other than booze (could be deemed food to some people!).

Supermarkets are the McDonalds of the food world: it's all sh1te. Just try buying your fruit, veg and fish/meat from proper suppliers, mainly markets. It's cheaper, fresher and produced more ethically, in general. The taste is a world apart from the artificially matured fruit/veg and the garbage meat sold in Tesco, etc.

People in this country are mugs where their food buying is concerned........

Leslie

I agree with that you say Diesel, I have seen insode one of those high production chicken sheds and was disgusted with what I saw.

We go to the local farmers market these days where all the food on sale is produced as it used to be years ago and although it costs a bit more it tastes like it should do and also is much better for you too.

Les