Tesco Chicken

[Speshact]

Just watched Hugh F-Ws programme looking at Tesco's awful denial of what they're doing and have decided not to shop there at least until Easter.

We sent this message to customer.service@tesco.co.uk

"Goodbye.

That totally repulsive pr person was the final straw.

We're voting for Hugh.

We're not coming back before Easter at the earliest - we'll see how your corporate behaviour goes meanwhile."

Regardless of any concerns about chicken welfare the PRs person's take on what a packet said versus any sentient person's take on it demands that Tesco get kicked where it hurts.

[Noodley]

Anything significant about Easter?    (apart from the religious stuff and chocolate eggs and stuff  )

Sorry I did not watch it, so there may be something I am missing.

[toekneep]

Speshact, could you fix that link in your post as it calls e-mail software rather than showing your e-mail. Apart from anything else, I wanted to read what you had said to customer services at Tesco.

Ta.

[iakobski]

It's not meant to be a link to anything, the forum software recognised it as an email address and automagically created a mailto: link

[Speshact]

The programme was on Channel 4 last night - Chickens, Hugh and Tesco Too.

This review from today's Times captures my sentiments.

[numbnuts]

I saw it and in two minds healthy chicken that are going to die Vs cheap chickens for the poor

[clarion]

So what didn't we know already?

Chickens are treated badly then killed.

That's how cheap meat happens.

[Rapples]

Or put another way, healthy chickens or nice fat profits for Tesco

[gonzo]

Did you know that following the last chicken series, sales of 2 for £5 chickens doubled?

[Thor]

So what didn't we know already?

Chickens are treated badly then killed.

That's how cheap meat happens.

I think part of HF-W's argument is that for a surprisingly small additional expenditure and therefore a small price increase to the customer, the lot of the chicken can be improved significantly.

[andygates]

And the taste, too.

But I must confess, my credit-crunch shopping has been lighter on ethics and heavier on two-for-one cram-it-in-the-freezer. 

[bobb]

I saw it and in two minds healthy chicken that are going to die Vs cheap chickens for the poor

But in the old days the poor (or indeed the more wealthy) ate far less meat than we do now as it was expensive. That's my main gripe with the supermarkets. They say they're giving customers what they want, but they're dictating what customers want.

In the old days meat cost what meat cost and nobody complained because nobody knew any different. It was the supermarkets who brought the price down and now we eat so much meat in the west that acres and acres of rain forest are cleared every year just to grow food to feed the shit we eat!

In the same way - nobody even considered eating strawberries in January. Wasn't even on the radar. It was the supermarkets who decided to fly stuff half way round the world because customers "wanted" it.

Now everybody is used to cheap meat and asparagus in November. And cheap food in general. Which is why such a large proportion of westerners are now fat bastards. Particularly that irritating woman who was on Hugh's show last night and also the series last year. Who keeps 4 whole chickens in the freezer at any one time anyway?! Especially when there are only 3 people in her household! No wonder her and her kids are so fat. Eat less meat and eat more veg!!

I just hate supermarkets and I love the way Hugh had the balls to take on Tesco. And in many ways, he's winning 'cos they're backing down (even though they won't admit it).

Bravo, Hugh!

[gonzo]

But in the old days the poor (or indeed the more wealthy) ate far less meat than we do now as it was expensive. That's my main gripe with the supermarkets. They say they're giving customers what they want, but they're dictating what customers want.

There's a thing in one of Jamie Oliver's books that mentions something like this:
In lots of Italy, poorer people still get really good quality meat, but they'll just have it less often. They know that good meat is much better and worth it, but also also cook cheaply in between meaty meals.

[citoyen]

I saw it and in two minds healthy chicken that are going to die Vs cheap chickens for the poor

Poor people do not have the right to eat chicken. If we want poor people to be able to eat chicken, we should try to make them better off rather than make chicken cheaper.

So what didn't we know already?

Chickens are treated badly then killed.

That's how cheap meat happens.

This sums it up for me. Meat always used to be considered very much a luxury item. If you were poor, you didn't eat it often - and you certainly didn't get to enjoy the "prime" cuts. Industrial farming is the only reason there's such a thing as cheap meat. That doesn't mean industrial farming is a good thing.

[edit: just realised I've essentially repeated what bobb said]

d.

[citoyen]

But I must confess, my credit-crunch shopping has been lighter on ethics and heavier on two-for-one cram-it-in-the-freezer.

Another approach is to modify your diet - eat more pulses, for example. You can make a chicken curry go a lot further by bulking it out with chick peas. And if you cook it with the bones, you'll get plenty of chickeny flavour.

d.

[blackpuddinonnabike]

But I must confess, my credit-crunch shopping has been lighter on ethics and heavier on two-for-one cram-it-in-the-freezer.

Another approach is to modify your diet - eat more pulses, for example. You can make a chicken curry go a lot further by bulking it out with chick peas. And if you cook it with the bones, you'll get plenty of chickeny flavour.

d.

We've also seen one chicken give the two of us what basically amounts to four meals before. I seem to remember something from the first Hugh F-W programme, or a Jamie Oliver one, where people bought the whole chicken and only ever ate the breasts. Not the legs, none of the meat underneath, didn't make a stock... But the chicken was cheaper than the ready separated breasts.

We seem to have lost any sense of not wasting things. Buy four cheap chickens for four meals, or one slightly more expensive chickens for four meals and the false economy starts to appear.

[bobb]

I seem to remember something from the first Hugh F-W programme, or a Jamie Oliver one, where people bought the whole chicken and only ever ate the breasts. Not the legs, none of the meat underneath, didn't make a stock... But the chicken was cheaper than the ready separated breasts.

That was certainly the case on Hugh's "Chicken out" shows last year. And it was the woman I mentioned previously. He showed her how to make it go further, but it would seem she learned nothing as on last night's show she had four whole chickens in the freezer.

When I were a lad we had roast chicken on Sunday, a curry with left overs on Monday and a Risotto on Tuesday. And then boiled what was left to make stock. One chicken for two adults and two children lasted bloody ages and made loads of tasty meals...

[Kathy]

I seem to remember something from the first Hugh F-W programme, or a Jamie Oliver one, where people bought the whole chicken and only ever ate the breasts. Not the legs, none of the meat underneath, didn't make a stock... But the chicken was cheaper than the ready separated breasts.

That was certainly the case on Hugh's "Chicken out" shows last year. And it was the woman I mentioned previously. He showed her how to make it go further, but it would seem she learned nothing as on last night's show she had four whole chickens in the freezer.

When I were a lad we had roast chicken on Sunday, a curry with left overs on Monday and a Risotto on Tuesday. And then boiled what was left to make stock. One chicken for two adults and two children lasted bloody ages and made loads of tasty meals...

Except the cheap chicken doesn't make lots of tasty means, because the stock has no flavour.

I largely try and avoid battery chicken these days, though I got quite cross in the supermarket last night. I wanted to buy some chicken breasts - I would normally buy a whole chicken and joint it myself, but I knew I would be short of time and was willing to pay the little extra for breast meat only. My local Sainsbury's only seemed to stock free-range whole chicken, or range-undeclared chicken pieces. I didn't want a whole chicken!

[Julian]

Cheap chicken tastes of stale fish. 

[Ian H]

Chicken feed.

[Julian]

I know.

I'm not sure whether knowing what it is makes it better or worse.

[Regulator]

I think I have managed to break Mr R of the cheap Tesco chicken habit.

[David Martin]

We ry to only buy happy chickens. The ones in the garden are too old for the pot and have along and happy life as egg producers ahead of them (foxes permitting).

I'd definitely be one for less but better meat. People need to learn how to cook again and have lifestyles that support it.

..d

[Bledlow]

Last chicken we bought was from an independent butcher (Vicars, West Street, Reading), a couple of weeks ago. It was smaller, & considerably more expensive per kilo than a "2 for £5" Tesco offer, but was still pretty cheap in my opinion, gave the two of us all the meat we felt like eating for two solid meals, & was very tasty, & solid meat, not slushy & watery, like the last really cheap chicken I had the misfortune to eat some of.

It wasn't even one of their more up-market chickens, but a basic ordinary one.

[Mrs Pingu]

We used to be able to get nearly a weeks' worth of meals back in the days when we were poor and used to buy whole chickens. That was one of the reasons we stopped buying chickens, cos I got so fed up of eating chicken based food for an entire week. (We were in a rented flat with a tiny kitchen and no freezer).
Nowadays I buy the free-range breasts from Sainsbury's but it'd probably be more economical to buy a whole 'un now we have the freezing technology!

I agree with the idea that poor people don't have to eat meat, but one of the problems there is that decent fruit and veg cost a lot of money in the supermarket.