Meat/Poultry Free Range, GM Veg etc Debating in here

[Pheebs]

Right.


Now... PO out of my Duck thread people!!





Free range food. I buy what I can where I can. As said else where, I often buy from local farm shops - it tends to be cheaper, the meat is fresher and it's much tastier (doesn't shrivel away into nothing when cooking). At the moment I have half a lamb in my freezer - my folks have the other half. He's SUPER tasty and, you get all the "left over" bits too which make an awesome stock and allows me to pick of bits of meat for my dog.

Speaking of dogs, I was made aware last year that the food I was giving her was pretty darn pants. It had poor meat substitutes in it from places I didn't even know existed (awful awful places) as well as antifreeze. It's also been banned from the States (for any dog owners - it's the amazing "Royal Cannin". I learned this through Rob from Dog Borstal (I called him up) and then researched it myself on tinterweb). I now buy her "Burns" - dog food produced by a chap who was disgusted with the stuff other brands used for dog food. It's relatively unknown but I know where everything comes from.

I am therefore, what I would presume, a very aware citizen when it comes to where my food is produced. Hell, I even give a damn about my dogs food!

Veg wise too - we grow our own where we can. None of this donkey dong sized carrots covered in pesticides from our local shop. Sometimes, I have to buy a "cheaper" versions, but normally I will buy organic as the taste is muchos different (plus I eat lots of veg meals as opposed to meat - I just enjoy it. So I'd prefer to spend a little bit more and have a tasty meal minus meat than a non tasty meal)


Meat wise, sometimes, I cannot afford organic/free range meat. Like when I was a student. I tended to live off 9p noodles, veg and alcohol! But! Sometimes I needed meat, and I'm not ashamed to say I had to buy the cheap chicken the supermarkets had on offer for me.

Same goes for now, when we're tight on wonga I will buy cheaper meat. I *do* look out for bargain free range meat (in fact, it's probably the first place I go to when I go shopping - the "on offer" section) but when I cannot find any, I buy what I can where I can.

People who tell me "that's no excuse, I should go without" I want to blow out the water as my body *needs* meat. It was designed to eat meat. I am not going to deprive it of something it's been designed for because my money situation cannot stretch to it. AND! I refuse to beat myself up about it because I know I do MUCH more than your average person when it comes to buying meat (I know this from working on check outs)

How do people who rant and rage about others buying cheap meat say to big families on low incomes to not let their kids have meat? It's ridiculous!

Bite me I say! It's a rubbish attempt to make us people who cannot afford the luxury to feel bad.



My meals a week generally are: A poultry dish, a mince meat dish, a couple of quorn dishes and a fish dish.

I eat a huge variety of food and I'm proud of what I do for the environment and animals and people out there. People who are "disappointed" or "hurt" by me obviously don't know who I am or what I do so can run and jump!

[Glaucus]

I've worked in a slaughter house and I get a lot of meat from a a local butcher (mainly game as it's so flavoursome and cheap). However I have no problem with buying cheap meat even though it has limited taste and texture. I usually buy cheaper better quality cuts and pay he extra for free range eggs again due to taste..
But I have no problem buying cheap meat and by far the main reason I buy free range etc, is for the taste.

However on veg, Couldn't careless about organic. It doesn't taste better. it's all about freshness with veg. not if it's 0.00001% pesticides.

[Jonny69]

Originally Posted by lostkat

I have to agree with Jonny. I do actually care about where my meat comes from and I always try and buy meat which has come from properly treated animals. The same goes for eggs - if they don't have free range, I won't buy it. I only buy free range chicken, which usually comes from the local farm shop as it's cheaper and I always get the thighs and bone them because it's much cheaper and tastier than the breast. We don't eat a huge amount of chicken anyway though. I don't generally walk past the discount bit of the fridge section because I usually just skip the meat, but I'll definitely have a look next time

One thing which annoys me is the lack of info you get when you dine out. We don't do it often at all, but when we do it'd be nice to know where the meat came from.

However, this is my personal choice and I'm happy with it. I'm not trying to come across as 'holier than thou' and I respect that other people have the right to choose what they eat. I hate it when people force their views on others and belittle them because of the choices they have made. Pressure really isn't the way to persuade people into thinking about where their food comes from and will only cause offense.

I'm glad everyone enjoyed their duck

I think when you go out you have to assume nothing is free range unless the restaurant is on a real crusade and I tend to turn a blind eye. I'll rarely get chicken dishes when I'm out anyway because it's usually bland and I want something more exciting when I eat out.

I was coming across a bit strongly last night, probably not helped by beer, but I don't like mistreatment of animals and I don't want them mistreated just so they are cheap so I can eat them. That's not what it's about. Besides, pick your cuts carefully and cook them properly and you'll eat better and cheaper than battery meat.

Bacon is £15.99/Kg, medium cheddar is £7/Kg, battery chicken breast with added water is £6.50/Kg, but then people snort at paying £5/Kg for a whole free range chicken. THIS is my point.

Other examples: casserole steak £5/Kg, free range pork belly (that I used in my home made bacon) £6/Kg, oxtail £5/Kg and it doesn't get much better tasting than that.

Organic doesn't bother me, in fact it's a term that the supermarkets have abused. What started as ethical good quality food has turned into mass production to a slightly different set of standards, that's all. There's nothing special about it now.

[Haly]

I always buy free range eggs, even when I was a student I'd make sure I bought them (mind you, I didn't use eggs very often then).

Me and my Mum don't tend to buy a huge deal of meat, usually just bacon and chicken and very occassionally sausages. If we can, we buy free range chicken but financially that's not always possible. We never buy value range chicken but it's usually somewhere in between so that it's decent enough chicken. If we could, we'd always buy free range but try living on our income for a bit and you'd see just how much of a feat that'd be!

Veg wise, often buy frozen veg as it's cheaper and lasts longer, and tbh the difference in taste feels quite negligble to me. Although obviously we always buy fresh veg for the guinea pigs, they don't get organic My Mum used to like buying organic food and spending a fortune at our local market but that's not very possible now so doesn't happen.

With stuff like this though, I hate the self righteous attitude much like Kate said, I respect other people's views just as I'd hope they'd respect mine.

[iCraig]

Never tried duck properly. Had it at a few restaurants but never sat down at home and gave it a go myself. I keep meaning to, so I've booked marked this thread to have a go. Maybe this weekend or next.

As far as the whole cruelty debate goes, well, I pretty much agree with Pickers. I'm not ashamed or embarassed to admit I've purchased cheap cuts of meat. When you're on the bones of your arse wanting a cheap easy meal, two for one on basic cuts of ASDA chicken are perfect. I could spend the extra on free range organic fluffy cuddled chicken but, it's chicken to me at the end of the day. I'm fully aware of what happens to these chickens, but price is also very important to the consumer. Not just me either, there's still a demand for them, a whopping demand, so what does that mean. We're a nation of cruel bastards, or there's another factor involved for most people when loading their trolley that is unrelated to animal welfare. I think it's because, well to me anyway, I know what happens to these chickens, I'm not ignorant to that, but, I know what happens to birds and other wildlife because of my rubbish that goes into landfill sites. I know what happens to the environment every time I contribute to the global CO2 output. I know what happens when I buy something made from plastic, or switch on my washing machine. That my demand for commerce and power contributes towards the depletion of my natural resources. In EXACTLY the same way, I know that my purchase of cheap cuts, contributes to the demand for poorly farmed animals. And the demand for non-free range eggs. The demand for non-fair trade coffee and fruit and veg. Read Martin Lawrence's guide to consumer spending, there's a striking difference between if you did a "regular shop" and another that was totally free range, fair trade, organic and eco-friendly as physically possible. For the same quantity of produce and items, it was about £100 more. Is the average family going to do this?

I'm not going to put myself into the group of people who are aware and don't care, but, I can see why others might. Like Pickers said, it's about realism at the end of the day. We all want happy animals and zero emission cars. We all want secure, reliable, renewable energy. We all want world peace and the disarming of nuclear warheads, but until we reach that point (if we ever do) a lot of us realise we're only on this planet for about 70-80 years, so we'll just devote most of our energy to living it the best we can. Sure, we do a little bit here and there, but I can't see many people giving up their lifestyle in protest for future generations. Real progress is made slow and steady, and unfortunately in the mean time, the greasy blood-stained cogs of our economy still have to turn to make that happen.

[Will]

I try and buy the best quality meat I can, but it's not always viable. The butcher is not always open when I want him to be, it's not always convenient to go there, and the supermarket foes offer good deals, however I try and get the best I can, if only for the flavour alone! However I still like foods like foie gras and other "unethical" types of food. I dont' have 'em often (once a month or every couple of months at the most) however I don't feel guilty as it's a treat and it's bloody delicious.

In this day and age it's sad that meat isn't prepared more ethically, however I guess the demand for it it so high it's no surprise. Yes it does break my heart seeing a lot of these propaganda videos, but what breaks my heart more is seeing nations whaling and killing animals for no purpose - whereas at least we eat the food.

On a similar note I hate hate hate wasting food. I think it's disgusting how much food we throw away. I worked briefly at a reasonably nice restaurant one summer in France, and the amount of stuff chucked away just really upset me.

I'm not ignorant of what goes on with food, and I know a lot of the process is gross, and processed foods is even worse - sometimes though you just haven't got the choice. Sure you can load up on veggies and pasta/rice/pulse/bean type of things, but to my eyes that's no different if it's had to travel 1/2 way round the world anyway - in fact it's probably worse than treating animals cruelly.

[BBx]

I admit I am one of those hideous people who generally goes for the cheapest.

When it comes to meat and veg though I do check out the carbon footprint and free range etc.

I also HATE wasting food, but unfortunately because Rob has severe food poisoning once, he won't eat anything which is a day beyond use by.

Made a scrummy bolognaise the other day using the salsa from leftover fajita meal packet was a bit 'tangy' but glad it was used

BB x

[Fayshun]

Originally Posted by BBx

I admit I am one of those hideous people who generally goes for the cheapest.

I also HATE wasting food, but unfortunately because Rob has severe food poisoning once, he won't eat anything which is a day beyond use by.

This, except I totally ignore use by/best before dates (although Lom doesn't) If if doesn't smell bad and doesn't tase bad, I'll happily scrape the mold off and eat it.

[Lopez]

Originally Posted by BBx

I admit I am one of those hideous people who generally goes for the cheapest.

[Will]

^^ LOL!

Shouldn't laugh... but that's just perfect!