Should we eat chicken ?

[OilSheikh]

I have recently discovered that young chickens are pumped with growth hormones and also fed a dodgy diet so that they become meaty very quickly.
I am assuming that these don't happen to British chickens.
A lot of fast food companies import chicken from East Europe and Thailand. I have a feeling they don't have the same quality control standards.

This has kind of put me off from eating chicken. I now go for lamb or beef. But, who knows if they go through the same growth hormone treatment as well!

[b0redom]

I think you'll find that it's pretty much the same for all commercially farmed livestock. You could always eat organic....

[royo]

Buy organic/free range. I'm mostly upset about the water content in some being high to make them weigh more.

[flearider]

they have been doing it for yrs .. beef ,chicken, pork .. really if you knew half the stuff they do to our food you would never eat ..
just stay away from the processed stuff

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Try to cook your food from basics if you can and try an avoid processed food - there was a program on C4 recently which looked at the healthiest countries in the world and it seems they were all linked by the fact they had relatively low levels of processed food.

[kalniel]

As long as we keep with the EU regulations then you don't need to worry - that sort of thing is banned. US products however do use that kind of thing.

[shaithis]

Local butchers or if you have a farm shop near you, all the better.

Just the sheer amount of shrinkage and water/fat from supermarket meat puts me off.

[Zak33]

I have recently discovered that young chickens are pumped with growth hormones and also fed a dodgy diet so that they become meaty very quickly.
I am assuming that these don't happen to British chickens.
A lot of fast food companies import chicken from East Europe and Thailand. I have a feeling they don't have the same quality control standards.

This has kind of put me off from eating chicken. I now go for lamb or beef. But, who knows if they go through the same growth hormone treatment as well!

ANSWER: yes you should eat BRITISH Chicken and beef and lamb, pork

it's a food product to meet a price point and to do so the animals must grow fast and to a standard, and UK standards are very high.

most eating chickens (ie not egg layers) are simply bread to have huge breasts... (no jokes), but they have good lives AND deaths compared to some wild animals

Organic is one thing, but welfare and non organic can be ok. RSPCA welfare helps

To make a proper chicken taste really good takes time...it eats worms, grubs, insects, and scrats about all day in the soil. It does taste better. but how much (in £'s) better?

Let me ask a question : how much do you expect to pay for a whole chicken?


look for Red Tractor... its a good start place.
http://assurance.redtractor.org.uk/

don't buy chicken from anywhere apart from UK.Simple rule .. same for beef lamb and pork

UK standards are MILES higher for most animals than the rest of europe and most of the world

Great examples of MARKETING over quality are

New Zealand Lamb... just don't buy it. It's cheaper for a reason.. NZ is a loooong way away so how it is cheaper?
Danish Pork ... possibly some of the worst unfair consditions for a pig which is, lets face it, one of the cleverest intellectual animals.

[Zak33]

and if you read some of the myths....

read this to un myth yourself

http://www.chickencheck.in/blog/chicken-myths/

its USA but it's good to read. Don't let the anti's / vegans get to you.

serving a corpse for dinner is a good thing, in moderation. BUT the world doesn't have enough food and don't forget it takes more energy to grow animals than plants, so we should all eat MORE veg and less meat.

[SeriousSam]

Use of hormones in meat production is prohibited under Directive 2003/74/EC.

[Saracen]

As long as we keep with the EU regulations then you don't need to worry - that sort of thing is banned. US products however do use that kind of thing.

And under EU regs we couldn't possibly get horsemeat posing as beef, could we? Oh, wait .....



OilSheikh, my advice would be to be choosy WHERE you buy from, rather than whether to eat chicken or not. Track down a good quality local butcher, or better yet, farm shop, if you can. I get most of my beef from a local farm that specialises in Aberdeen Angus cattle, and most other meats from one of two local butchers, both of whom buy either from local farms, or from specialist and/or artisan producers, like bacon from a farm that specialises in dry curing and smoking. These butchers also make their own sausages, on the premises, and you can watch .... and therefore vet (excuse pun) EXACTLY what goes into your bangers, burgers, meatballs, etc.

Needless to say, this comes at a price, but at least round here, not as much as you might think. And by 'eck, can you taste the difference. To my mind, unless you're REALLY on a tight budget and simply can't pay a bit more, everybody that cares about what they eat, and what it tastes like, ought to do this.

And if you don't have farms or a good butcher on your doorstep, then travel, and make good use of :-

- planning,
- bulk-buying,
- re-portioning,
- a decent vacuum sealer, and
- your freezer (label AND DATE everything).

Job done.

[Saracen]

.... so we should all eat MORE veg and less meat.

This is something we've been progressively working on for a few years now, starting ftom what can only be described as a lazy lifestyle, relying far too much on psckets of things, or takeaway.

These days, we rarely get a takeaway, and MUCH less packets. I mean, BUYING breaded chicken breasts or .... shudder, nuggets. Don't get me wrong, I like chicken nuggets from time to time, but how long does it take to chop a breast or two, or boneless thigh, into chunks abd 'panne' them in flour, egg snd breadcrumbs?

And, you can change up the recipe. One time, spice the floor. Or use crushed cornflakes instead of breadcrumbs. Or use up a slice or two of stale bread making your own breadcrumbs, with or without a spice or herb addition.

We've also been reducing the meat content and increasing the veg content of stews, cassetoles, etc. Trouble is, I've never been a huge fan of veg's (dates from school dinners, I think) so I've been .... ummmm .... re-educating my palate, bit at a time.

Now, we try to go fish once a week (and I don't mean takeaway cod n chips), and vegetarian once a week, or more.

[kalniel]

BUT the world doesn't have enough food and don't forget it takes more energy to grow animals than plants, so we should all eat MORE veg and less meat.

This is key, and the reason some of us are veggie

[spacein_vader]

This is key, and the reason some of us are veggie

I agree but just can't bring myself to give it up altogether despite working for an organic veg farm.

I've followed a similar path to Saracen, less meat but what we do eat is higher quality.

[Zak33]

Use of hormones in meat production is prohibited under Directive 2003/74/EC.

between Serious Sam here and my missus, you'd struggle to find people with better knowledge of food chain

mammoth knowledge

[Macman]

Opened my eyes abit here... I do love myself abit of Bacon (Homer right now), Chicken, Lamb etc... (Shish Kebab!)

Think I'll be sourcing local from now on as I've been getting it from Musclefood and I think they source from the EU or perhaps outside EU?