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Monday 7 January 2008

Why did the chicken cross the road?

What do you think of chicken and how often do you eat it?  Probably once or even twice a week I suspect.  Do you think about where your chicken has come from of how it was reared?  Probably not.  Should you be thinking about this?  Well, probably yes but would it actually make any difference to your eating habits?  As a society, we want good, cheap food and most people are more concerned about that that where the food actually comes from.  It would be nice of all the chickens we ate were free-range and had a good standard of life during their often short existence but if you're trying to feed a family on a low income with little likelihood of any substantial increase in pay and free-range chicken costs more then think again. 

Am I the only person who is getting increasingly annoyed by the growing number of foodies on the television telling us what we should and should not eat or environmentalists who pontificate about our (it never seems to be their) carbon footprint?  It's all very well for them.  They're often very (and I mean very) well-paid for what they do and can afford to live their lives according to their prejudices.  They can fly and then offset their carbon footprint by planting trees.  If you have a contrast with a supermarket worth over £1 million, then you can live the way you want.  That is not an option for most people.  I strongly object to being told how I should live my life and that the decisions I make are wrong.  Wrong they might be from an ethical point of view, but they are my decisions made within the monetary parameters within which I live.  Unlike most of those who pontificate on food matters, I come from a farming background so I'm fully aware of the difficult decisions that have to be made between animal welfare and profitability.  It's not that the foodies are wrong, it's just the self-satisfied arrogance in which they put forward their case that offends.  So the answer to the question 'why did the chicken cross the road?' is clear.  It's to get away from the foodies who think they know best!

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