JamieOliver.com

About Jamie



Chickens bred for meat are entirely different to those bred to lay eggs. Industrially reared meat chickens are kept on the floor in sheds whilst their egg-laying equivalents are kept in tiered cages. The two industries are completely separate.

In this TV show Jamie took us on a journey of discovery to see for ourselves how 95% of meat chickens and 63% of egg-laying hens are still intensively farmed in this country. He highlighted the welfare implications for the birds as a result of our persistent demand for cheap food, and hopefully changed the way we shop forever.

Visit the RSPCA's Freedom Food microsite at www.supportchickennow.co.uk




• Chicken is Britain's most popular meat

• We eat 12 times as much chicken as we did 30 yrs ago

Our perpetual demand means that not only is it mass produced, it is also dirt cheap:

• 855 million chickens are produced in the UK every year

• Supermarkets are selling whole birds for as little as £2

• Pound for pound that's cheaper than some dog food

But this low unit cost is not necessarily good for the farmer or the birds.

• Every day 100,000 birds die in standard chicken farms due to poor welfare conditions





• We eat over 10 billion eggs a year in the UK

• As well as being sold whole, eggs are present as an ingredient in a number of foods including mayonnaise, biscuits and even wine

• 86% of these eggs still come from battery caged hens who do not have the freedom to express natural behaviour i.e. dust bathe, forage, roost & nest



Hi guys,

Here are some tips and some things to think about when you are buying your chicken and eggs.

• Try to buy the best welfare bird you can afford. Just make sure it is British farmed. If you live in another country, support your local farmers there. Local farmers need local money and support to survive. In my opinion the poultry industry in Britain is in danger of not existing in 20 years time if we do not make changes now.

• Look out for the RSPCA's Freedom Food logo or an equivalent higher-welfare bird. I'm really hoping supermarkets will change and use the standards of the RSPCA Freedom Food to replace what we call the "standard bird" which currently represents 95% of chickens consumed in this country.

• In my view there are currently four levels of chicken – there is organic chicken at the top, free range underneath, higher-welfare birds next and then the standard chicken at the bottom.

• You don't have to eat chicken every day. In Britain we eat meat six-to-seven times a week while many other some European nationalities only eat meat three-to-four times a week. So consider cutting down on the amount of chicken you consume and just have better, nicer chicken when you have it.

• Try buying a whole bird. Most chicken in this country is consumed via pre-packed food like chicken breasts and - I cannot stress this enough - this is the most expensive way to buy chicken. If you buy a whole chicken then there are million things you can do with it. You can probably get two meals out of a bird that feeds four people. That's eight whole portions of dinner from one bird… which is really good value! Check out the thread in the forums on making multiple meals out of one chicken.

• You don't necessarily have to spend more when you buy chicken. You could be clever and use cheaper cuts like the legs and thighs which are absolutely delicious. Free range or organic chicken legs and thighs are often pretty close in price to intensively-bred chicken breasts, so look for them.

• When it comes to buying eggs I definitely don't think anyone should be buying eggs from caged hens. There is barely any difference in price at all between a standard egg and a free range egg, so buy free range or organic eggs, it's the right thing to do!