So, last night I sat up watching "Jamie's Fowl Dinner", a show about a gala dinner he prepared to highlight the Chicken and Egg Industry in the UK. It was, as with everything he does, really interesting to watch and I thoroughly enjoyed it, however it didn't finish until 11pm and that is way to late for this little black duck to be going to bed!
I will have to admit that I don't know how much of our industry here in Australia is similar to that in Great Britain, however I do remember visiting my Great Uncle's who were both Egg Producers when I was a young child and seeing the cages and cages and cages of chooks, an image very similar to those battery hens portrayed in last nights show. I honestly can say it didn't impact on me at that time because, quite simply, we had our own chooks, as did everyone, so we ate our own produce and at that point I didn't realise most people didn't have their own chooks and eggs.
And I guess there is one very distinct advantage to both Miss E and myself having Egg Allergies - we no longer buy any eggs at all so the deicision as to which eggs to purchase isn't one I need to consider! Although, back when we did buy eggs, I used to always try for the free range or organic eggs as I do remember the stark contrast between our chooks/eggs and those chooks kept by my Great Uncles - it didn't impact on me as a child, but by the time I was able to go grocery shopping for myself I certainly remembered...
As for chicken, well, I always found it interesting that the breasts I bought were WAY bigger than the breasts on our own chickens as kids, but I will be honest and say that I never actually put any thought into the reasoning behind it... I know there is a mentality out there that the chickens must be fed steroids or growth enhancers or something, but I also remember seeing a Poultry Industry type report that said those types of things were not used in Chicken production. At that stage I kind of just believed everything the *officials* said... It's something I still haven't looked any further into though... But then, from my involvement in the Cattle Industry (both paid employment and having family members involved in Beef Cattle), I know that certain breeds are chosen for their meat quantity and quality, so breeding chickens specifically to grow really fast and to have large breasts makes sense to me.
But you know at the end of the day, irrespective of my research and my decisions as to which chicken to buy (organic meat is not available here, so that automatically eliminates my preferred choice :( so I do need to look into my options seeing as we do consume so much chicken) the best thing about watching Jamie's Fowl Dinners is quite simply that I am talking about this and hopefully so are many other people, and hopefully this will bring about...
Awareness in Consumption
And not just in relation to chickens and eggs - hopefully it will trigger something in people to start becoming more aware about everything they consume...
