Sainsbury's has perplexed loyalty-card holders this week, with a slightly rambling letter intended to boost the chain's image following Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's exposé of the chicken farming industry in the UK.
The letter, which promises that Sainsbury's takes its responsibilities for animal welfare 'very seriously' states that 'all the fresh and frozen chickens and eggs [Sainsbury's] sell are British' and that very few other retailers can make this claim. This point is no doubt a valid one, but customers were left wondering they were being told this, when the documentary made it clear that cruel practices in chicken production are rife in Britain.
It also states that Sainsbury's sell chicken and eggs produced 'in a variety of ways' from Assured Food Standards (Red Tractor) to Free Range and organic. Again, fair enough as it goes, but doesn't this variety include the very methods that Hugh and his followers want to see banned? The letter went on to list a number of schemes supported by Sainsbury's, including Woodland Eggs. Again, great if customers choose these products, but it in no way covers all the chicken and eggs that Sainsbury's sells. The one encouraging point made by the letter is that Sainsbury's was awarded a Good Egg award by Compassion in World Farming last year for this range, and plans to stop using eggs laid by caged hens by 2010. But none of this points towards an immediate breakthrough for battery chickens raised for meat.
Why dont you expose the fact that "British" does not mean "born, bred, fed and slaughtered in Britain". It means under EU law, the last place of significant processing for this meat was the UK. Most of the cut chicken is produced in Poland and Russia, Brazil and Thailand, shipped in vaccuum packs to the UK in halves, then "significantly processed" into breasts and legs in the UK. Tall Economist is discussing these issues at http://tall-economist.blogspot.com/.