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Waitrose turkeys
flowersforbees
Posts: 221
in Talkback
Just wondered if anyone else has been upset by the Waitrose turkey ad.
on TV showing the baby turkeys? I think it's going to turn a lot more people
into vegetarians! I know this has absolutely nothing to do with gardening,
but just wondered if maybe I'm alone in feeling this way?
0
Posts
Nearest Waitrose is 80 miles away. Won't bother me much.
Strange you should say that, no you are not alone, I thought the same too!
A bit off, I thought, and I'm not even in the UK!
I look at it a different way - if I'm going to eat turkey, or any other meat for that matter, I want to know that the animals/birds concerned have been treated in a humane way throughout their lives and I'm prepared to pay a little bit more if that means the supermarket, butcher or farm shop can guarantee that.
I don't want my purchase to condone bad treatment of any animal and I'd rather eat a little less meat and pay a little more to ensure that.
I used to have a smallholding and reared our own meat, lamb, beef, goat meat, pork and poultry. I knew that the animals were treated well and that when the time came for them to go to the abbattoir, I knew the men who worked there, we took the animals there ourselves and we know that they weren't unduly stressed or frightened. Not only were our consciences clear but we benefited from really tender meat (adrenalin can toughen meat). The Michaelmas and Christmas geese I killed, plucked and dressed myself.
To me the Waitrose advertisement shows me that the turkeys in question have been treated well throughout their lives. I would rather buy one of those than an anonymous frozen lump.
I've overheard people in the supermarket say, "I can't eat anything that looks as if it was alive" or "I can't eat anything with a bone in 'cos it reminds me it was an animal". I'd have respect for them if they were vegetarians, but to buy meat and pretend to yourself it was never alive, and what is more, not care how it was treated seems wrong to me.
I think the Waitrose advert is honest and I applaud it.
Hope that doesn't offend anyone
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Totally agree with Dove,If you eat meat you want to know its origin and how it was reared,Our local butcher raises his own lamb and beef,you can go to his farm and look around,I would rather do this than not lnow what I was buying.
Absolute respect for vegetarians in their choice,but thats what it is their choice.
Have no problem with this advetisement by Waitrose.
I agree with Dove and Gilly, having grown up in the countryside I can't understand how people fail to think of meat as a living creature or who wouldn't want to know that they'd been well cared for, fed the right foods (with less steriods and other nasties), given space to move around. It was never hidden away that lamby in the field being all bouncy and happy could well be Sunday dinner and I was brought up to respect the animals for the intelligent creatures that they were.
I guess in the supermarket where all you see is a clingfilm wrapped ready to roll lump of what is to be dinner you can kid yourself a little or indeed become so distanced between what you eat and where it comes from (especially if you've never grown a carrot in your life so don't even have that connection with the ground). While I'm sure Waitrose is 95% advertising for people to spend money with them rather than another supermarket I'm happy to see places taking animal welfare seriously.
I think people have lost touch with where food comes from. My sisters kids wont eat "tree apples" because they might have a maggot in. My great neice, complained to my sister that she had been offered carrots at her friends house. She thought they were disgusting because they had been dug up out of the soil. For them fruit and veg comes from the supermarket in poly bags. It is washed, a regular size, and a lot more expensive than it should be because anything not fitting the perception of perfection is thrown away.
It's enough to make me weep
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
It just goes to show the benefit of letting children have their own little patch of garden and try growing some veg themselves,....... which.encourages them to eat what they grow,none of this nonsense of only eating prepacked veg.
Flowersforbees, sorry this isn't about meat/ poultry as such but I have a story to tell. Honestly it is true.
About 20yrs ago I had to take some work collegues somewhere and decided to go "the pretty way" we encountered the cows being moved from one field to another, blocking the road. After a while jokingly I said something along the lines of "come on ladies hurry up", my collegue in his early 30's asked how I knew they were female.
The youngster in the back straight away jokingly told him it was because they were wearing earrings. Tags in ears. He believed her! Thank goodness we now have some Urban farms that kiddies can go to.
Thank you all so much for your messages. It has really helped me to look
at this from a different perspective i.e. the welfare of the animals before they
reach the table. I do try to be aware of where my meat comes from and to
only buy foods that have come with some form of animal welfare credential - like
Happy Eggs for a small example). Although I grew up in the country (mostly arable
farming) I never really thought much about where the lambs/calves/piglets
ended up, although I really loved them. You are quite right to point all
these things out and to remind me that we do have a duty of care in making sure
that our food comes from humane sources. With regard to vegetables - yes -
maybe I'll start a vegetable patch for my grandchildren, alongside my wildflower
garden next year. The simple things in life are best! Thanks for your story
KEF it really made me laugh!