ottawa foodies

did anyone catch 'Hugh's Chicken Run' on the food network a few nights ago?

"Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall explores the horrors of intensive chicken farming. The journey takes him far from the cosy lifestyle of River Cottage and into the harrowing conditions of running his own modern poultry production line.

Hugh plans to kickstart a chicken revolution in the UK. He wants to replace the cheap chickens sold by supermarkets at less than a price of a pint of beer for ethically reared free-range chicken. After the salmonella crisis of the 1980s, the UK willingly embraced free range eggs. Can the same now be done for the broiler chickens raised for their meat? The chicken revolution begins in the town of Axminster and its local Tescos, where the residents of the local Millway estate face the challenge of rearing free range birds while nearby Hugh's new factory churns out its horrors."

you can watch it online as well www.channel4.com (but i seem to have trouble loading it..)

i can't help but praise anything related to better conditions for animal welfare :)

Good post!
I do not understand why we, as a society, accept factory farmed meat as an acceptable food source. A+ to spreading awareness. :)

thanks cait!

i found two clips that actually work now www.ciwf.org.uk

Factory farmed and free range are (unfortunately) not mutually exclusive concepts.

Cait, its because we are not willing OR able to pay true cost of production prices to maintain proper stewardship of animals.
Basically, our food is too cheap.

I would agree that that is a small part of the answer, unfortunately there are many layers... food sources have become so screwed up =\

Cait>>>correct...also, think about how insecure our food supply is...

Also 'we' consume a lot of meat. I'm not sure there would be enough room to pasture feed (for example) all the cattle that are consumed in the world. Further, World Bank, and governments have been encouraging 'go big, or go away' to farmers for decades.

Ok, call me a cynic... but I think the reason is we are just too d@mn cheap... our society since the industrial revolution has been focused on finding the cheapest deal... not quality. Everyone is only centered on their own interests and making a ton of money. Consequently, no one wants to pay what anything in the world is really worth... including food. We'd rather consume a whole pile of artificial stuff, and call it food (who are we fooling?) than eat natural organic sustainable and properly farmed items. Like P-i-O says, NO ONE would pay the true price for that.

Ok, off my soapbox and back to regular programming... and a bag of chips & a pop.

there is a good DVD out there on this topic at your local blockbuster called FOOD Inc.. the documentary purports that the majority of the food supply is controled by 5 conglomerates who are so big and are here to stay. they have considerable influence over governments (who are by nature transient), wage policy and the supply and demand of markets. ultimately we have power to exercise via choice. support free-range, organic, natural and local products as you wish. on the other hand, keep in mind that anything labeled free-range, organic etc... if they actually are or aren't may not be so easily or strictly enforcible by our under-resourced health canada/cfia. also be cognisant that and there are organic chemicals used on foods that may be more harmful than regular herbicides and pesticides. furthermore, be open to some genetically modified foods can be beneficial but all to be tested in the long term.

Jamie Oliver also did a similar show. Saw it on Food network a while back entitled 'Fowl Dinners' (in aired Jan 2008). Brings up similar concepts as Hughs Chicken Run. Definitely worth checking out if this interests you.

nocheese - fowl dinners was a good program as well! it is up on youtube in 9 or 10 parts

i've spent the past few months researching, and have been in contact with a cooridinator, Haley, at www.ciwf.org.uk/ to start some programs in canada. they are willing to contact other supporters with the help of networking, give us materials, advertise events, and even have a media team to help promote local events. if anyone is interested in joining the local ottawa group, please PM me :)

i think that both of those programs were so eye opening, at least to me.
Food, Inc was also very disturbing.

i *want* to buy free range
i *want* there to be an option
i *want* to eat less meat
i *want* to buy local
i *want* to buy organic
-- but i also *want* to be able to afford it.

i buy what i can afford. i shop at farm boy. i live in cornwall, so i find that's as close to local & organic as i'm going to get, at least in the wintertime.
there are so many farms around here, but i find they're hard to get in contact with or they're not open to the public.

Search this site on "localvore" and see the localvore's thread for contacts of local farmers. Eating local beef and pork is actually cheaper than buying it at the supermarket if you have freezer space. And you don't need that much freezer space.

I now purchase my pork and beef from a local farm just outside of Carleton Place on Kidd Rd. near Ashton. They supply Beckta Dining and Wine to give you a sense of the quality and you do pay more for the organic and free range quality but it is so very worth it.

thanks zymurgist.
i will check that out. i do not have room for a side of beef in my freezer tho. :)

Some farmers do not require you buy a whole side. One of the guys I deal with sells 1/4 side which fits into a regular fridge freezer - though not much else will.

Or get together with friends on a whole side.

looks like i'm gonna have to gather some friends and get some quality meat!

my parents used to get sides from a family member who raised cattle when i was a kid. i got to see it cut and packaged, it was pretty interesting.
the butcher was in berwick, if i remember correctly.

Organic chickens, beef, pork and dairy products are available at the Ottawa Organic Farmer's Market which is held each Saturday from 10:00 - 2:00. I was very happy with the milk that I bought, but not quite sure about the ground beef. It had a different texture to it which my husband and daugther didn't like. As far as the fruits and vegetables, I find there is a big enough selection at Independant Grocer. Not sure if I'll be going back. After watching Food Inc., I decided that I wanted to eat only organic meats. It is proving to be more difficult than I thought!

foodluver If you buy any meats at that organic farmers market you might want to ask if it is indeed local. When I visited last weekend I overheard Ross from Padgeberry Farms telling the lady ahead of me in line he no longer sells his own chickens because, he says, he is getting too old to chase after them then catch them. I'm not sure where he gets his chickens from now and I'm not sure about the beef - I will have to ask on my next visit. There is another lady there that sells her own beef. I haven't tried yet but apparently it's quite good.

I have been making a concerted effort to buy local for about 4 or 5 years now and it has been a slow process for me. I don't think I will ever follow the "100 mile diet" we hear about nowadays because there are a few foods I eat that are not made locally or it is difficult to find a local source. (I'm thinking of the juice, fruit, milk and yogurt, and olive oil I use.) However I feel I have made quite a change in my diet so when I plan my grocery list now I try to buy local whenever possible. The Ottawa Organic Farmers Market is a good place to start especially at this time of year because it is the only farmers market that is open year round. During the summer months we have markets at Lansdowne (open on Sundays) and Main Street (open on Saturdays) so I can get alot of my groceries there - meat, veggies, the works. Good luck with your efforts and don't give up.

I don't find organic ground has a different texture - definitely a different taste if it is grass fed. I guess the big difference is that it actually HAS a taste. Versus that supermarket factory junk which I find to be bland and pretty much flavourless.

Does the average butcher buy meat local, or is it coming from the same source as our grocery stores (factory produced)?

My butcher (Aubrey's) gets it from local or as close to local as they can.

Thanks Snoopy. I found it on the web and it looks like it's just what I'm looking for (other than location). I think I'm going to give the butcher here in the south end a call first and see where he gets his meat. Otherwise, I guess I'll be taking a weekly trip downtown!