I shall be blogging with my review of the final two episodes of "Hugh's Chicken Run" soon, however first I wanted to break this particular issue that has near infuriated me about people featured on the show. The issue I talk about is the absolutely bollocks stance of the "poor" that they "cannot afford" to change their food shop to introduce better quality and more ethical foods. The show itself centres on free range chicken (a product in current terms £2.08 more expensive per kilo than standard), but we could be talking here about ethical foods such as fair trade coffee and banana's, or even simply better quality meat with a better slaughter that you're more likely to find at a butchers.

So you can't afford it?

I imagine meeting some of these people and having a little conversation...

Me: So, hey there, could I interest you in changing your choice of chicken today from the 2 for £5 deal and instead convince you to try free range?
"Budget" shopper: Oh I don't know about that, it's more expensive isn't it?
Me: Well it's about £2 more expensive per kilo but the quality of the meat is better, lower in fat, less calories.
"Budget" shopper: Well that's all very good but I just can't afford it on my budget.
Me: OK, that's fair enough, I understand that money can be tight. May I suggest if money is tight that you ease your budget strain by trying to eat maybe more risotto's and pasta meals? They usually take less time than cooking meats...
"Budget" shopper:Oh no, no we like our chicken we do.
Me: Well excuse me, I thought that we were just having a discussion about how budget constrains you, clearly I'm talking to a bloody idiot.

It just boggles my mind. What do these people eat that means that they can't add £2 on to their shop, and even can't find that £2 elsewhere? A standard chicken meal will cost you, if cooked with fresh vegetables and chicken, somewhere around £1.20 a head with half of that being the chicken alone. What about other meals that the person with oh so tight a budget could be doing instead of that chicken if they're so hard up? A risotto will cost you, assuming the same amount of money spent on vegetables and stock, roughly 70p a head while a pasta bake comes in at between 75p and 85p a head depending on if you use cheese on top.Interesting home made soups can be done for between 50p and £1 per head and the value of a chicken can be much greatly enhanced by using as much of the chicken as possible (easier on free range chickens) and serving chicken as part of something else, for example in pies, curries or chinese style meals that can effectively half the price of what you're using.

If anyone ever tries to argue with me on issues like this with "my budget can't afford it" then I will require some kind of proof of what is being cooked and how it is being cooked before I can say that person is anything other than a lazy phoney that is using their economic situation as a crutch against taking higher ethical decisions. I'm not even getting in to the high likelihood of snacks, booze and cigarettes being part of that budget, as of course they are entitled to buy as they wish...

...But if this is the case don't hide behind your poverty, just have some courage and admit it; you're too lazy and stuck in your ways to do something positive about the food you're eating, either because you're unwilling to take time over what you're cooking for your family, or because your vices and addictions are more important to you than your kids health and the welfare of animals bred in this country.