When I switch the computer on I have the MSM page come up, this has recently happened since I updated the Skype connection. I don't really want all this stuff flashing in front of my eyes so I am going to have to change the settings to get rid of it. However, what greeted me this morning was the headline.....
Campylobactor in Chicken : How to avoid it. It's about the new findings that the chicken tested from all the major supermarkets and butchers has found that 59% carried the bacteria. The point of the article is to advise on how to minimize the risk from eating contaminated chicken. Well I can tell you how to do that, and it came to me in a flash. Never mind all the washing utensils and surfaces, and cooking till piping hot, I'll tell you an easier common sense way on how to avoid it....STOP EATING CHICKEN. Seems sensible to me. Does anyone else get it? Common sense, where has it gone, I think we need to send a search party out for it :o)
Busy sewing, gardening, doing stuff, might go shopping, but I might not, depending if I have time. Sunny day want to get the churchyard finished. Toodle pip.
Woken by a power cut
5 hours ago
Pretty simplistic way of looking at it MQ. I appreciate as a vegetarian you will extoll a meat free existance but many enjoy chicken and if we all stopped eating chicken what would happen to that industry?
ReplyDeleteRemember when people stopped eating British beef and the devastating affect it had on British farming?
But I like chicken :(
ReplyDeleteOh well, you're the boss.
Jim, N. Yorks
Yes sorry ilona i normally agree with you but this is a bit of a silly response - the article on MSN is a helpful guide because lots of people like eating chicken,and it is nutritonally beneficial and healthy. Good point on the affect on British farming above too. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteWhat is MSM? What do you mean "you updated your Skype connection"? A chicken-free existence for us - we're with you!
ReplyDeleteMSM is a news channel, it comes up as my Home Page, a bit like the front page of a newspaper. Skype, a means of speaking face to face with someone in any part of the world who is also hooked up to Skype. It's free but there are extras if you want to pay for them. It's free to download, goooglie Skype.
DeleteAll of those who have been anywhere near a chicken rearing unit, no it is most definitely not farming, or a chicken processing plant will not be surprised. This is the real cost of "cheap food". As long as you cook it thoroughly at the correct temperature there should be no problem. Campylobactor can be spread by wild birds so Free range Chicken is at risk also. There is nothing new about disiease in chicken it is just that instead of being raised in hundreds they are now raised in hundreds of thousands. The percentage is the same just the numbers have grown. All food has a potential to make you ill, either from bacteria or allergic reaction. Even the air that we breathe carries pollutants, all part of life,s rich tapestry.
ReplyDeleteWhat a load of twaddle , what would happen to the industry!!!! The poor hens that are cooped up in overcrowded sheds would no longer exist as there wouldn't be the need for them. fewer would be reared but the ones that were would be organic and safe for the caniballs amongst us that insist in eating gods creatures.
ReplyDeleteNot cannibals, carnivores?
DeleteI know, why do people even want to eat something that is (highly likely) to be intrinsically so diseased? If I dropped my cabbage in a sewer, I'm afraid that would be it. I wouldn't be looking for ways to wash it off, heat it to high enough temperatures to kill the germs etc. It would be so yuck it would go in the bin.
ReplyDeleteIt's not about the 'poor old' farming industry, we are not here to support them. But they are here to give people edible food. If cows etc. disappeared because people stopped eating them well so be it. Not much of a life is it factory farming? Some would remain and they would be part of the natural system instead of here just for exploitation. Many animals are disposed of on their first day of life, so what is the point of them being here at all? The whole industry is rotten and supported by uncaring people - if you buy it you support it, yes you do. So roll on the day when we hardly see a chicken compared to the hideous lives they lead now. Industry comes with responsibility so if people really want to continue to eat this stuff, then they should work at providing it without poisoning people. Not too much to ask really. But bless, save the industries! Really commenter number one?
If cows were disposed of we'd also have to stop drinking milk or eating butter, cheese, yogurt, etc....
Delete"so what is the point of them being here at all?"
DeleteI assume you mean bull caves and cock chickens?
The point of bull calves is so that the mother produces milk.
The point of cock chickens is so that the females can lay eggs.
One day they may be able to determine the sex of off-spring at the conception stage........ that'll be a sad day for men.
But I agree it's very wasteful to kill these creatures at birth, bull calves could be kept a few months for veal, and cock chickens caponised for large plump tasty carcasses. After all, male lambs and pigs are just as tasty at a few months as females.
I eat none of those things anyway - in the dairy versions at least.
DeleteCumbrian - get your facts right - you say the point of bull calves is so the mother produces milk - the mother produces milk whether her calf was male or female.
DeleteYou say the point of cock chickens is so the females can lay eggs - hens lay eggs freely without a cockerel, the cockerel is only needed if you want the eggs to be fertilised to get chicks.
You say if cows were disposed of we'd have to stop drinking milk, eating cheese etc - haven't you heard of goats milk, goats cheese etc?
Yes Linda, but she won't produce milk without a calf, and as far as I know there's no way to determine the sex of the off-spring at conception, so on average 50% born are going to be male - the females can go on to produce milk and more calves but the males are not wanted, I don't think dairy farmers want to be bothered with keeping a bull when the best bulls are available via a phone call to the AI man.
DeleteThe point of hatching chicks is (usually) to provide replacement layers, and the cocks do not lay eggs so are un-wanted (unless for table birds, which are usually different breeds anyway) and discarded, again as far as I know there's no way to determine sex at conception. And you're quite right, hens lay eggs without a cock, the cock is only required for fertile eggs, another reason why they aren't usually wanted even in small back-yard flocks.
Yes, we could switch to goats milk, but I don't know how many goats it takes to provide the same amount of milk as 1 cow, and this would only lead to 1,000s of un-wanted male goats, which aren't very good eating. And I've never seen or heard of a goat milking machine, so to replace cows milk with goats milk would require an army of hand milking maids. Not a very practical idea.
I see that the "what would happen to the industry?" is being touted as a reason to eat meat.
ReplyDeleteThe same was said of slavery.
Jane xxx
I'm sorry, but that is silly response. Comparing a highly emotive subject like slavery with chicken consumption.
DeleteYes, an easy answer, but we'd also have to stop eating eggs as well?
ReplyDeleteDon't eat those either. I do eat delicious food though, including cakes and deserts and ice cream but mostly the healthier stuff.....
DeleteI don't eat eggs either, yet I eat cakes, puddings and ice cream. I eat mostly delicious and healthy food but sometimes I have these things too.
Delete"The same was said of slavery."
ReplyDeleteBut we didn't eat slaves?
You know the point being made is that people said about abolition of slavery "what about A/B/C...they can't be made/picked etc without slaves". Meat eaters say "what about the meat industry?" as though the world depends on the industry of killing animals for consumption.
DeleteJane x
I don't seem to make the connection between slavery and eating chickens.
DeleteYes, a sensible and simplistic idea.
ReplyDeleteBut, taken to its limits, a bit extreme, for example..... stop using tap water because they put chlorine in it?.... stop buying fruit & veg because they're harvested by slave labour?.... stop wearing shoes because they're made from leather?.... stop using a car or public transport because it uses the earths resources and cause pollution?.... stop buying any clothes because they're made in sweat-shops?....
Hi ilona I don't know if you're aware but if you buy the sun newspaper today there is a voucher for £5 of free fruit, veg, and salad from Morrison's no minimum spend and the paper costs 40p. I have bought 3 papers costing £1.20 in total and I will use one, my partner will use one, and one of my son's will use one getting us £15 of fruit, vegetables, and salad for £1.20 plus any pennies that will go over the £5. I thought of you instantly and wanted to let you know. Hope it helps.
ReplyDeleteMuch love Claire from frugal living xxx
Thank you Claire, I didn't know about that. Sounds like a good deal.
DeleteChickens for eggs and chickens for meat are two different breeds. If you are vegetarian then obviously you wont eat chicken. if you are an omnivore then buy chicken from a reputable butcher, cook it properly and enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteNuff said, no need to get knickers in a twist!
Great advice! You should stop with dairy too, tis a cruel, cruel industry. Anything that enslaves animals is really.
ReplyDeleteCarnivore vs. Omnivore arguments aside, virtually every food has one bacteria or another. It's why canned produce has to reach a certain, sustained canning temperature to prevent spoiling; it's why fruits and vegetables are parboiled before freezing. It's also why a sealed bag of triple washed fresh green beans (for example) will become foamy--even refrigerated--after a week or two.That's bacterial action at work. If you and/or your family eat chicken and pork, it's important to cook the meat to the proper internal temperature for safety. A basic meat thermometer is inexpensive. I'm sure the UK has its own website, but in the US, you can find food (including meat) safety tips at USDA dot gov. I'm with simplesuffolksmallholder... no need to get knickers in a twist. Eat meat or don't it's a personal choice. Either way, make sure your food is safe to eat by following good food prep habits in the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteWell if you have cat you must give it meat or it will die. So in a way cat owners are still buying meat. I agree its a personal choice. However I seem to be going off the taste of meat naturally. I have been inspired by ilonas meals and eating more pulses and peas.
ReplyDeleteI think people are reading into Ilona's post something she didn't mean. I don't think she is preaching vegetarianism, I think she simply means: To avoid the problem of the campylobactor bacteria in chicken, don't eat chicken. Which as she says is common sense.
ReplyDeleteOh what a palaver! What a can of worms (or is it chickens?) has been opened with this post! I for one think that people should have a choice to eat Chicken or not, just would suggest that the true information about how it`s been produced should be made available. At leas that way we can have an informed choice. End of.
ReplyDeleteAdvice that can be applied to anything, famously in the past eggs were reckoned to be dodgy and CJD in beef. Some people worry and some people carry on as normal.
ReplyDeleteThere has been an impact on whatever sectors of the food industry in the past but in some cases things needed a shake-up.
Dave.
Oh dear, you've opened a can of worms there Ilona. lol
ReplyDeleteBriony
x
I do enjoy a healthy debate and listening to (or reading) about such issues. I haven't eaten meat since I was 13 (I'm 44 now) and will never eat it the rest of my life. My partner eats meat and each to their own, it's not a problem as I respect his views. If I did eat meat I would wish to eat humanely slaughtered, free range, ethically kept. That said, how on earth are people on low incomes allowed the luxury of making such a choice when it's so expensive? After seeing how many 'chain' organisations use halal meat and it's not publicised..I think that's naughty and any product we purchase should be clearly labelled. People should be told the truth to then decide. Look at the horse meat scandal. Princess Anne is supportive of eating it, others are horrified. Not for me. I've been 'fed' the old chestnut, if we didn't eat animals, their breed would die. Personally, I love all animals and if it was me and I had the choice, I would sooner not be born than live a life, sometimes of misery, (although there are so many fantastic, caring and passionate farmers who's primary interest is the welfare of their animals,trying to scrat a living when their products are being sold barely at a minimum for supermarket chains to maximise their profits) than be killed for someone's plate. I am with Ilona and whilst I respect other people's choices, I'm also allowed the luxury of my own and that is to not eat meat. Louise from your old town
ReplyDeleteGosh!!
ReplyDeleteSuch a little and inoffensive post caused all this ........
The words knickers and twist spring to mind ;-)
Oh my gosh.... this post resonated with me.... I updated my Skype recently.... my sister in law is working as a missionary in Guatemala at the moment and it is an ideal way to keep in touch....but when I updated I ended up with MSN as my "primary page" but I have always had Google...I am so happy that I am not the only one this has happened to ... not that I would wish it on to anyone else... but my problem is .... I don't know how to get rid of it... I have tried settings etc ... I have gone to programs and that doesn't work... I am almost tearing my hair out trying to erase MSN. I read your blog often ... but lurk in the background... but I love what you write about. Am a fan!
ReplyDeleteJo in Auckland, NZ