3 chicken fillets cost me €7.50

Stheno

Posted this in after hours, but interested in opinions on here

It’s cheaper to buy a packet of 10 chocolate bars for a euro than give them some healthy snacks.

I'm shocked that someone on welfare would posit that 3 chicken fillets cost 7.50

Is there a need for basics in nutrition? and how to eat cheaply and healthily?

I cooked a stew for ten people tonight full of meat veg and potatoes for approx. 1.50 per person

n97 mini

Whoever paid €7.50 for three fillets went to the wrong shop.

hfallada

Well if an individual had to pay for something with their own hard earned money than it handed to them in the form of welfare. They would be more likely to manage their money better.

Godge

n97 mini wrote: »

Whoever paid €7.50 for three fillets went to the wrong shop.

I agree, you can get 5 chicken fillets fir €5 in mist butchers,


Dublin meat co. does 25 for €20.

jimmycrackcorm

n97 mini wrote: »

Whoever paid €7.50 for three fillets went to the wrong shop.

See, the thing I really worry about, is why chicken fillets aren't expensive. I buy cheap fillets myself but there's always a nagging voice in my mind as to how they get to be cheap.

Scofflaw

This needs to become a politics & economics thread very quickly.

moderately,
Scofflaw

ezra_pound

http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057051195/18/#post86799707

Cookie_Monster

that's cheap compared to what I pay in NZ.

cormie

I was recently asked if I could help my friend out with one of the vans to save some hens from slaughter. There were to be over 7,000 hens slaughtered simply because they had served their production time for the farmer as after a year I believe at this time, they stop producing eggs and it's cheaper to slaughter them all and get new hens than to wait for them to start producing again, I think that's what I was told anyway.

So I decided to go on a mission with the van and we were guided to a battery farm, where the hens are apparently exposed to 23 hours of light a day to trick them into laying more eggs, in cramped conditions where they had never seen daylight and didn't have enough room to walk to build their leg muscles and had their beaks chopped at the end so they don't bite eachother, or do much damage when they try, out of stress. The farmer was letting an animal rescue charity organise a collection of these hens but were charging €2 a pop per hen. These were fully grown I believe (I think it takes 90 days for a chicken to grow fully and these were about a year old).

I imagine this happens in many more farms around the country, so if the farmer is letting a charity take them at €2 a pop, then this is probably more profitable than what he could hope to make off them going to slaughter and being sold for meat. I wouldn't dare to eat any of these guys, the condition they were in was horrible, featherless, the pink bit above their head floppy and pale, but I imagine if their eggs were being sold without issue, then they probably could be too?

The whole thing seemed very wrong for me.

I'm not sure if this applies in Ireland but I was told that in some cases the chickens are fed so much hormone induced foods that their regular 90 day growing time can be cut in half and they grow so quickly that their legs can't even support them? Also I believe meat and other foods are subsidised? http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/why-a-big-mac-costs-less-than-a-salad/?_r=0

I'm not too knowledgeable about any of this but just going by what I've heard (had to google the last link just now :P). When I went to help my friend get them hens it was definitely real though.

I've been eating much higher fruit, veg, nut and seed proportions lately. There are certainly expensive things out there but there's also cheap things too. Also, I try and buy as much organic as possible (I'm not sure what evidence there is about non organic foods being harmful, but I'd prefer to spend a little extra on organic personally just to be on the safe side).

It's amazing what other savings can be seen by changing your diet. I've pretty much cut out animal products altogether and one thing in particular I've saved on is waste charges. I went a period of over 2 years I believe without putting my black wheelie bin out, and when I did put it out, most of it was taken up with ashes from the fire. Pretty much everything that comes into the house is recycled or composted, the packaging is all clean enough to recycle etc.

I believe by spending a bit more on decent food, whatever you decide to eat as long as it's unprocessed ****e, you're reducing money spent and wasted elsewhere with days off sick, doctor bills, antibiotics etc. When I slump and don't eat well due to high stress or workload, this is when I get sick, unfortunately it goes hand in hand.

In the long run, eating crappy processed foods is going to end up costing you more no matter how tempting them yellow price tags might be with the special offers, you're better off paying the good food grocer now and not the doctor later

Of course, it helps to shop around too. Some of the best grapes I've had were going for €3.50 a kg, these were organic red globe grapes being sold in the Dublin Food Co-Op, at the same time, I saw grapes in Tesco going for €7.80 (approx) a KG. Also, I was getting delicious apples, again organic at €2.90 a kg as opposed to your typical non organic apple going for about €3.50 a kg in Tesco.

Also, there's a lot of bad tasting fruit out there, I mean there's disgusting, dry, tasteless oranges and there's juicy, sweet delicious ones, same with all types of fruit. If you're introducing fruits and veg, make sure to try them yourself first to check they are actually nice so you don't throw your child off them with the idea that all the oranges taste the same.

They'll only charge what people are willing to pay.

If nobody buys them at that price, the price will soon drop

OldNotWIse

^ this. We rehomed 4 ex-battery girls, paid a fiver for them each. They were practically bald when we got them but after some tlc they started to come around. They actually became quite tame and used to follow me around the garden looking for food. Gave them to farming neighbours after a while as I didn't like keeping them in a coop. Still see them pecking around on the farm, and like to wave at the (well 15) hens going by lol. Their eggs are amazing, totally different from battery ones. It's worrying when eggs are all completely uniform (or any food for that matter). I will hold my hands up and admit I am guilty of buying cheaper fillets when I am broke, and I do worry about it. An xpose was done a while ago that showed chickens that had been artificially "grown" (ie pumped with water and antib's) so rapidly that their legs could not support their own body weight, and in fact it makes sense. Often you cook up a few fillets and end up with far less than you started out with!

Edit: we are not really designed to eat meat 7 days anyway, if we switched to a number of times a week, we could afford to eat more ethically sourced (and better for us) meat for the same price overall.

bbam

I think people like this are just looking for any excuse to be lazy and give in to their kids on junk food.
If it weren't the supposed cost of good food she'd be giving some other stupid reason to feed crap to them.
It's just another weak attempt to look for more easy money.

Idbatterim

yeah this is the problem, a lot on welfare either dont give a toss because they dont earn it or are simply crap with money... If they are crap with money its their own problem!

Xidu

chicken fillets are more expensive than buy a whole chicken?!
dunnes has whole chicken priced from 3.99 to 6.99 depends on the size.
And 4 chicken fillets cost 5.99.

rubadub

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

that's cheap compared to what I pay in NZ.

What weight are they though? I always hear about how big they are in australia.

Superquinn have 4 large fillets for €23 by the way. Works out €5.75 each

C.K Dexter Haven

Stheno wrote: »

Posted this in after hours, but interested in opinions on here

It’s cheaper to buy a packet of 10 chocolate bars for a euro than give them some healthy snacks.

I'm shocked that someone on welfare would posit that 3 chicken fillets cost 7.50

Is there a need for basics in nutrition? and how to eat cheaply and healthily?

I cooked a stew for ten people tonight full of meat veg and potatoes for approx. 1.50 per person

Free range fillets will cost 7.50 but the usual battery chick muck will usually be found for a euro

It's much better to buy quality cheap cuts that take longer to cook (such as lamb shoulder or unprepared chickens ) than low priced prepared/ready to cook meat- problem is, many people don't know how to cook these properly, because they're so used to the way supermarkets pre prepare the meat for them

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Cookery thread or a consumer issue?

Chicken is cheap so either the 7.50 story is a myth or they are idiots paying that for free range organic while on the dole.

Still can't see the consumer issue though.

dudara

Not a Consumer Issue. Moved to the Food & Drink forum

dudara

Mellor

rubadub wrote: »

What weight are they though? I always hear about how big they are in australia.

This is key.
I'm always baffled that people compare the value of fillets by the number they get. This is pretty basic stuff, yet nobody mentioned it above.

FWIW, you're right that in Oz the fillets are much larger. 250g-300g would be normal. One of the reason is that the down separate the inner and outer breast sections. A breast is too big a portion for dinner for me, so I separate two breasts and get a portion of tenders for lunch.

Godge wrote:

I agree, you can get 5 chicken fillets fir €5 in mist butchers,

I guess that these fillets are tiny 100-120g fillets. Per kilo, thats pretty dear.

rubadub

rubadub wrote: »

Superquinn have 4 large fillets for €23 by the way. Works out €5.75 each

They'd want to be enormous.

Local butcher would give about 25 for that price.

Butchers are the best place for chicken and meat. Best quality and price imo.

Fishmongers for fish too.

TBoneMan

rarnes1 wrote: »

Most people buy the best value they can, be it local or foreign.

If all those other countries are pumping their chicken as you claim can you be sure no Irish companies are? I doubt it



After the horse scandal I wouldn't really trust any countries meat over another's.

There are only 4 chicken processors left in ireland, none of which barrel roll (pump) their chicken. Right now we have some of the best poultry product in the world.

But when people buy a full 1300g chicken for 4-4.50euro yet expect to pay less for 2 fillets....common sense must kick in at some stage

Mr Magnolia

Please refrain for posting unfounded allegations that could land boards.ie in trouble.

whiskeyman

rubadub wrote: »

Superquinn have 4 large fillets for €23 by the way. Works out €5.75 each

what the???
Any link or photo of these?
The largest / dearest fillets I've seen in SQ were the corn fed luxury type, and it's usually 4 for around €9.

Idbatterim

what exactly is the point of this article, that the woman is hopeless with money? that we should raise welfare across the board because she is or what?

rubadub

whiskeyman wrote: »

what the???
Any link or photo of these?
The largest / dearest fillets I've seen in SQ were the corn fed luxury type, and it's usually 4 for around €9.

They are free range and large.

http://www.superquinn.ie/shopping/shopping/shop.aspx?prodid=90042257

Idbatterim wrote: »

what exactly is the point of this article, that the woman is hopeless with money?

It makes me think she should get vouchers for food, instead of giving her money to squander paying over the odds. I see people paying over the odds all the time in supermarkets, e.g. bulk buying, which many seem to wrongly presume is always cheaper, in one thread somebody actually thought it was law!

loveisdivine

We've recently gone vegetarian but before that our favourite chicken breasts were the St Sever free range, corn fed, skin on breasts that superquinn stock.
They cost about €10 for 2 depending on the exact weight, but my god did they taste amazing! Easily the tastiest, juiceiest chicken I have ever had in my life.

Point is though, we both work full time and have a good disposable income so we can afford to buy them. If we didn't have the money we wouldn't, but we also wouldn't resort to buying the cheap sh*t either. If we can't afford the quality stuff we go without. It worries me when I see how cheap some meat is.

I dont want to sound like a snob but I think a lot of the problem is lazyness and people not being introduced to a wide enough variety of food as children. My first boyfriend was brought up on cheap crap food, crispy pancakes and the like. Whereas I was brought up on homemade from scratch minestrones (one of my best food memories from my childhood), classic french dishes and a good bit of middle eastern style food too, amongst others.

The result of this was obvious when we went shopping, I could do a much cheaper weekly shop by buying fresh produce for home cooking. Whereas his basket would be full of expensive ready made food.

gowley

TBoneMan wrote: »

There are only 4 chicken processors left in ireland, none of which barrel roll (pump) their chicken. Right now we have some of the best poultry product in the world.

But when people buy a full 1300g chicken for 4-4.50euro yet expect to pay less for 2 fillets....common sense must kick in at some stage

dont know where you got the info about 4 left in ireland. there are way more than that.

TBoneMan

gowley wrote: »

dont know where you got the info about 4 left in ireland. there are way more than that.

Moy Park, Manor Farm, Western Brand & Shannonvale are the 4 remaining large scale chicken processors left in ROI. Of course there are some artisan producers out but these are local small scale, not supplying the multiples.

Blisterman

Pointless debate if you don't say what size they are. Chicken fillets vary a fair amount from about 100 grams to 300.

So £7.50 for three could range from paying a very reasonable €8.30 a kilo to a pricy €25 a kilo.