Unfortunately, this deal has expired 4 July 2019.
*
459°
Posted 3 July 2019
6 large free range eggs 35p instore @ Tesco
In store: National ·
Shared by
1978scotty
Joined in 2013
6
71
About this deal
This deal is expired. Here are some options that might interest you:
6 large free range eggs for 35p at Tesco Bishops Stortford isle 20 at the far end
More details at Community Updates
Edited by a community support team member, 3 July 2019
20 Comments
sorted byBetter for the environment
Was just about to post some thing similar. Free range is a complete joke.
Factory farming is never ideal but...
Free range is better than battery. Seeing as most people can't keep their own chickens you can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Also its worth remembering although we tend to anthropomorphise chickens the truth is they are really, really stupid. Literally their purpose in life is to eat, sleep, poo and not be eaten by a fox. They don't have aspirations. A good life for them is different to a good life for us.
"Eat, sleep, poo and not get eaten"
Basically my life
You're missing the point. The term 'free-range' was coined by business marketing professionals. It is now written into RSPCA welfare standards, but if you look up what it legally entails you will find that it's another few centimetres of space per bird as opposed to 'non free-range'. It does not mean the birds are outside or even that they have access to natural light.
This is obviously very clever, because it has you, and seemingly everyone else, imagining open fields with chickens roaming around without a care in the world. The packaging often has imagery promoting this idea.
True free-range, would be finding a local farm where you can see the chickens outside and running about in the open air. There would have their beaks still intact. (edited)
I'm afraid you're simply not correct. The definition of free range is defined by EU statute and there is a decent inspection regime. No supermarket here wants to be the one found selling free range eggs that aren't really free range.
You are perhaps thinking of America where the word is essentially meaningless. It's one of the drawbacks of leaving the EU, leaving is not just accepting chlorinated chicken. It's accepting that US labelling regulations are much less strict than EU ones and so terms like "free range eggs" could have a wildly different meaning to what we think.
FYI, EU regulations specify that eggs labelled as free range the chickens must
Constant daytime access to the outside.
Outside area must be mainly covered with vegetation and have at least 4m sq of space per chicken.
At least 2 metre wide access per 1,000 chickens
One nest per seven hens plus 15cm perching space.
1m sq of usable inside space per nine hens with at least one third covered with wood shavings.
So you may not agree the standards are stringent enough but they exist. Personally I think everything in life is a balance - everyone has to eat, and supposedly vegan products such as palm oil aren't exactly free of animal suffering. In fact that is a real marketing gimmick, "sustainable" palm oil which is basically "we cut this rainforest down seven years ago so it's sustainable now, see?".
I think it's much better to eat a diet that consists as much as possible around seasonable vegetables and fruit and beans, rice, potatoes and pasta and MsC certified fish, and then add small amounts of meat, dairy, processed foods etc. accepting there is some ethical trade off buy hey... you're human, eating is pleasurable, and you need to have a good quality of life too.
You're not reading the same RSPCA legislation I am then!
The RSPCA don't create legislation, they're a charity with some statutory powers. They do AFAIK run some of their own certification schemes but they can only be an increase above the legal obligations the farmer has.
Welfare standards for egg laying chickens is standard across the EU and the EU directive has been enacted into UK law in 2002, but most recently in the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007. (edited)