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Exeter Living
Thursday 14 February 2008
Chirpy Chicks
That modern day saint, Jamie Oliver, has been at it again. This time, though, it isn’t the humble Turkey Twizzler that he’s been targeting, but instead the noble chicken is the subject of his wrath.
With the aid of fellow celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Saint Jamie has been targeting our treatment of poultry through the medium of Channel 4. By focusing on the sometimes appalling conditions in which much of the chicken that ends up on our supermarket shelves is raised, the pair hope to shame us into buying chicks that may be more expensive, with free range, organic, or Freedom Food labels, but have at least have seen the sun before they died.
Happily, we here in Devon have one of the better chicken producers on our doorsteps, Lloyd Maunder near Willand. The Devon company was highlighted in the programme as one of the few producers who hit the ethical heights, with their signature Devonshire Red chickens spending their short lives in a rich landscape on small family-run farms tended by skilled stockmen.
It’s always nice to see local producers getting such a good write-up, and it must be standing room only in Lloyd Maunder butcher’s shop on Exeter’s Sidwell Street. Well done LM.