Summary
We eat chicken. A LOT of it. We might love the taste, but what about how we're treating those birds?
After witnessing first-hand the reality of indoor chicken farming - how most of the chicken we eat is raised - Dr Chris van Tulleken wants to know: are the birds happy enough, or is our method of rearing cheap chicken actually cruel?
If so, what’s the ‘happier’ alternative – and do carnivores like Chris care enough to pay the price for that, or does a love of meat ultimately trump ethics?
Chris battles with his conscience, and finds the answer hard to stomach.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Before you listen to this BBC podcast I'd like to quickly tell you about some others. |
| 0:05.0 | My name's Andy Martin and I'm the editor of a team of podcast producers at the BBC in Northern Ireland. |
| 0:11.0 | It's a job I really love because we get to tell the stories that really matter |
| 0:15.1 | to people here, but which also resonate and apply to listeners around the world. |
| 0:19.6 | And because the team is such a diverse range of skills and strengths. We have trained journalists, people who love digging through archives, we've got drama and even comedy experts. We really can do those stories justice. |
| 0:31.3 | So if you like this podcast head to BBC |
| 0:33.8 | signs where you'll find plenty more fascinating stories from all around the |
| 0:38.1 | UK. |
| 0:40.1 | The sheds are carpeted in birds. You see birds where their legs are buckling underneath them and I find it just so... |
| 0:49.0 | These are chickens that have been selectively bred to grow as big as possible, as quick as possible, using as little |
| 0:55.0 | feed as possible. |
| 0:56.0 | There's a lot to be said for it in a sustainability argument. |
| 0:58.9 | These birds are hugely efficient in how much weight they put on which then turns |
| 1:02.6 | on. |
| 1:02.8 | I know it was an image of a chicken farmer going in there |
| 1:05.2 | and kicking his chicken around the sheds and all, |
| 1:07.4 | but they're not. |
| 1:08.0 | I mean at the end of the day, high welfare. |
| 1:10.4 | One of the ways I really like to think about welfare |
| 1:12.3 | is to ask myself how willing would I be to take on the life that that animal is living |
| 1:19.0 | And for me I wouldn't be so keen to be honest to live the life of a broiler chicken. |
| 1:25.0 | From BBC Radio 4, this is Fed with me, Chris Van Tullican, investigating why we eat, what we eat, and at what cost. |
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