Monday Moaning

The world is collapsing.

Very soon we are really going to have to look at alternative food sources.

Just recently the English speaking world got a shock; horse meat! Not that the horse meat was the problem, the problem is that it was found where it wasn’t supposed to be – in beef products.

The UN has even gone so far as to suggest insects as an alternative. Now if we turn up our noses at horse, imagine insects.

You get to McD’s, “Would you like large locusts with that?”

Now some Asian countries are used to this idea. Some countries, like Moçambique, have sun-dried field mice on a stick; just 30 cents.

The British have been scared silly with this horse meat scandal and have begun to lose faith in processed foods.

Eggs come first as chickens take over our gardens

Fears about food quality and desire to be close to nature fuel a growing backyard industry in Britain

Pet shops and garden centres now stock chicken feed while demand for poultry is rising. Photograph: Angela Hampton pictures/Alamy

 

They are the planet’s closest living evolutionary link to Tyrannosaurus rex and contribute hugely to our national diet, but now the humble chicken is coming into its own in Britain as the productive pet of choice.

What began several years ago as a trend among town-dwellers with large gardens has now exploded into an entire industry, say experts. Pet shops and garden centres stock chicken feed, while poultry producers are scrambling to keep up with demand for birds. Dozens of manufacturers are churning out hen coops in every shape and size – and for every budget. Prince Charles’s Highgrove online shop stocks a pale-blue timber portable hen house for £3,750.

This weekend the South of England show at Ardingly, West Sussex, the biggest annual agricultural event in the south-east, took poultry as its theme in response to what organisers called “an incredible upsurge in popularity of keeping poultry”.

And it’s not only hens, but ducks, too. “A lot of it is the horsemeat scandal: people just want to be more connected to their food,” said the show’s Paula Seager.

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Opinion:

Yes, people have lost confidence, they want to see where their food comes from.

Your chickens will eat all those vege scraps from the kitchen, fast track composting, chicken shit is good for the garden.

A whole generation of people have lost touch with the country, people are beginning to look for their roots. I am always reminded when in Bolivia, I invited a family to visit me on the farm and Abel, eight, was amazed that milk came from cows and not a box in the supermarket. How much more removed are kids in the first world from reality?

The chickens are a start, if you haven’t started, don’t leave it too late. Because we won’t always have a supermarket nearby.