RSPCA: Diary date: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall champions Freedom Food

Wednesday, 21 January 2009 12:00 AM

The great chicken debate hits our screens again on Monday as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is on a mission to convince consumers to trade up to Freedom Food - Chickens, Hugh and Tesco Too, Channel 4, 9pm, Monday 26 January.

The programme is also expected to feature a farmer starting to farm chicken under the RSPCA's Freedom Food scheme for the first time.

The programme comes a year after separate campaigns led by the RSPCA, Hugh and Jamie Oliver (January 2008) highlighted some of the welfare problems of chicken production.

Higher welfare chicken sales increase despite the credit crunch:

Despite the difficult economic climate, higher welfare chicken sales have jumped significantly.

In fact just this week Sainsbury's announced that sales of its higher welfare chicken - which includes Freedom Food labelled products - have risen by more than 20 per cent since the January 2008 campaign.

Sainsbury's also said that 18 per cent of chicken sold will be Freedom Food labelled.

Other major supermarkets and a large chicken production company also confirmed to the RSPCA that last January's campaigns have changed shopping habits.

Further, an RSPCA poll since the January 2008 campaign found that an amazing 73 per cent of consumers said that since recently discovering standard chickens were farmed in poor conditions, they now buy chickens that have had a better life.

The number of birds reared to RSPCA welfare standards under the Freedom Food scheme or other free-range or organic standards has soared from 19 million in 2004 to 55 million in 2007.

For more information on:

Freedom Food contact the press office on 0300 123 0134
RSPCA survey contact the press office on 0300123 0244/0288

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