The true cost of your Christmas turkey and other meat

There's a discussion on a Facebook group I am a member of about how the cost of meat this year seems to be higher than ever. Various options have been given as to where you can buy the cheapest turkey or other meats. One person said they saw a bird (she wasn't sure what) on sale for 61€ whilst another lady said she was really pleased to have bought a supermarket turkey for 18€.

The fact is, over several decades now, we have been conditioned into thinking that meat is not especially expensive when the true cost, on all levels, is actually much higher. The 61€ bird is more than likely the correct price where the bird will have had free range (not crammed in an over-crowded barn) whilst not being pumped full of growth hormones and antibiotics etc in life and once dead will  not have been injected with water to plump up its size and where everyone involved in its life, slaughter and processing will have been paid a decent wage. To produce a turkey (of any size) at just 18€ means some serious corners will have been cut. How many thousands of birds will have been stuffed into a small area, how many underpaid worker, will have toiled over their short lives earning only just enough money that they themselves can only afford to buy factory farmed meat? And what is the environmental impact of the large amounts of manure produced by such a concentration of birds in one place?

 

 

Intensive chicken farming, Finland
Image credit - Oikeutta eläimille on Flickr

 

The intensive factory farming of animals, which reduces them to purely a mass of financial units, is the only way you can get an 18€ turkey or a £2 chicken or how ever little you pay for a cheap burger or sausage.  Yet I believe many people don't chose to ignore these facts, they simply are unaware of how their meat is produced and this fact makes me both sad and angry. How can people have no idea of what type of life the animals lead in order to put cheap meat on their plates?  Someone elsewhere on Facebook got really huffy with me recently when I showed a picture of mass cattle pens and told me they couldn't possibly be raised like that and it must have been an auction site. I told this person to look up how cattle are raised in places like the Americas but I have no idea if they went and looked. It is just so wrong that we live in a world where factory farming is allowed and people are not taught about it at all. It's all pictures of straw chewing farmers and rural idylls on the packaging which could not be further from the truth.

I didn't reply to the lady who bought the cheap turkey, although I did have to sit very hard on my hands not to.  Part of me thought I should help people realise the true cost of producing (decent) meat and what happens when we demand cheap meat but part of me said let it go, it's Christmas and who knows what other stuff the person buying the 18€ turkey has going in in their life at the moment. I am also painfully aware that if only free range meat with high welfare standards were sold it would be at a price that many people could not afford. No doubt those who are vegetarian or vegan feel this is what should happen so that we are priced out of eating meat but I am looking at the here and now with families trying to feed themselves as food prices rise and we are not going to see a mass shift away from eating meat in the immediate future.

This blog is not about whether we should or should not eat meat I do not want it turning into a be vegan battle cry so I will not publish any comments of that nature. Maybe in the future we will live in a world where we don't eat meat and food poverty will only known about through history lessons but in the meantime many people do eat meat and many are pleased to be able to buy it as cheaply as possible without a second thought for the welfare of the animal or the livelihoods of those who work in the meat industry. How do you make people see the true picture and when you do, how do you make then care when all they want is to eat a fast food burger, a turkey at Christmas or a bacon sandwich?

I did reply to the lady who thought a 61€ bird was too expensive saying that it probably represented a realistic price but neither she, nor anyone else, replied. Do you think I should have said something to the lady who was so pleased to have bought the cheap turkey? What would you have done? 

 

How Sustainable is your Christmas Dinner?

We are probably all aware how unsustainable a "Typical" Christmas is and I've seen plenty of posts on social media begging us to cut back on how much we buy, suggesting eco-friendly wrapping ideas,  how to make natural decorations and whether to have a real or fake tree etc.  But what about your Christmas Dinner? How sustainable ... or not .. is that?  A Daily Mail article from 2009 suggested that our Christmas meal could have travelled nearly 90,000 miles before it got to your plate ... and that's just one aspect to consider.

For a meal to be sustainable we need to consider many factors - does it include meat and if so how was it raised and where, how far have all the ingredients travelled (food miles), how processed is it and how much packaging did it involve? Are the ingredients fair trade or organic and does any part of it contain palm oil? Is it from local producers or a big multi-national? It's a lot so I thought I'd try and break down our main course and see if it is "sustainable".

How to have the best ever Green Christmas

It can sometimes seem impossible to keep Christmas green when everywhere you turn the "spend spend spend" message is shoved in your face.  However I do feel that the greener message is beginning to get through with more and more people realising that we cannot keep spending on things we really don't need and we really must reduce how much we waste in all aspects of our lives.  Over the years I have been blogging I've written various blogs on how to celebrate Christmas whilst staying true to my green roots and as my present to you this upcoming festive season I've put them all together in this round-up:

6 ways to make your Christmas jumper "green"

You would think that A Green and Rosie Life might be the last place you'd find a post about Christmas jumpers, wouldn't you?  After all they pretty much sum up everything I stand against ... an unnecessary item, bought because everyone tells you you should have one (and who wants to be the ONLY person who doesn't have a Christmas jumper?) and quite possibly made from man-made fibres.  They are a bit of short term fun, worn a handful of times, maybe a social media post or two and then the poor old thing get consigned to the back of the cupboard or worse still the bin.  You've guessed it, I am not a fan.  However, the truth is, that for the foreseeable future they are probably here to stay and when I recently heard that some schools now have "Wear a Christmas jumper to school days", more people than ever will be buying them. With that in mind here's 6 ways you green up your Christmas jumper and make it more sustainable.

6 ways to Green up your Christmas Jumper

1. Make you own. If you are no good at knitting you could decorate or upcycle a jumper you already have.  Hobbycraft have some brilliant ideas to try out. 
2. It's nice and warm so you can turn the heating down a degree now.  
3. If you are really going to buy a new one make sure it is in natural materials and made ethically and choose one that you'd be happy wearing all through the colder weather.
4. Buy a secondhand one.
5. Get as much wear from it as you can and remember to wear the same one next year.
6. Swap with a friend - an easy way to get a new jumper without buying one.

What do you think about Christmas jumpers and can you think of any more ways to make them as green as the Christmas trees on them?

8 Christmas decoration ideas using natural materials

The origin of decorating houses for Christmas actually goes back to Egyptian times and relates to a time when the  people brought branches from evergreen trees inside to celebrate the winter solstice on December 21st. This practice was also commonplace amongst the Druids, Romans and Vikings.  From the 16th century families began to add simple natural decorations such as candles and nuts but it was in the 1840's when a magazine showed an image of Queen Victoria and her family celebrating around a decorated Christmas tree that the era of brightly decorated trees and houses was born.  Everyone wanted to do the same and manufacturers quickly realised there was money to be made from this new craze.

Today Christmas decorations continue to big money as families vie to have the best display.  Lendedu calculated that the average American will spend just over 12% of their Christmas outlay on decorations at a cost of almost 90$.  In Britain this is lower but Statista calculated that in 2017 it still averaged just over £30. 

Tree decorations were traditionally made from glass, wood, metal or ceramics but more and more are now made from plastic.  Tinsel and glitter are also made from plastic as are lights, wall hangings, table decorations etc.  And you can be sure that many will come in plastic packaging and almost none will be recyclable.

So how can you have a decorated house at Christmas without all the plastic and waste?  The simplest solution is to turn back the clock and have decorations made from natural materials which you will be able to gather and make yourself.  If you need some inspiration have a look at what these bloggers have made.

Dogs and Christmas

With the Christmas season well and truly up us please do take a moment to consider dogs as well as our friends and family as their take on Christmas may not be quite the same as ours. 

Presents for Dogs

Can I let you into a secret? Dogs don't understand Christmas and they really don't need any presents.  Why not spend the money on some wild bird feed or sponsor a wild animal instead?  However if you absolutely must get them something please try and go with something that is plastic-free and maybe also good for them - a new exercise toy for example.  And if you feel totally unable to resist some pet accessory such as these canine antlers, please never leave the dog alone with them as they can all too easily become a choking hazard.

For more tips on how to own a sustainable pet have a read of this blog post.

Green Christmas Present Ideas - The Ultimate List

If the advertisers and big manufacturers were to have their way we would buy so much stuff for Christmas we'd have to starve for the rest of the year.  Well I have a message for big business.  There is another way.  A green way that does not mean Christmas is stuffed full of plastic, packaging, waste and debt.  Christmas can be just as fun, and above all better for the planet if we step off the treadmill of rampant commercialism and make Christmas altogether more sustainable.  In my previous blog post I wrote about general ways to celebrate a green Christmas and now I give you the low down on eco-present giving.

The Ultimate Collection of Green Christmas Ideas

Christmas is just around the corner and for those trying to lead a more green and sustainable life this can be a difficult time.  The constant pressure from adverts to BUY, BUY, BUY can all too easily force you into the mindset that the only way to have the perfect Christmas is to buy masses of new stuff - presents, cards, wrapping paper, decorations, food and drinks, clothes, new sofas, new technology .... And only when you do this will you have the picture perfect time as seen in all the big budget TV adverts, magazines articles, billboards and so on which are inescapable at this time of year.

It is difficult not to get sucked in.  Who doesn't want a fabulous meal or to see the delight on children's faces as they rip open their presents on Christmas Day?  Perhaps you want to be the decorated home everyone talks about with your magazine perfect brand new every year decorations?  Or maybe you can see beyond the glitter and the tinsel for what Christmas is really all about - plastic, excess packaging, waste, food miles, lining the pockets of big business, exploitation of workers, family debt etc.

Now don't get me wrong.  I am not saying we all turn into Scrooge and bah humbug our way through the festive season.  But I do believe we can all have just as much fun without all the excess.  So I asked on a couple of Facebook groups (Make Do and Mend and Zero Waste Heroes!) and among my fellow bloggers and friends what they do at Christmas to keep keep it green whilst still having fun and I got MASSES of responses.  So much so I have going to have to put them in to 2 blog posts - one for present ideas (Green Christmas Present Ideas - The Ultimate List) and one for everything else!

Going Green #12 - Nov 2017

Welcome to Going Green.  This is the place to promote all your green, sustainable, environmental, seasonal, local, organic, fair trade, ethical etc posts ... basically any post that helps or inspires readers to preserve and improve our beautiful world.  If you are not sure what posts would be good or need some ideas have a look here where you'll find all the details about the linky >>> Going Green Linky.

Green Christmas

Christmas can be a trying time for green minded people - the pressure to buy so much stuff and eat to excess is all around from TV to Internet, in the shops and at schools and businesses.  I would like to write a post giving some great ways to green up Christmas and for that I need your help.  Have you got some innovative ideas of how we can celebrate in style without spending a fortune and more importantly for the planet, without creating more waste?  Maybe you have some ideas for presents you can make or some delicious recipes for home-made festive food?  What about natural decorations or home-made cards?  Or have you ways you spend Christmas that don't involve any spending at all?

If you have any ideas you would like to share please either leave a comment below or use the contact form in the right hand column.  Do give a link to your blog, if you have one and I will link back to you.  Let's see if together we can wean ourselves off the excess that is the 21stcentury Christmas and be able to wish everyone a Very Happy GREEN Christmas.

Weekly Green Tips #34 - 7 Foods in season at Christmas

Week 34 - Christmas Food with Seasonal Ingredients

Christmas is a great time for sharing some lovely food with family and friends ... and there is plenty of seasonal  produce to choose from.  Here are my top 7 seasonal Christmas foods and some great recipe ideas.  Foods in season relate to the UK and northern France.

Weekly Green Tips #33 - 7 Tips to Reduce Christmas Waste

Week 33 - Tips to Reduce Christmas Waste

Christmas is a time for giving and receiving but the downside of this is it is also a time of huge waste.  Unilever estimated that in 2014 the equivalent of 4.2 million Christmas dinners were chucked away i.e. around 263,000 turkeys and over 7 million mince pies.  Each year some 1.12 billion cards are sent in the UK with no way of knowing how many end up in landfill.  There is more ....each Christmas the UK public throws away:

> 226,800 miles of wrapping paper
> 125,000 tons of plastic wrapping
> 10 million items of turkey packaging.
> 25 million Christmas pudding packets

And this is just the UK - multiply these figures up across the world and we are looking at an unimaginable amount of waste.  So what can we do to reduce the amount of waste each Christmas generates?  Here are my top 7 tips to reduce Christmas waste.

Weekly Green Tips #32 - 7 Green Christmas Present Ideas

Week 32 -7 Green Christmas Present Ideas

With the festive season fast approaching and many people being far more organised than me when it comes to present shopping I thought a post in my Weekly Green Tips series about the types of presents you can give whilst helping the environment would be a timely idea.  Rather than listing specific green items I am, instead, suggesting how you can switch your whole buying ethos to one that moves away from the huge excesses that currently seem the festive norm.  Can we work together to make this a Christmas where you still give generously but not excessively?

Beach Walk - December 27th 2105

Boxing Day Beach Walk in Normandy. 

How did you spend your Boxing Day?

Merry Christmas from Eco-Gites of Lenault

..... and all the best for 2016

21 Ways to make Christmas Sustainable

Normally, we the hour difference between France and England, we record evening programmes to watch later in the week.  However, last Sunday I really wanted to watch the final episode of  Downton Abbey so Simon and I settled watched it live .... you know, without being able to fast forward through the adverts.  Well, I can tell you, that came as a bit of a shock.  You see in France, Christmas does not really get going until December yet here we were, on November 8th, with every single advert Christmas themed.  And not just Christmas themed but big, long, expensively made adverts yelling loudly at us that we'd only have a great Christmas if we spent all our money in their stores and on their products.  One even insisted that our meal would be ruined unless we spent out on a new cooker.  Well, this got me thinking.

Don't get me wrong, if people want to spend loads of money for their friends and family at Christmas that's fine and we need people to spend money to help the economy.  What worries me is the fact that ALL these adverts, without fail, were from the large companies that dominate our high streets and internet at the expense of local, independent and ethical producers.  After all, a local shop is not going to be able to spend  £1m on an advert and a further £6m in advertising slots, is it as I read one chain-store has done?  It's pretty obvious these big, often multinational retailers are pushing to get us to spend our hard earned cash with them but there is another way - a way that ultimately should help the economy even more and that is far more sustainable. So, before you head off up The High Street or online to one of the big retailers whose slick advert you saw on the TV, think about spending your money in places that cannot afford massive advertising budgets in prime time TV but that can help get the economy moving... 

"Think about shopping in local shops, from small producers and those who produce ethical goods.  Think about spend less with the big retailers and think outside of the box a bit"

So here are 21 ideas to help you spread out where you spend your money this Christmas which is that bit more sustainable.*

Food and Drink

Do not automatically head to the local hypermarket this Christmas when there are so many other places you can get your groceries:

• Local butchers, delis etc. where you'll get great tasting food from people who really care about selling you the best.
• Farmers' Markets and farm shops sell a wealth of fabulous goodies that you won't find in the big stores just waiting to make your meals this Christmas so much more interesting.
• Online small producers - why not buy some-one a whole lamb for the freezer or an organic veg box for a year?  Rosewood Farm grassfed beef and lamb would love to supply your Christmas dinner this year.

Presents

Everyone loves opening a present so here are some ideas that can help steer you away from the big shops:

• Support local independent shops
• Buy from small Etsy stores
• Buy from self employed crafters who sell their crafts and wares via social media.
• Support local bookshops - a recent radio programme said these were down to 1000 in the UK, the lowest number since records began, yet slowly new ones are opening and doing well.  You might spend a bit more in a local shop but you won't have the hassle of waiting in for deliveries that don't come or lost items or returns and anyway, time spent browsing in a bookshop is, in my opinion, never time wasted!
• See if you friends are making anything and buy from them
• Buy from charity shops - many also sell new goods if you are not happy with second hand.
• Plants - the gift that keeps on growing. Search out your local nursery and you'll get the best plants for your locality
• Support local artists by buying their artwork
• Make presents yourself - home-made preserves, cakes, sweets, fruit vodkas for those handy in the kitchen or what-ever you are good at turning your hand to.  Just don't forget to support local businesses when buying your supplies! 
• Above all support ethical, fair trade and organic suppliers where possible.

Oh and don't forget the wrapping paper - look for recycled paper or use brown paper and decorate it yourself.  Pinterest is a great source of inspiration for natural embellishments you can add to your wrapped presents which makes the gift even more special.

Non gift presents

Not all presents have to be something tangible in a wrapped box.  How about these ideas?

• Give a service such as vouchers for car washing, baby sitting etc
• Lessons - there are just so many things people could learn - riding, ice skating, an instrument etc
• Buy tickets to your local theatre
• Support local restaurants and splash out on a posh meal.
• Sponsor a child, a dolphin, a herd of goats .. . whatever grabs your fancy
• Give a Kiva loan
• Give a charity donation
• Book a holiday with an independent home owner .... I know a nice family owned gite in Normandy ;)

*A final thought

As with so many things the answer to sorting out world economic problems is not as simple as just not buying anything from the big suppliers, however unsustainable they might be.   I mentioned earlier about spreading out where you do your shopping because if we all turned our backs on these stores and suppliers we would put an awful lot of people out of work, many who are already at the bottom of the wage pile.  Not just shop workers but also suppliers, transporters and everyone else involved getting your present under your tree.  However, if little by little, we support the small producers we will start to make a difference.  They will do well and will have more money in their pocket to spend with other such producers.  New independent shops will open, providing secure jobs for local people.  You can be part of this change, so this Christmas this is my festive message:

Enjoy the big adverts but don't not forget that there are plenty of other great places you can spend your money and in doing so you will be helping your local economy and local people.

Post Christmas Walk

Posted by Rosie

On Boxing Day we do like to get out for a nice long walk - this year however Boxing Day was drizzly and really rather horrible and not ideal for a decent walk.  Also, having spent Christmas Day in the gite we needed to get it ready for guests who were arriving on Saturday evening.  So this year we spent Boxing Day sorting and cleaning as well as playing Jungle Speed (Ben's new game) and delayed our walk until Saturday.  Good choice it turned out!

Boxing Day dawned cold, blue-skied and very windy - ideal conditions for a walk along the Normandy coast at Ouistreham, especially when you have 6 dogs to take along with you!  Do you reckon they were looking forward to the beach?

Six dogs waiting for a seaside walk

On the way there this cockerel cloud was espied but luckily the clouds that were bubbling up dumped their rain around rather than on us.  

Can you see the cockerel?

The wind continued to blow hard though which made for very choppy seas and perfect conditions for the braver souls than us who like to kite surf and windsurf:

Brave kite surfers

And a brave windsurfer

It was however a bit challenging for the birds although these dunlin did well against the strong wind.  The goose we saw later found going westwards much harder though!

Dunlin battling against the wind

On finishing our walk we returned to the car for much needed hot chocolate and cake.  Cobwebs were completely blown away and we had managed not to get wet.  After all the excesses of Christmas Day this had been the perfect antidote.

Did you mange to get out for a walk on or after Christmas? 

Ginger Café Gourmand

Posted by Rosie

A popular dessert in France is a Café Gourmand, a cup of espresso (or tea/hot chocolate) served with a selection of mini desserts.  I love this way of eating dessert as you get to try more than one pudding without totally pigging out.  For the last few Christmases we have done a Christmas Café Gourmand and this year we continued the tradition but with a ginger theme.


So what did we have?

A cup of coffee/lemon and ginger tea or hot chocolate depending on taste!
A mini ginger cheesecake with rhubarb topping
Ginger cake
Ginger ice cream
Squirty cream with marrow and ginger jam.

Ginger Café Gourmand

It made a fitting end to a lovely Christmas meal, rich and creamy but small enough not to be sickly or too filling.

The cheesecake was a Waitrose recipe, the ginger cake was from my wonderful Farmhouse cookbook, the marrow and ginger jam recipe is here and the ice cream is my own invention.

Marrow and Ginger Jam

 

Ginger Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 400g tin condensed milk
• 500g pot crème fraîche
• 2 balls of stem ginger - chopped finely
• 2 tbsp syrup from the jar of stem ginger

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients together and stir thoroughly
2. Tip into an ice cream machine and set to whisk - if you don't have an ice cream maker the ice cream can be poured into a freezer container and frozen, then mixed thoroughly by hand when partly frozen.
3. Once the ice cream maker has finished the cycle pour the ice cream into a freezer container.  The stem ginger has a tendency to sink so a flatter container is the best to use.  Alternatively give the mixture a stir when half frozen to distribute the ginger.

Note - The syrup prevents this ice cream freezing solid like other home-made ice creams so it is not necessary to allow it to soften at room temperature before serving.

What did you have for your Christmas dessert?  Did you go for Christmas pudding or did you chose something different? 

Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve - Réveillon

Posted by Rosie

Today is Christmas Eve, known in France as Réveillon with the word coming from the verb réveiller, to wake up or revive.  Whilst in the UK Christmas Eve is all too often spent frantically rushing round getting last minute things done before Christmas Day (or is that just me?) in France it is the start of the main Christmas festivities.

Réveillon is a time for family gatherings so having many members of a family sit down around the table is not uncommon.  And the meal will be something extra special.  Exactly what is eaten varies with each region and may include such delicacies as lobster, oysters, smoked salmon, escargots (snails), foie gras and turkey.  It will be many courses over several hours and even young children stay up until well past midnight when dessert will finally be served.  This is often a Bûche de Noël or Yule Log. In times gone by it was traditional to burn a Yule log over the festive period but as fires became less common the edible variety took over.  If you don't fancy trying your luck at rolling the cake and icing it supermarkets and patisseries sell beautifully crafted logs for you to buy.

In France, children do not hang stockings for Father Christmas to fill but instead place slippers or wooden clogs called sabots in the hearth.  They may leave carrots in them for Père Noël's donkey, Gui and hope that Père Noël will arrive and fill them with small gifts ... if they have been good!

We have lived in France now for7 years but as is probably common with many expats, we retain many of our home traditions.  There will be no gargantuan meal on Christmas Eve for us and we will be eating our main meal tomorrow, on Christmas Day.  Stockings will be hung in hopeful expectation of presents being delivered by Father Christmas and his reindeer but in breaking with tradition there will be no whole roast turkey and no Christmas pudding.  For main course we are having some roast pork and a breast of roast turkey (both our own of course) and for pudding we are going for something French with our own twist - a ginger-themed Café Gourmand: a cup of espresso (or tea/hot chocolate for non coffee drinkers) served with several little desserts all gingery in flavour.  Photos to follow later (if I remember!).  We have done a similar thing for several years now - our own expat tradition!

Christmas Café Gourmand

Just time then to wish you all a Happy Christmas.  Translated into French this is Joyeux Noël but it is more common to say Bonnes fêtes de fin d'année or simply Bonnes fêtes - Happy end of year celebrations.  So where-ever you are and however you celebrate Christmas ...

Bonnes fêtes de fin d'année ! 

Merry Christmas from Animal Tales

Posted by Rosie

The Animal Tales Linky is taking a rest this week so in the meantime Poppy and Saari would like to miss all our human and animal friends a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

(Animal Tales will be back next Tuesday ~ December 30th)