A recent report by the RSPCA stated that 96 per cent of broiler chickens in the UK are raised under conditions which, according to EU guidelines, constitute cruelty.
Cramped conditions also generate diseases which can be passed on to humans 50 per cent of chickens are, according to the Food Standards Agency, contaminated with campylobacter (the main cause of human food poisoning) and six per cent with salmonella. Another report from Friends of the Earth identifies the Common Agricultural Policy, the weakness and ineptitude of the Government, and the strength of the supermarkets as barriers to a sustainable agricultural system.
As consumers, we can at least try to bust the system by supporting our local producers and retailers and our farmers markets.
Trevor Carbin,
Church Street,
Hilperton.
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