New Zealand's foul dinners
Home » Magazine » Good, issue 3 » Good start » New Zealand's foul dinnersThe shocking truth about battery hens: the same tiny cages Europe has banned are being adopted in New Zealand
I watched Jamie’s Fowl Dinners and learned the UK is banning battery hen cages from 2012. Is there a similar initiative on the agenda here?
Ellie Smith
The bad news is there are no plans afoot to ban the New Zealand battery cage. But it gets worse. Incredibly, the same sized cages that will be banned by the EU by 2012 are what New Zealand is planning to adopt in 2014 as our minimum standard.
From 1 January 2014, all battery hen cages will need to provide 550cm2 per bird. Currently they’re only given 500cm2 each. Either way, it’s a paltry amount of space for poultry, with up to five birds in a cage only allowing each bird a space smaller than an A4 sheet of paper. (The new minimum standard in Europe is 750cm2 per bird.)
“The only reason we have cheap eggs is because of the cruel system we use,” says Hans Kriek, campaign director for SAFE (Save Animals From Exploitation). “We make the animals pay the real price.” Battery hens have no room to flap wings or walk freely; they stand all day and night on a wire mesh floor. Their feathers are damaged and broken by the wires and close proximity of the other birds, their feet become deformed, and their legs are weakened by lack of exercise.
Barn hens, by comparison, live indoors but in a space that allows them to flap their wings and walk around. Free-range hens have an even better time of it. Free during the day to range outdoors and out, they can forage, dust-bathe, flap their wings, and perform other natural behaviours.
Why is New Zealand so far behind the times on this issue?
The National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC), which advises the Minister of Agriculture, is due to review the code of welfare for layer hens in 2009. NAWAC says it would ideally like cages to be eventually phased out, but it is “unable to recommend replacement of cages … until such time as it can be shown that … in the context of supplying New Zealand’s ongoing egg consumption needs they would consistently provide better welfare outcomes for birds and be economically viable”.
In other words, it comes down to consumer demand for cheap eggs. Things are not going to change, it seems, unless shoppers send a clear message to egg farmers that we don’t want eggs from hens kept in such unnatural conditions.
It’s worth expressing your concern to your local MP, says Hans, but the only way things will improve is through consumer behaviour. If price is an issue, buy barn or free-range eggs (look for the RNZSPCA Approved logo), but eat fewer of them.
You might want to try locally made Really Good Peanut Butter
Why are most brands of peanut butter made in China? Shouldn’t Australian brands be cheaper, since it’s closer?
Nadine Bradding
You would think so, wouldn’t you? If only life was that simple. Peanut butter may be a commodity item these days, but that doesn’t mean it’s peanuts to produce.
Manufacturing peanut butter in Australia means paying high production costs, such as labour, and more for peanuts—if you can get them. Some Australian-made peanut butter is made with local nuts, but they may be imported from South America or elsewhere.
Chinese peanut butter costs less to make because of the quantity produced, lower production costs and a cheaper raw ingredient, since peanuts are grown in China. Even once the cost of shipping is factored in, Chinese peanut butter translates into a cheaper pot of nuttiness.
Not that it always comes down to price—Sanitarium shifted production to China late last year to stay competitive. The ensuing hoo-ha from concerned Sanitarium customers led the company to re-introduce a 500g pottle from Australia as a pricier alternative to the Chinese-made option.
You might want to try locally made Really Good Peanut Butter. Manufactured on a small scale in Nelson with nuts from Queensland, the popular spread can be bought at Nelson’s Freshchoice supermarket or Saturday market, and for $14.50 you can have it delivered anywhere in the country. “Our peanut butter is made with nuts and salt. There’s no other muck added,” says owner Pic Picot. “Kids really like it—even without the sugar. My son’s friends buy it with their pocket money.”
Or, like Auckland mother of four Helen Bayldon, you can make your own. Simply roast peanuts in a 180°C oven until nicely browned. Stir every 5–10 minutes so they roast evenly (the darker the roasted nut, the darker the spread). Allow to cool. (If you don’t want to blend all the roasted nuts, you can freeze them until you’re ready to make a new batch, but it won’t taste quite as fresh as if you blend it on the same day). Blend peanuts into a food processor. This step is very loud! Process for 2–3 minutes until the nuts are fine crumbs. Keep the processor running and add salt to taste, approximately 1 teaspoon per 500gm. Keep blending and add a tablespoon or two of oil until the crumbly mixture starts to bind together. Blend until thoroughly mixed then transfer into a jar to store, ready for slathering on your next slice of hot toast. Mmmm!
If you want your mushrooms free of plastic, let your supermarket know
Why do some mushrooms come on a foam tray with plastic wrap?
Ping Sim
Supermarkets provide paper bags for loose button mushrooms to stop them sweating when you get them in the fridge. But if they can give us paper bags for some of our mushrooms, why not all of them?
“Supermarkets do not package products. It’s done by the growers,” says Ian Pavey, a fresh produce manager at Progressive Enterprises. “Mushrooms are fragile—their high respiration rate means they loose moisture and condition very quickly. The packaging locks in the freshness and protects the mushrooms from damage.
“Packaging has reduced waste and has allowed the introduction of more fragile but flavoursome varieties. Customers have voted with their feet and sales continue to increase in this category.”
Ian says that since the introduction of packaging, they’ve seen the introduction of the open Portobello variety with significantly better flavour, generally increased sales and a reduction in waste. It used to be that most of the mushrooms we bought from supermarkets were button mushrooms, which do not damage so easily.
Clive Thompson, owner of the Parkvale Mushroom Factory in Carterton, says he is simply catering to his customers. “We sell half our mushrooms loose and the other half pre-packaged,” regardless of the variety. He says that’s because “some people don’t like to muck around in the supermarket, while others want to choose the mushrooms they want.”
If you want your mushrooms free of plastic, let your supermarket know. Choose them loose, and if they come in a tray, leave it behind in the produce department or at the checkout.
