Catch up with previous news at Clare's Organics.February 2008 NewsletterHello to you all. Well for once I am not about to start complaining about the weather. What a glorious few weeks we have had. It’s been a really nice change from getting soaked through or doing 10 rounds with the wind. The birds have really benefited too, ranging all day and me struggling to get them in each evening. One thing I have noticed over the last month is the extended daylight meaning I’m now shutting the birds up at about 6pm, rather than the December 4.30pm; this can only mean one thing, spring is just around the corner. Farmers RantWell, I’m sorry about my perpetual moaning but Clare no longer listens to me so this is my only outlet. My bugbear of the month has to be, that famous place where £1 out of every 8 is spent in this country, Tesco. Yes, Tesco appeared to have sunk to a new incredible low at the beginning of this month announcing their new lowest priced whole chicken at just £1.99. That’s less than a pint of beer and about the same as a Sunday paper. Tesco say this is to help the family on a tight budget. Come on Tesco, this is really, really wrong. With the average intensive poultry farmer getting around 2p per whole bird this can only put more pressure on the farmer coupled with the large increased feed / fuel costs in the later part of 2007 and ultimately this decision will put huge pressure on the welfare of the birds in these already welfare fragile systems. The only way Tesco can supply chicken at this price is by relying on cheap foreign imports where welfare isn’t considered as important. What kind of message is this sending out Tesco? Is this supporting already hard pressed farmers in the UK or is it yet another supermarket price war over cheap protein or do they really not give two hoots about animal welfare or giving a fair price to UK producers? Maybe there should be a UK version of fair-trade/fair welfare food. How did we as a nation let these few companies become so huge and powerful? I was going to make a reference to the buy one get one free promotions, or BOGOFF as it is known in the trade… I’ll let you decide what they should do. Box Delivery Dates For 2008I hope that you all remembered that your box delivery was Thursday from now on, if not here is a reminder of this years delivery dates.
"Oooh, my back!"I managed to put my back out a few weeks ago and it’s still painful, so I’m afraid that’s it for this month because it hurts to sit still for too long. Have a great month and enjoy your boxes. Until March,
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