DELIA SPEAKS OUT (Daily Mirror 16th February 2008)
Delia Smith has blasted Jamie Oliver's costly organic and free-range produce saying it is more important that poor families can get affordable nutritious food.
The cookery queen, 66, hit out at Jamie, who is paid £1.2million a year as the face of Sainsburys, and Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall for their campaign to eat expensively reared chicken.
Delia, who has sold more than 19 million cook books to Jamie's six million, said: "I don't like the way battery chickens are treated but I am aware there is a lot of poverty in this country among children. I feel that is a disgrace and we have got to make sure everybody gets enough nutritious food in the first place."
She told Radio 4's Today programme: "If the whole world goes organic then the state of the third world will be twice as bad as it is now.
"And I am much more concerned with people getting enough to eat."
Delia, who has collaborated with Asda over a new range of products inspired by her recipes, said she was sceptical about "food miles".
She added: "I do love fresh shelled peas that you can buy in the winter from Kenya.
"I'm sorry about the planet and the problems of emissions, but I am also conscious that there are people in Kenya who are getting employment and enough money to bring up their children from that produce." Asked if she thought organic food was best, she added: "I don't do organic because I am a cook. I can't get into the politics of food. If I go into a shop and want to buy some beautiful fresh beetroot, I will buy whatever looks the best.
"And if that is organic I might buy it. If it isn't, I will buy that.
Delia's roasting of Jamie came as she launched her new book called How To Cheat At Cooking.
She said: "I just felt we needed a new way of cooking, not for every day but for busy days."
Asda head chef Neil Nugent said: "There's nothing to be ashamed about when it comes to cheating your way to success in the kitchen."
THE SOIL ASSOCIATION AND THE FACTS
In recent press articles the Soil Association have claimed that “Sales of free-range and organic eggs have also overtaken sales of eggs from caged birds for the first time”.
Closer examination of their Organic Market Report 2007 clearly states that “The combined sales value of free range and organic eggs exceeded that of cage eggs for the first time.” A subtle change, but one that suits their campaign.
The production split in the UK, as recorded by DEFRA in their July Eggs Statistics Report, is 62% cage production, 28% free range, 6% organic, 4% barn.
What the Soil Association really means is that their 34% of the market share has a greater monetary value than the 66% of cage and barn production and not that there are more Free Range and Organic eggs being sold.
This highlights the true cost of eggs produced by alternative methods, which have no proven better nutritional value than intensively produced eggs.
The public have a choice how they spend their money, but they must be able to judge from the true facts and not distorted ones.
Organic Report
HENS KEPT IN BATTERY CAGES ARE NO MORE STRESSED THAN THEIR FREE-RANGE COUNTERPARTS
So says a report in the Daily Mail on the 15th July. Researchers at the Sydney University measured the amounts of a hormone produced when hens are frightened. Their findings call into question the common belief that hens which are allowed to roam free are happier.
Similar amounts of the hormone were found in the eggs of both kinds of birds. Scientists believe this is because free-range hens have to deal with extra pressures such as extremes of temperature, more parasites and the threat of predators.
A spokesman for the British Egg Information Service welcomed the findings saying the welfare of hens was of paramount importance however they were kept.
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