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Delia: Keep battery hens for the poor
Last updated at 12:58pm on 15.02.08
Turning up the heat: Delia says she does not 'do organic'
Delia Smith hit out at "food trendies" today and said cheap chicken is essential so that the poor have something to eat.
She also said that she did not "do organic" and liked to eat peas flown in from Kenya.
Her remarks, which will be seen as a swipe at "politically correct" TV chefs such as
Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, have triggered a great food debate because of the vast influence Delia - the queen of cookbooks - has.
Delia, the 66-year-old matriach of British cookbooks, said she did not get involved in the "politics of food".
In an interview with Radio 4's Today programme, she said: "I'll stick to teaching people to cook. I don't like the way battery chickens are reared but, on the other hand, we still have a lot of poverty, particularly among children, and I feel that's a disgrace.
"We have to make sure everybody gets enough nutritious food to eat in the first place."
Delia, whose new book How To Cheat At Cooking hits stores today, added that trying to make the "right" shopping decisions were "really confusing". "Yes I do love freshly shelled peas that you can only get in the winter from Kenya," she declared.
She said that, although she was "sorry about the planet" she was also aware that poor farmers in the developing world depended on their harvests being flown to countries such as Britain.
Delia also had a swipe at "food faddists" who insist on the importance of organic food, saying that whether or not a product was organic was not important to her - what mattered when she shopped was whether food looked good or not.
"I'm a cook. I can't get into the politics of food. I don't have the knowledge and I don't have the background.
"If I go into a shop and I want to buy some beautiful fresh beetroot I will go for whatever looks best.
If it is organic I will buy it, if it isn't I will buy that."
Her comments will turn the recent tide for organic food. Since Jamie Oliver's programme, sales of organic chicken have risen by 36 per cent.
Her book - her first publication-in four years - is expected to be a massive bestseller.
Asda, which has cut the price of the book from £15 to £8 has quadrupled its stock of products featured in How To Cheat At Cooking in anticipation of a sales surge. A spokesman for the chain said: "Delia's accessible and realistic approach is a recipe for success. So much so we are confident that it will put Jamie Oliver sales on the backburner."
The book features more than 150 recipes. Its launch will be followed by a six-part BBC television series. Delia Smith's previous books sold more than 19 million copies. Her original How To Cheat at Cooking was published with Ebury Press in 1971.
Reader views (18)
Delia is clueless. Being the boring, uninspiring, dated cook that she is, she is now trying to get media attention by saying controversial things designed to get her attention. How pathetic!
- Mary, Bath, UK
What Delia is saying is that everyone has a right to afford Chicken - regardless of how appalling the suffering of the birds is to make it affordable. Why is eating chicken a moral right - and why isn't animal welfare a moral right? When I was a child (1960's) chicken was too expensive to eat every day. Now we take it for granted as a staple - and must have it - but NOT AT ANY PRICE - PLEASE!
- Ally, Eastbourne
This really seems to have rattled the cages of the bearded Guardian reading brigade! What she says is correct, the conditions that these animals are kept in is not good, but they feed a great many people in this country who have a very tight budget, and a whole chicken battery or organic could feed a family for two days.
- Mike, London
I vote for Delia's common sense over trendy nonsense any day!
- Warren Alexander, London, UK
The point that Delia is making is that the price of organic chicken is way beyond the means of many families. If it means that by buying battery chicken a child/family gets a better balanced diet then I am all for that.
- Fiona, London
Delia's comments are baffling for someone who professes to understand good food. I suspect she may just be trying to shift a few more books by stirring up a bit of controversy. Maybe she's just annoyed with Messrs Oliver and Fearnley-Whittingstall for making her cooking look dated and boring.
Either way, I won't be eating battery chicken again, and I certainly won't be buying Delia's book (and neither will anyone who actually has an ounce of respect for animals).
- Mark, London
I completely agree with Delia and am pleased that at last a high profile name has added a new and realistic view on this debate. The sad fact is that the level of child poverty in this country is increasing, with 1 child in 3 living in poverty and 1 household in 5 with a child not being able to provide adequate heating due to lack of money.
It is imperative that these children eat as nutritionally balanced a diet as possible - and I for one would not hesitate to buy cheap chicken meat if in this situation if it meant my child ate a better meal. The current focus surely puts pressure on the lower income households to spend more on weekly food - and makes them feel guilty for not being able to buy free range or organic.
I am sure everyone knows the problems with battery farms but a choice between a child and a chicken - I know which one I would choose.
For the record I am fortunate enough to buy free range, but I do not condone anyone for choosing the cheaper options if it enables them to feed their families.
- Katherine, London
If Delia is worried about nutrition for poor children, she should care more about the quality of the food than about its appearance! These battery farmed chickens are full of antibiotics and other chemicals. They are diseased.
- Maria, London, UK
What a surprise, Delia is making her annual 'controversial' comments. Remember when she criticised chefs last time and got in the news? I think she had a book out that time as well.
- Tom, London
The poor? The same people wearing branded trainers buying heat magazine and appearing on Jeremy Kyle?
- Daveb, london
I have never previously held any kind of opinion about Delia Smith, however since reading her sensible comments about organic foods and her suggestion that they do not automatically taste better, I have developed a great deal of respect for the lady. And, she is right in that the poorer members of society should have more concern about eating affordably and nutritiously than about animal welfare.
- Jonathan, Osaka, Japan
I feel that if animals were reared in decent conditions, and supermarkets charged less, people could still afford to eat meat (not necessarily every day) and the supermarkets would still make a profit. I am disappointed that Delia feels this way, I have always had a lot of respect for her, but not any more.
- Jennifer Murray, Elgin, UK
Hurrah for Delia, finally a sensible approach from someone in the public eye...the woolly jumper brigade can continue to get their organic cress and be ripped off in the process.
ordinary people can enjoy nutritious meals at affordable prices.
- Lex Hatton, Bedford
I grudgingly have to agree with Delia. I have switched to free range and organic but it is far more expensive and the majority of people feed their families on a budget and cannot afford that luxury. Not everyone can afford to adopt the stance that is being preached by Jamie, Hugh et al. The pressure should surely be put on the big supermarkets to reduce their profits by providing products from well cared for animals without hugely inflated prices.
- Mandy, Essex
I think Delia's passing her sell-by date, time for the next celebrity cook!
- Nick Fielding, London
I see the points on both sides; but the reality is that not everyone can afford the high cost of organic products and free range poultry. I saw my weekly food bill more than double when I decided to get into healthier eating habits. I'm not poor by any stretch of the imagination, but I do have to mind my spending. It is astounding to me that fish, poultry and produce can be so prohibitively expensive, and yet the best deals in the markets are often for processed foods especially ready meals. It seems that we are damned if we do or don't no matter what we do.
- Lisa, London
...and how well said. I agree so much. Personal choice, and means to afford one's self that choice are too disregarded!
- Ed, London, UK
So Delia it's OK to torture chickens as long as it results in cheap meat! You have no respect for these animals and now I have no respect for you.
- Lisa, Essex
