Delia Smith's astonishing attack on organic food: 'Battery chickens are necessary to feed poor families'

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Delia Smith: 'I can't get into the politics of food'

Delia Smith has risked the anger of fellow TV chefs by supporting the sale of battery chickens and challenging the craze for organic food.

The queen of TV cookery said that access to cheap chicken is crucial for poor families and pensioners.

"I certainly don't like the way battery chickens are reared but, on the other hand, I'm aware we still have a lot of poverty, particularly among children and I feel that's a disgrace," she told Radio 4 yesterday.

"We have got to make sure everybody gets enough nutritious food to eat in the first place."

Her stance puts her at odds with fellow chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who have both presented anti-animal cruelty programmes on Channel 4 recently.

It was reported yesterday that sales of organic chickens have soared by 36 per cent in the last few weeks following the airing of Jamie's Fowl Dinners and Hugh's Chicken Run.

But if the impact of Delia's previous pronouncements is anything to go by, her support for cheaper birds could see them flying off the shelves.

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Highly recommended: Products used by Delia Smith, such as Aunt Bessie's mash and M&S's minced lamb, are flying off the shelves

Delia's new book, an update of her 1971 classic How to Cheat at Cooking, features more than 150 recipes using pre-prepared foods to help her readers cut corners.

The "Delia effect" is already having a staggering impact on sales of the products she has endorsed.

For example, sales of tinned lamb from Marks&Spencer have trebled since the product was recommended by Delia in a Daily Mail serialisation of the book last weekend.

The lamb was used in a Shepherd's Pie, which was topped with frozen mashed potato from the Aunt Bessie's range.

That product has also seen a quadrupling of orders.

Delia also recommended Marks&Spencer's jars of roasted red and yellow peppers for a salsa to be served with chicken. Sales have risen 50 per cent.

Her insistence that home cooks should not feel guilty if they do not have time to make everything from scratch is typical of her no-nonsense approach.

Demand: Delia thinks battery conditions are less important than the nutrition the chickens provide

In the interview on the Radio 4 Today programme, she also made clear she has little time for the banner-waving of her fellow TV chefs, who have turned food and health into a crusade.

"I will stick to cooking," said Delia.

"I'll stick to teaching people to cook. I can't get into the politics of food."

She said that the taste of food mattered more than whether its ingredients were organic or environmentally friendly.

"If I go into a shop and I want to buy some beautiful fresh beetroot I will go for whatever looks best," she added.

"If it is organic I will buy it; if it isn't I will buy that."

She added that she is sceptical about the concept of "food miles" - the yardstick used by environmentalists to measure how much damage is caused by long-distance transport.

"I love fresh shelled peas in the winter from Kenya," she said.

"I'm sorry about the planet but I'm conscious there are people in Kenya getting employment and money to bring up their children."

The magical effect of a Delia Smith recommendation has achieved legendary status.

She is credited with improving sales of everything from eggs to sea salt.

The evidence is mounting that her book - which will also be at the heart of a TV series on the BBC later this year - will have the same impact.

Delia is not being paid for endorsing the "cheat" products featured in the book, which are available from Asda, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Waitrose and Marks&Spencer.

The product development chief for the M&S ingredients range, Katy Patino, said: "Since the Daily Mail serialised the book, sales of the minced lamb, roasted red and yellow peppers and minced beef have all increased dramatically."

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Campaigner: TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall comes under fire from Delia for highlighting battery-cage cruelty

Heinz, which makes Aunt Bessie's frozen mash, is also primed for extra demand.

Spokesman Amanda Walker said: "We've seen orders for Aunt Bessie's Mash as much as quadrupling in anticipation of the Delia Effect.

"We all love the taste of homecooked food but, like Delia says, realistically we don't always have time to peel, boil, then mash potatoes."

How to Cheat at Cooking is Delia's first book for four years.

According to online retailer Amazon, it is already at the top of the bestseller charts and is on track to be the most popular cookery book ever published.

Waterstone's book buyer Glen Holmes said: "It is going to be an absolute monster.

"Her first book came out before Jamie Oliver was born. There is nothing she doesn't know about cookery writing."

 

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