[HappyHippy]

I was reading a packet of "Butchers Choice - Cumberland Sausages"
(Only 68% pork btw  ) and spotted a link to tescofarming.com - not having seen it before, I had a wee nosey. Obviously the pork was the one I was interested in  Now, it turns out that Tesco's outdoor pork is hardly that at all (don't know why I wasn't surprised) 
They live with mum in the field til they're weaned, then go into straw pens in a barn in a field  then off to another barn to be finished - can this really be called outdoor pork ?
Your thoughts please peeps.......
Oh, and here's the link if anyone wants a read http://tescofarming.com/v3/best-of-british-item.asp?id=2
Karen 

[robert waddell]

you did not know this karen
what price was there 68% pork and what was the other 32%
new label laws are introduced to inform that bacon contains more than 5% water      just wait till that kicks in
if you had looked at the photo in the scottish farmer 2 weeks ago with jimmy doherty sitting on an ark with more arks in the background and the straw barns beyond and that was scotland

[JulieS]

Very interesting reading Karen.

I love the use of the word 'barn', I'm not sure the buildings they are in are exactly what people imagine a barn to be like.

[lachlanandmarcus]

The whole food labelling thing is a scandal

Like stuff processed in Britain being labelled british even tho there are no british ingredients in it
Like cross bred animals being able to be labelled as tho they were pure bred - even Waitrose goes in for that sleight of hand. Complained to them and got no response.
Like the worst one in my opinion 'Outdoor bred' pork - which at a quick glance the consumer thinks of as outdoor living. No, just a quick shag in the sunlight and those pigs never ever saw the light of day again, being born and living their whole lives in those 'barns'.

It makes me sick!

[robert waddell]

barns =large polytunnels
it is either lidl or aldi    that buy cast sows from Britain export them to germany as half carcasses  processed in germany (that is where the cutting plant is) and re imported to Britain
the waitrose scandal was well enough publicised    maybe Mr pig will come on with the details ?
i can remember the twilight myself
the life cycle of the outdoor pig reared commercially     when the piglets are 4-6 weeks old mother is taken of from her young inside to the service shed  once in pig back out to freedom then when due back in farrows inside  piglets old enough they all go outside until 4-6 weeks old  piglets go to the polytunnels  feed available 24/7  at 16 weeks approx of to slaughter    the only time they are inside is service and farrowing the rest is open to your definition of what constitutes outside  or there definition

[faith0504]

From someone who has tried them let me tell you they are shite 

[princesspiggy]

is it not the same as "scotch-assured" beef - that is solely "grass-fed"?
in my head i thought grass-fed meant grazing, but in actual fact they can spend their whole lives (2 years?) in a dark barn eating sillage (which is "grass" so perfectly accurate.) but it works out better profit for farmer as less feeding required to get ideal weight. shame not to be able to run and kick ur heels all ur life, or feel the sun on your back.

[lachlanandmarcus]

I hadnt come across that one princesspiggy. It just makes me wonder how many people these shysters employ to sit around thinking of these deliberately misleading words.

Time they got a hefty ASA ruling against them I think, as they are clearly trying to mislead: to me, silage isnt grass (esp as a lot has additives in it to prevent mould etc), it is preserved forage and should be described as such.

The moral of the story is; if it aint free-range and described as such (and certified if its a place you cant visit to see the animals), then it's probably not what you think when you read the label.

Just reinforces why we raise our own lamb and why I on balance feel ok about sending our boys off to the abbatoir after a year and a half of happy outdoor life with no forced weaning, long spells inside or host of processed feeds.

[Sylvia]

I once asked in Tesco what "outdoor born" meant in relation to the meat I expected to buy. They just got very shitty about it!

[Rosemary]

I once asked in Tesco what "outdoor born" meant in relation to the meat I expected to buy. They just got very shitty about it!

Maybe we should all go to our local Tesco this weekend and ask what it means. For a laugh.

[Roxy]

Good idea, Rosemary.  Our local Tesco is only small, but seems to be over run with suited men and women -so there is enough of them on the shop floor to answer that simple question  (bet they would get round it though!)

[sabrina]

Its all just one big con 

[SallyintNorth]

Well it's certainly cynical.  Like a lot of 'marketing'.  As though every consumer is an expert in what each precise bit of wording really means.   

Anyway, for what it's worth, as I understand it the terms should be used as follows:

• outdoor bred : sows are outdoors from serving, usually until close to farrowing, or may farrow outdoors too
• outdoor reared : piglets are outdoors (with mum) until weaning, usually at 6-8 weeks
• free-range : whole life outdoors with prescribed parameters about the amount of space and grass available ^(*)
• organic : as free-range plus all ground is organic and all feed is organic.  I think mum has to be organic too ^(*)

^(*) I was horrified to find growers for Soil Association certified pork being kept in dingy strawed sheds with an outdoor concrete run but no view through the walls and no stimulation.  The Soil Association told me that the rearers are allowed to bring pigs into strawed yards to finish for the last month.  In theory there is supposed to be a good reason why this happens - ground waterlogged, for instance - but in practise I think many producers just do it as a matter of course, stating that you can't finish pigs outdoors unless it's really dry and warm.

[Sylvia]

This is why we rear our own