At the risk of blogging about nothing but chicken, I came across this story about how Tesco has now managed to produce a chicken that costs only £1.99. Previously their cheapest chicken which cost £3.30 had been criticised for the poor conditions in which the birds were reared. I wonder what corners have been cut to produce this cheaper £1.99 chicken. Although Tesco have also increased orders for free range birds by 30% they have been criticised for this latest cut in costs. A spokesman for the National Farmers Union has said that Tesco are “devaluing the product and doing it at a time when, overall, the market is strengthening and chicken prices are rising”. He also said that unless Tesco were going to subsidise the cheap chickens that it was not a sustainable price. Tesco say that the price cut does not mean that welfare standards have been lowered and that its birds are “raised in the highest welfare environment”. The £1.99 chicken fared worse in a recent taste test carried out by The Daily Mail.