So there we have it. Sales of battery-farmed chickens down by as much as (but probably nowhere near) 10 million since this time last year, with free range chicken purchases up (with similar variability) by 4.4 million.

I reckon these fugures are probably somewhat exaggerated but even anecdotally i've noticed a shift, amongst my peers etc, to either buying a greater proportion of free range chicken, or indeed buying less chicken altogether.

The other day i asked a kebab shop blokey if his chickens were free range. He said they were. He was clearly lying as they were cheap and i don't hink he understood the qestion. He told me that eating one would make me healthy. I had chips.