Hi, I'm Frank, and that's Dannie. We live in a modest enough 3-bedroom house with a narrow but generous (100 ft) garden in the market town of Chelmsford, Essex (UK, pop.150,000). We have two dawgs, Pippa and Bobby, and a pond with an ever-decreasing number of fish. 
When this site went live in 1996 we used to eat only Free Range food, but since early '97 we have gone completely vegetarian. So before we pontificate about our Chukkies, first a little background so you know where we're coming from.
Like most people, we'd love all animals to live long happy and healthy lives and to be fluffy and cuddly and stuff like that. But the truth is they don't and they aren't. The food manufacturers package your meat and dairy products in such a way that unless you try hard, its origins are of less concern than the price. You'll read about Battery Hens later. Ugh!
Also like most people, we weren't Vegetarians nor Vegans. We were Omnivores, yet whenever we used to eat our pre-packaged and processed foods, more and more in the back of our minds was the knowledge that a lot of pain and suffering goes into that neat and tidy packaging that contained our meat and dairy products.
Our Philosophy?
- Although we belive it is wrong to kill animals for food, we also accept we are in the minority. For the time being we have to accept that the majority of people feel they have an inalienable right to eat meat.
- Whether we eat meat or not, we do not believe that we have the right to treat animals with complete disregard for their instincts and feelings. They feel pain, they suffer and they deserve better.
- Food manufacturers are not interested in anything other than profit, the bottom line, the profit margin. If they did their boards and shareholders would be very upset. However, they ARE concerned with market share. People Power assisted greatly in getting rid of CFCs and bringing in Catalytic Converters - so too can it work for achieving greater compassion for farmed animals.
Our Answer?
- We're no heroes, but from little acorns great oaks grow. Until we turned to Vegetarianism we kept away as much as possible from red meats, and bought what meat and poultry we did eat from 'Green' farms in the form of FREEDOM FOOD.
- Even when you buy eggs that say FREE RANGE that's not always what it means, so in order to be sure and do our little bit for the poor battery hen we decided to get our own chickens! ...
When you see how easy it is, you can do this too. Remember that we did this living in a purely residential area in a town of 150,000 or so. You can do your bit, especially when it's as easy as this!
And when enough of you stop buying mass-produced eggs (however 'humane') the big HyperMarkets (who buy most of them) will have to change their ways. It worked with CFCs: the only thing producers and retailers listen to is buying power - YOURS!
