By Tom Woolman, customer services manager, Annyalla Chicks
Is anyone else getting fed up with the fact that Artificial Intelligence seems to constantly be in the news? Every time I hear ‘AI’ mentioned I get a nervous twitch and then I have to remind myself that we don’t own exclusive rights to the word anymore.
I’ve started using ‘bird flu’ again to avoid any unintended mix ups, which makes me feel very retro.
I used to feel sorry for any farmers involved in Artificial Insemination, because we stole ‘AI’ from them initially. When I lived on a dairy farm, this was the only ‘AI’ I knew. This seems like a much more innocent time now, now each new iteration of ‘AI’ seems to bring something destined to ruin us.
It’s been creating confusion on turkey breeder farms for years.
Question: ‘Can your birds get AI?’ Answer: ‘Yes, they’ve had it twice this week already’
The other thing creating havoc on turkey farms will be Gregg’s seasonal menu. You won’t often see me criticising chicken consumption but I think this needs calling out. Their festive bake, which seems to be whipping up a storm on social media, contains chicken rather than turkey. Who made that decision?
While turkey processors have tried (and failed) for years to make year round turkey consumption viable, at least they still had Christmas to rely on. That was until Greggs took a sledgehammer to convention. Please give the builders, van drivers and other people in high vis jackets some variety in their diet, for goodness’ sake.
I am so focused on supporting turkey that I eat Christmas sandwiches as soon as they appear in the shops. I’ve actually eaten my first one today (21 October, the day of writing). Pigs in blanket sandwiches are also good. It’s the one part of early Christmas merchandising in shops I can get behind.
The debacle at Greggs follows the Chicken and Egg McMuffin which has made a guest appearance at McDonalds. You’d think I’d be lauding this product but it needs rethinking. The chicken felt dry when paired with the egg, it was quite a disappointment. I ate one the morning after the recent Norfolk Chicken Dinner, although on reflection my palate might not have been in the best shape at the time.
We all love British chicken, but I draw the line at eating it for breakfast.