As Ecorazzi reported previously, some of the UK’s top celebrity chefs like Jaime Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, are getting involved to help spread the news about the dastardly poultry market that dominates their country.  Now, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is taking it one step further with his Chicken Out campaign.

The Chicken Out campaign attempts to educate the British consumer on the plight of the broiler chicken who is often reared without light or proper space for the sake of mass production.  In fact, there are 850 million chickens reared in the UK each year, but only a pathetic five percent are free range, and even less than that get the organic seal of approval. Whittingstall hopes to improve those numbers.

As you can imagine, The National Farming Union isn’t overly excited about Whittingstall’s attempts, saying, “Hugh’s Chicken Run could increase confusion among consumers” and that “we would prefer it if consumers were able to make an informed choice.”

I mean how to you want me to sum this one up, kiddies? I’m overwhelmed here. Of course as a person who is greatly concerned with the welfare of our planet and the rights of all animals I think Whittingstall actions are incredibly noble, but I know that not everybody shares my views.  I think (or hope) most of us can agree that when we have the choice to buy a product that’s a little cruel or very cruel, we’d always choose the former. To me, this attempt is an example of real progress, and I so respect Whittingstall for trying to change the world one plate at a time.