Cows kept indoors

Its life in the countryside. Reality of cheap  foods.Who asked the cows what they like.Just see freerange egg farms.The poultry outside are all huddled round the door - wanting to get back in? Too many armchair environmentalist want to "humanise" dumb animals.

Not making any comment either way but would we all be prepared to pay more for our milk?

I personally don't know how much milk costs BTW, A 2.272 litre bottle gets put in the shopping trolley - but I shop where the overall weekly bill is lower, or where I get something back (points or £5 vouchers) so if it went up by 10p or whatever that wouldn't bother me but the overall price would. Does anyone here really think where all the food , or how it is grown/reared comes from in the supermarkets? I'll admit that I don't.

I try and think about it, I want to know about where the food I eat comes from, if anyone or anything has been harmed so that I can enjoy eating delicious, nutritious things I like.  We are lucky in this country, generally most of us have the wealth to be able to eat what we like, and I accept that for a great part of the world this isn't the case. It's got nothing to do with humanising animals, just recognising that they bleed, get frightened and suffer if insensitive cruel illegitimates choose ( and it is by choice) to use them as nothing more than a commodity to make a few extremely wealthy. People, children, families also suffer to get cheap food onto our plates, hence some of the fair trade initiatives that are more prevalent nowadays. Ethics and morals. Some care, some don't give a hoot. 

Actually, it's not "life in the countryside" at all as the programme made clear that itcwas very much an exception. I was born and brought in a farming community and I have a great deal of sympathy for genuine farmers struggling to make a living and yes, I'd quite happily pay more for milk ( which is ridiculously cheap at the moment) if I knew it supported real, compassionate farmers. But, sorry, not these "factory farmers".

Hear hear M! Most farmers are struggling, because few think about what goes into producing food, be it meat, dairy or vegetables and fruit. We all like a bargain, but some reverence for the hard work and living standards for those producing it should be a factor as well, or so I believe. 

Not good at all, later in the programme it showed a farmer transporting his cows to a higher field, when let out the trailer they ran, kicked their legs, grazed and ran again. I would say they were much happier with their lot than those cooped up 24 a day, it's just not natural. 

Exactly  the  same  as  the Pit  Ponies  did  when  brought  to  the  surface,  except  I  believe,  they  were  almost  blind !!

Well we still have our milk delivered by the milkman. 

It''s more expensive but it keeps his job going and I think it lasts longer.

Most dairy cows are in for the winter, our local ones won't be out till the grass and conditions improve. So most cows won't be on grass for a good part of the year. I don't like factory farming but I'd rather see animals well cared for and their needs met. I would prefer not to see huge indoor herds that require a lot of special maintenance but you'd have to ask farmers what they think!?

Not good at all, later in the programme it showed a farmer transporting his cows to a higher field, when let out the trailer they ran, kicked their legs, grazed and ran again. I would say they were much happier with their lot than those cooped up 24 a day, it's just not natural. 

Exactly  the  same  as  the Pit  Ponies  did  when  brought  to  the  surface,  except  I  believe,  they  were  almost  blind !!

Some pit ponies went blind, usually through old age or injuries sustained underground. But it is a myth that they went blind because they worked in the dark. Their lives were often harsh, usually again via cruelty and overwork. But then so were the lives of most working horses. But technology thank fully evolved so that reliance upon horses became a thing of the past. At least in this country, not so in many others.

The miners did not have an easy time of it either.  And now we have the work done by machinery - err, no actually. There ARE no mines, ponies or miners.  Coal just appears mysteriously in bags, a bit like the milk and the beef in the supermarket.