My series, Hugh's Chicken Run, seems to have roused the public. We have been inundated with messages of support, and last night, the free-range "pledgeometer" on the chickenout.tv website looked set to pass the 100,000 mark. There has been criticism as well: did I really have to start my own intensive farm to get people's attention on this (yes, I did); did we misrepresent the industry by treating our birds worse than they do (no, we absolutely didn't)?
More challenging is the accusation that we are "guilt mongering", that is, exerting pressure on shoppers with a tight budget to buy a product they simply can't afford. They're calling us elitist, implying that acting to end the disgraceful treatment of more than 800 million animals a year is somehow an option only for the well-off. And that view might hold water at one end of the spectrum, where an organic, free range bird, probably raised on a small farm and sold locally in an independent grocer or butcher's shop, can easily cost £10, £12 or even £15.
But a commercially produced free range bird, not organic, can be had in most supermarkets for a little over £5. And there is another - cheaper - higher welfare option provided by the RSPCA's Freedom Foods method of poultry rearing. All the major supermarkets offer this bird or an own-brand equivalent, and these typically sell for about £4. As one of these birds will easily feed a family of four - twice, in the hands of a keen and resourceful cook - you could even say they are a bargain.
And be in no doubt, these birds may be reared inside but they have, through lower stocking levels and an enriched environment, certainly led more comfortable and less stressful lives than the "two for a fiver" birds piled beside them in the supermarket chill cabinet. The irresistible pressure on many shoppers to buy cheap chicken arises not because higher welfare birds are expensive, but because standard factory farmed poultry is aggressively, artificially and, I would say, shamefully cheap.
I believe that there is a continued need for a domestic poultry industry that can deliver good value chicken at a keen price for a massive popular market. But basic welfare reform is an urgent matter. If something like the RSPCA standards were adopted as a new starting point for the industry, it would add only 50p to the cost of raising a bird. That includes a fairer price for the farmers, who are struggling to stay in business as their grim product sells for insultingly low prices.
The response to our campaign suggests that such a move would have the support of the vast majority of people who eat chicken. Don't believe industry reports claiming that our campaign has not made an impact. Both Tesco and Sainsbury's report a huge increase in free range and higher welfare poultry sales since our programmes were broadcast, and a number of free-range producers have told us that they cannot keep up with the demand.
It is true that my own campaign is leading with a rallying cry for free range. And I still believe that the outdoor life is the best and fairest way to raise a chicken for meat. The birds live with the sun and the rain on their backs and grass under their feet, and they are fully able to express their natural behaviour. Perhaps such birds, priced at between £5 and £15, are genuinely unaffordable to those feeding their families on the tightest of budgets. But at present free range represents less than 3% of all the chicken sold in the UK. Surely that is grotesquely out of proportion. In France, close to 40% of all fresh chicken sold in supermarkets and butchers shops is free range.
In the end, the way we treat our farm animals is an ethical issue, and you can't budget your way out of it. I have met people at both ends of the economic spectrum who don't give two hoots about the suffering of chickens. I have also met (and in the past couple of weeks had many letters and emails from) mums, dads, students and workers from cities, towns and villages all over Britain, telling us how tough it is to feed their families on a tight budget - but nonetheless pledging their support for our campaign.
A number of them have asked us to send a clear message to those who criticise our campaign as elitist or economically unrealistic: they don't want to be patronised and insulted by the sweeping assertion that they are part of a socio-economic group who can't afford to care. They have seen how these birds are treated, and they no longer want any part of it.
· Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is a TV chef and presenter of Hugh's Chicken Run on C4 comment@theguardian.com