It was not so long ago that chicken used to be a treat, reserved for special occasions. For those who could not afford a Christmas turkey, a plump chicken had to do. Not any more. The £2.50 supermarket chicken, stacked in shrink-wrapped plastic, has become a symbol of our times. Costing less than a sandwich or a couple of cans of beer, cheap chickens sell by the battery load – 860m a year. And as we fret about rising food prices, these bundles of meat packed with chemicals and pumped up with water have never been as cheap.

All this comes at a price. Our £2.50 chickens have a life that is nasty, brutish and short. They are fattened up in dark, crowded sheds, genetically designed to grow to full size in just five weeks and intensively fed in a way that can only be described as obscene. Many do not even make it to their five-week lifespan, dying from stress or injury in their vile, overcrowded conditions. Those that do survive have frequently endured the pain of broken limbs.

People would rightly be disgusted if they knew how the average chicken was treated before it gets to their table, says Dr Marc Cooper, the RSPCA’s farm animal scientist.

Fortunately there is a chance to do something about it. Jamie Oliver, the TV chef, is following up his laudable attempt to improve school dinners with a campaign to make life a little bit more tolerable for chickens. He believes it is “morally wrong” for animals to be raised in this way and, with fellow chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, will urge consumers to trade up by the £1 or so needed to ensure that chickens are reared to better standards. Some will sneer, as they did over his campaign on school meals. Others might say it’s fine for the middle classes, but those on low incomes depend on cheap food. However, many who buy £2.50 chickens fill their baskets with expensive junk food. Paying a bit extra will result not only in better standards, but also better meat. It is a small price to pay to ensure that these creatures at least have a bearable, if short, existence.