Grass fed and pastured meat...how do you make it work financially? - Page 2

[seashells]

Originally Posted by Delicateflower

This is my POV, too. I couldn't actually tell you what factory farmed meat costs, because I won't buy it.

Me too, but unfortunately I clicked on the thread about what a good price for a Thanksgiving turkey is. I won't list the prices they put but it literally SHOCKED me. You cannot properly raise a bird on prices like that, nor can a farmer make a living on prices like that.

[mommathea]

We just bought our first 1/4 of grass fed beef from a friend of a friend. Including the pricessing fees it came out to $1.97lb.

Check around on craigslist. I know of several people who have found very good suppliers on there.

[Laggie]

We made our trip to the local cheap organic meat place last weekend (if anybody is in Vancouver BC there is an awesome shop in Maple Ridge.)

We lucked out, there were some great sales, spent $150 and came out with a cooler stuffed full - chicken breasts, steaks and pork roasts were 2 for 1 and ground beef was $1.99 a pound. Not sure how that translates to American prices (food is cheaper in the states) but my freezer is packed with enough meat for about 25-30 dishes. Each dish will be supper plus leftovers for lunch at least, if not another supper.

Anyway. I'm excited about my meat.

[noobmom]

Originally Posted by seashells

Me too, but unfortunately I clicked on the thread about what a good price for a Thanksgiving turkey is. I won't list the prices they put but it literally SHOCKED me. You cannot properly raise a bird on prices like that, nor can a farmer make a living on prices like that.

We bought a locally raised, free ranged, freshly slaughtered turkey for Thanksgiving last year. It was $50 per bird and they were about 20 lbs dressed (some a little bigger, some a little smaller, I think ours was between 20-25 lbs). My entire family (all skeptics, they buy regular grocery store meat) raved about how good and fresh the turkey was. No comments about the cost after they tasted it. My parents are foreign-born, so they do appreciate fresh meat because that's what they grew up with. But most people really have no idea what meat is supposed to taste like anymore.

[Smokering]

This isn't really a practical tip, more of a mindset thing, but consider it charitable giving or donating to the environment or what-have-you. Some people donate to Greenpeace or the SPCA and yet eat factory-farmed meat; others don't donate, but support humane animal-raising practices which are also healthier for the environment. So maybe if you think of it as "food budget plus donation to righteous cause" instead of "bigger food budget" it'll make the sacrifice seem less ouchy.

[BedHead]

I am in the process of switching to only local grass fed meat, and it's quite an adventure!! I have sourced three local producers and they aren't cheap, but I have found a couple of deals. Our cow share family had a rooster cull a couple of weekends ago, and I got five roosters for free to make stock and soup, because I helped kill and dress them. I also buy the cheaper cuts of meat from one place - ground beef, whole chickens, liver, pork shoulder roasts etc.

I am also of the mindset that if it isn't pasture fed I don't want it, but it is taking some getting used to!

[sunnysandiegan]

We just took the plunge today!

We walked from the Farmer's Market, where we purchased all our pesticide-free, local produce for the week, to a real butcher shop where we ordered our first free-range, organic, local turkey to be slaughtered and picked up within the week of Thanksgiving and we purchased some supposedly awesome (and healthy) bacon. I forget the details on the bacon, but all the good stuff and rather pricey. We just purchased 7 slices for the three of us to have breakfast with leftovers for salads. We still have local, organic lettuce growing, so we're eating salads. I'm making my first two dressings tomorrow for the week.

Anyway, I am still researching other sources for local, pastured meat. I found a CSA that delivers to our city (several locations), but the cows live part of the year in Northern CA and part of the year in Southern CA and never live within our county. We're still deciding what is "local" for us. It is a rather fluid definition. I'm also testing the waters to see which friends and neighbors are interested in sharing a cow or CSA or other such arrangements. So far, we are the farthest along in the thought process and making the changes, but a few are interested in more details so we'll see how it goes.

[amcal]

We have a natural foods store that sells grass fed beef. It's way out of my price range but, I watch the expiration dates and buy when it goes on clearance. I just got 8 lbs today for $3.99/lb.

If I can't afford grass fed beef, we don't eat it.

[EnviroBecca]

We have been eating less meat very gradually over the past 10 years or so, and some of our tips might help you figure out how to make do with the amount of meat you can afford!

Ethnic cuisines. It's a lot easier to find a vegetarian dinner in a Chinese, Indian, Middle Eastern, Mexican, or Italian restaurant than in the typical American restaurant. That's because these cuisines include many dishes in which meat is a sort of token ingredient that can be easily left out or replaced with beans, cheese, tofu, or vegetables. Once you learn to make this type of dish at home, it becomes easier to think of something to cook that will taste complete without meat or with less meat.

Mixed-up meals. Recipes like casseroles, stews, and pasta salads that combine several food groups in one dish have the same advantage as above, even if they are American-flavored. Often, there's a way to tuck some protein into a side-dish recipe and make it the main dish—for example, when we gave up meat for Lent, I discovered that I could substitute peanuts for some of the fried onions in that green-bean casserole (you know, the one with the mushroom soup) to make it more nutritious and still tasty! Personally, I would much rather make some kind of one-pot meal than fritz around with preparing several different things and trying to have them all ready at the same time, so I love this kind of recipe.

Variety of vegetables. If you're accustomed to "vegetable" meaning one kind of plant, steamed, maybe with a little butter, sitting in the corner of your plate, then no wonder a vegetarian diet sounds boring! Human beings crave variety in our diet (well, most of us do) so we'll eat a lot more veggies if we're served a variety of them. My mom often serves summer meals consisting of, for example, beans, fried okra, corn on the cob, and sliced tomatoes; there are several things to eat, and the picky people don't have to try all of them. In the mixed-up meals I favor, combining two or more vegetables, like green beans and tomatoes, makes a much more interesting meal than one vegetable alone.

New protein sources. Protein does not have to come from the main ingredient of your main course. Many starchy foods, especially whole-grain ones, have more protein than you might expect. Other high-protein foods—like peanut butter, other nuts, nutritional yeast flakes, sunflower seeds, and sorghum syrup—can be used as condiments. Pureed beans can be mixed into sauces and soups. Just because you're cutting back on meat doesn't mean you have to give up other animal foods: yogurt, eggs, and cheese are more versatile than you may have realized. Reducing meat also is an opportunity to try things you may not have given a fair shot before, like tofu.

Protein throughout the day. Lately it seems everyone's discovering the benefits of high-protein snacks, like almonds or hummus, for maintaining your energy level . . . but I rarely see it mentioned that every serving of protein in your snacks is one you don't have to work into your larger meals! If you're worried that you might not be getting enough protein as you cut back on meat, keep a protein diary and add up the grams (from the handy Nutrition Facts panels) in everything you eat for a few days.

Plan your meals around the vegetables instead of the protein. Does your dinner planning begin with, "What kind of meat am I going to defrost today?" Start with the vegetables instead: "We have this huge zucchini and a red pepper. . . . I know! Zucchini Tofu!" Shifting your focus to the veggies is likely to help you eat more fiber and vitamins, while still getting enough protein from the foods you choose to complement the veggies.

(If you read the whole article it has a bunch of links to recipes.)

I'm glad you are stepping away from nasty factory-farmed meats! The environment and your health will thank you!

[gwen's mom]

My parents raise chickens for us, not completely organic but free range and hormore and antibiotic free. They charge us just the cost of the chick, the feed and the processing, and the chickens come frozen whole with the gibblets in a bag in the body cavity. The cost of processing has gone up considerably over the last few years but on average they cost us about
$7 per 6-8 lb. chicken. Of course there is some bone waste but we can usually feed our family of 5 at least 2 meals and sometimes 3 on one chicken.

We generally don't buy much pork because we do not have a local source.

We buy grass fed beef from our local university where I work. As a land-grant university we have a strong ag program and the students raise the animals and then learn the process of processing. The cost is $2.35/lb. which does not include any hamburger and we have to take at least a quarter beef each time we buy.

[jillyofthevalley]

We buy a side of grass fed beef every year for $3.25/lb which works out cheaper than buying conventional beef at the grocery store. It hurts having to come up with $1000 in one shot to pay for it but it fills my freezer for a year. The farm we get our beef from also does pastured chickens and turkeys for a good price. It's definitely worth looking around at your local farmers and buying in bulk.

[jillyofthevalley]

Originally Posted by Laggie

We made our trip to the local cheap organic meat place last weekend (if anybody is in Vancouver BC there is an awesome shop in Maple Ridge.)

We lucked out, there were some great sales, spent $150 and came out with a cooler stuffed full - chicken breasts, steaks and pork roasts were 2 for 1 and ground beef was $1.99 a pound. Not sure how that translates to American prices (food is cheaper in the states) but my freezer is packed with enough meat for about 25-30 dishes. Each dish will be supper plus leftovers for lunch at least, if not another supper.

Anyway. I'm excited about my meat.

I'm just in Mission. What's the name of the shop? I'll have to check it out.

[Laggie]

It's called Organic World, it's on Dewdney Trunk Road. They don't have a website afaik but they come up via google search.

[jillyofthevalley]

Originally Posted by Laggie

It's called Organic World, it's on Dewdney Trunk Road. They don't have a website afaik but they come up via google search.

Cool, it looks like it's right by the organic grocery store. I know exactly where that is. I haven't been there in ages. I think it's time to head out in that direction.

[farming]

Barter!

Find a local farmer and barter! When you buy from a local farmer you get a much better ideal of how your meat is raised and butchered. Farming, done well, is not a lucrative profession, most of us farm because we love it. The economy is hitting small farmers really hard since many consumers are cutting "expensive" raw milk shares and grass raised meats.

We have bartered milk shares for everything from beef to summer grazing to fresh baked bread and veggies.

Be generous. Do not offer anything that you would not want.

[BarnMomma]

We only buy pastured meat/produce and how we do it without going broke is:
-buy cheaper cuts of meat and toss it in the slow cooker
-make soup from it and that will last 3-4 days and works great as a lunch
-save up and buy in bulk and stock a freeezer
-get to know the person you buy from, be friendly, and they will usually giv you a deal or % off