Discount on organic meat
One of the deal of the day sites is offering $125 worth of organic meat from http://www.greensburymarket.com/ for $49. Add $24 more dollars and they throw in free shipping.
Deal is good for another 20 hours at http://www.jasmere.com/ Never tried the site but at 60% off it seemed like a good deal. |
Grass fed....Looks like good stuff.
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With a little bit of effort and a buddy or two you can get grass fed beef WAY cheaper than the regular prices listed on that site.
Look for ranches that raise the cows in your area where you can buy the whole cow and then have it processed into the cuts that you want. Here in Central Cali we have ranchers like Miller Ranch. You can split the cow with a another family or two and the ranchers will even try to pair you up with other buyers if you don't have someone to split it with. There is no obvious pricing since it depends on the size of the animal and how you have the meat packaged. You also pay a flat rate across all cuts rather than a higher price for premium cuts. The overall price is way below that of boutique sellers and can even beat grocery store pricing on hormone and grain fed beef. $3-$5/lb. http://www.millerranchenterprises.com/faqs Anyone here want to split a cow? |
have to agree with mammoth. having all or part of a calf in the freezer is the way to go.
local processors in TX charge around $5.50 per hanging pound. that includes bones and organs....not wasted with 2 dogs in the house. that includes cutting it up however we wanted and individually vacuum packing everything. it's still expensive but grass-fed beef rocks. corn fed beef is a joke. we bought a small freezer and split the calf in half with the in-laws. |
Nate,
Give me a buzz about that cow. 559-871-3985 |
Nate is right... one word of caution, A LOT of people have become so used to the shatty corn fed marbelized beef that you get everywhere that they do not care for the grass fed taste.
If you have never had grass fed beef before, I would reco picking up a couple of grass fed steaks to see if you really like it before going in on a whole cow. Personally, I love it but lots don't... |
Grass fed is the only way to go. Corn makes cows sick. Sick cows get antibiotics. Antibiotics get into your meat and milk.
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the close quarters don't help them but it's the corn they are fed that necessitates antibiotics. cows can't properly digest corn. it slowly kills them. it's not really good for humans either.
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Organic meat? theres just something about it that dosent sound appetizing, i'll stick with the meat i killed myself, now thats organic
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"Try... All Cows get antibiotics. They put in in all of the feed. it is a necessity when you have 4000 cows in a 400 sq foot space... "
NOT all cows get antibiotics. That's why you don't buy from farms that keep 400 cows in 400 square feet. Grass fed / organic means no antibiotics. I'm not saying everyone is honest, but that's how it's supposed to be. Salty is correct. |
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And here is a good little blurb about it....
Traditionally, all beef was grass-fed beef, but in the United States today what is commercially available is almost all feedlot beef. The reason? It's faster, and so more profitable. Seventy-five years ago, steers were 4 or 5 years old at slaughter. Today, they are 14 or 16 months. You can't take a beef calf from a birth weight of 80 pounds to 1,200 pounds in a little more than a year on grass. It takes enormous quantities of corn, protein supplements, antibiotics and other drugs, including growth hormones. Quote:
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Yep.
Rent the movie Food Inc. Most of the movie is about this. |
King Corn is another good movie about the food supply and farming/ranching practices
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Meat is supposed to be marbled. Meat that is not tastes like crap and is tough eating.
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I cook steak of some sort nearly every weekend and the marbled cooks and tastes better IMO. I have talked to a couple resturant guys and they tend to agree. I think corn fed is better tasting in general. You can't get around it. Fat equals flavor. Now too much fat is a waste but fat is the flavor. Grass fed may be a new selling point since it is way cheaper to graze a cow on public land than to feed it corn. Of course having to keep the cows longer could be more costly as well. who knows. They make a big deal in California of being able to get corn fed beef from out of state compared to the horride grass fed crap they have here.
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See that's the thing, and it is perfectly ok, many people do believe that corn fed beef tastes better. There is no arguing that as that topic is all opinion anyway.
A lot of people don't care for venison, moose or any other game for that matter. Personally, IMO I love the taste. Do they taste different, yes. Does feedlot beef taste that much better to me that it is acceptable to me that they pump them full of bgh, antibiotics and other crap. Nope. An additional side benefit, they places we get our grass fed from are all local farmers so the $$ stays in the area and is not going to a conglomerate. |
It is hard to believe that you keep cows in the fields for what you said 4 to 5 years (?), and not have to give them some sort of vet care items. Seems like even more loss of investment to not do that if you have to wait that long to recoup their investment.
At the end of the day, I tend to laugh at the organic section of the grocery store. It is great if an individual want to buy their own that way for what ever reason, but, at the end of the day it would be very difficult to feed the whole country with those techniques. I think it is more of an excuse to cheapen cost of growth and up the price for a win win for the producer. |
Also, after reading your comment about eating the wild meats, I can see why you like the grass fed. That is what all the game meat is (grass fed).
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I'm assuming some of you haven't seen Wagyu beef from Japan
That is some serious marbling |
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I really need to finally sit down and watch food inc. I am guessing that I am spewing stuff along the same lines... |
read up about monsanto's 'round-up ready' seeds. they genetically modified seeds so that the plants would survive being sprayed with round-up. everything else dies. then we eat that crop that's been consistently sprayed with weed killer. mmm.
monsanto will also sue if you they find their plants growing on your land. they have the patents and will protect them. and, you can't easily kill the plants with common weed killer. giant agro-businesses have nothing but profit in mind. localized farming is alot easier on the environment and often requires less petroleum. |
Salty is paying attention. All of your non-organic crops are motified and blanketed with chemicals.
"At the end of the day, I tend to laugh at the organic section of the grocery store. It is great if an individual want to buy their own that way for what ever reason, but, at the end of the day it would be very difficult to feed the whole country with those techniques. I think it is more of an excuse to cheapen cost of growth and up the price for a win win for the producer. " But that's the way it used to be. Our grandparents grew up without additives, preservatives, and processing that kills the valuable nutrients in the food, and replaces them with man-made chemicals. Juice and milk weren't destroyed with pasteurization and sweetened with corn syrup. Meat harvest wasn't accelerated with hormones. We didn't lower the cost of meat mfging with antibiotic spiked and modified corn. Crops weren't genetically modified to grow faster and resist Round Up pesticides and weed killer. Vegetables weren't ripened with gasses in chambers so that we could have produce in the winter! There's a lot of nasty shiat going on. Most people haven't taken a look yet. The above describes EVERYTHING you're buying at the huge grocery store and feeding to your kids. You can laugh if you want, but it's really not all that funny. At this rate, food will be mostly synthetic chemical in another hundred years or so. Most people can't fathom that pretty much everything they're eating is modified or altered in some way. It's a lot easier to make excuses for why you shouldn't worry about, or why you shouldn't buy organic. Heart decease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, Obesity, autism, EVERYTHING is up. It's not a coincidence. But it IS easier to ignore than it is to change. Find a Whole Foods. Watch Food Inc. Watch "The world according to Monsanto." Watch "Milk the deadly poison" if you really want to get freaked out. Monthly rant over! :-) |
I don't eat beef, but if I did, I would definitely look into grass fed. There are select local grocers who sell it here in SD. Food Inc, was eye opening to say the least. Three years ago I couldn't have cared less about eating local, organic or anything, but as my son outgrew the pureed jar foods and was eating more and more table foods I started reading labels and becoming more conscious of what I was putting into his body. I do eat poultry and seafood and watching the chicken farms on Food Inc really made me re-think even that.
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Grass fed tastes better to me, the meat actually has more "meat taste" but I guess if you prefer the artery clogging fat taste then cord fed is the way to go. I only eat beef 2-3 times a month so the premium for the grass fed is a non-issue.
It is cool to see that other wakeworlders are paying attention to the same things I pay attention to, and are noticing the same things. I have lost a ton of weight since I really started paying attention, and feel soooo much better now, it is not even funny. |
Whole Foods
Jarrod, there has actually been a whole lot of controversy around the practices of Whole Foods lately.
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So who's putting together a group buy? It's just me and my 5YO, I don't need a half a cow. Even with a freezer. I'd be in for thirds or quarters...
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If you have never looked into it: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/ Quote:
This thread reminds me of a thing I saw on Time a cpl days ago about what families around the world eats each week and what they spend. Of course it is a biased look but it is interesting what you see on the tables for countries other than the us and gb. http://www.time.com/time/photogaller...373664,00.html |
I'm fortunate to have a Whole Foods and a Fresh Market near me.
This allows me to do a cost comparison. Comparable with the Organic F/V ( same vendors) & Meat depts. I have found that Whole foods is any where from 20-40% MORE in costs. I like Whole Foods, but I don't understand how they get away with charging that much more than the Fresh Market which isn't as large of a chain. |
Speaking of Whole Foods I saw this thread on one of my RSS feeds.
Message taped to a bottle of Fiji water [pic] |
On the thought that past generations did not eat food with antibiotics and vegges that have chemicals on them.
People through out history ate "organic" food all the time and they also died at 35 years old too. You are free to eat what you want and more power too you, but, I just believe it is a way for some company to jack up the prices on a common good by telling you that it is better for you. Just like all the folks going to the low fat stuff. All they do is jack up the carbs in those foods. Ask a diabetic what they can eat betweent he two choices: A fatty steak or a potato chip? Carbs are way harder on the body. Fatty food in itself is not a bad thing, it is fat is easily stored in the body because it is processed so much easier. I agree with the statement about corn syrup in everything. More carbs. If you are worried about "non-natural" food ruining your health, then you better put that beer or mixed drink down. It is almost ironic that we worry about highly tested chemicals that get sprayed on a plant once or twice a season but knowingly put poison with a direct warning label on the bottle in your mouth. If you consume alcohol, you are more than likely caring around 10 to 20 pounds of inflamed liver and one of it's defense mechanisms is to produce cholesterol while doing so. I'm not the picture of health but I am not going to worry about a cow or a veggy that at the safeway because of some video. We have a historically high life span in those countries that have those things on our food or genetically altered food and the countries that don't have a lower life span. I am sure there are some other factors that go into it but I think we are fine. It is all about moderation no matter what choice you make. |
That's not the first time I have heard the story about Fiji water. And we already know that plastic is bad all around. My feeling is that plastic should be banned, if not for how it is suspected of impacting our health, then certainly for how it is, and will, impact the environment.
Whole Foods is far from perfect, but it’s a hundred times better than a Safeway, an Albertsons, or any other large chain. (I can't even shop at those places anymore.) Not everything they sell is based on the Whole Foods / Green / Local Farm philosophy, but you have a choice to go that way when you shop there. And since I live / work in the heart of the bay area, stopping by the farm isn't an option for me. With a little time, I could order online though. here's a great Cali farm for meat. Best Filet I ever had was from here: http://www.chaffinfamilyorchards.com/ |
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There is a place for bottled water BUT it is not nearly the market share that it has become. Just a little example. Our water at the lake house was full of crap. We knew it was super hard and used bottled water until I had the chance to get it tested and install some filtration. Turns out that there was coliform in the water as well. Thankfully we have the access to get bottled water in that scenario, however we now have a softener, multiple sediment filters, uv filter and reverse osmosis at the tap. $$ yes, but our water is a better quality than bottled water and we will save $$ over the course of time. If we had public water in any form, I would be hesitant to drink it without testing, but that is just me. Jarrod, if you did not check into the co-op/csa route. While I am not nearly as metro surrounded as I assume you are it is not like I can run to farms right down the road. Usually in a csa they will have multiple drop off spots around the area to distribute their food. |
While I do agree with you guys, I think a lot of people take it a bit too far. Deltahoosier is on the money. Lifespans are historically very high. Along with those longer lifespans you will get more instance of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, etc. People eventually have to die from something. Not only that, but as forms of detection become available to more individuals you will find that undiagnosed illness will be less common, again adding to the numbers of documented cases.
Nothing is perfect in this world. Eat organic when you can. Nothing tastes better than food grown in your own garden, but don't be foolish. We're all out there breathing polluted air, wakeboarding in polluted water, enhancing our lives with synthesized products. It's pretty hypocritical to damn those in the farming industries as we sit here typing on our computers, sitting on our a$$es and then talk on our cancer creating cell phones all the way home to our houses that are much larger than they need to be, using more than our fair share of resources. People are greedy. Greed and religion are the bases of all evil. It is why we eat synthesized food. It is why we drive shiny vehicles. It is why we live in big houses. It is the cause for the rat race. Why stop at organic food? How about an organic lifestyle? Lets give up our cars, cell phones, computers, wakeboards and boats. Something to thing about guys. Oh and about all those videos.... If they make you feel bad, then you should consider the sources of your clothing and household items. Don't get all too holy to eat food from Safeway without being a bit more conscious of the big picture. Maybe some of you guys have it figured out and are living a fully sustainable lifestyle, but most of the socalled organic freaks out there haven't figured it out. Go on driving your Prius thinking you're doing something for the environment. Oh, and for the record.... I like grassfed beef. There are a few grassfed ranches up in the sierras that serve up some mighty tasty cow. Also love me some farmers markets. Support your local growers. If not for your health, then do it so they don't dissappear. We're creating a nasty world for our children to grow up in. While we're at it, let's stop the overpopulation, too. Alright, off my soapbox. |
Not necessarily.
If you took all of the drugs out of the picture that are created to combat the adverse effects of the chemicals in our foods, and biotechnology, dialysis, etc, we wouldn't be living longer at all. Bottom line....people are sicker than ever, we're just creating new drugs and technology to keep sick people alive. Childhood obesity, diabetes (and other illnesses) are also up! This is the first generation of kids that will grow up on mostly unnatural foods. You make a good point of being green, but getting a handle on our food (YOUR HEALTH) is a good first step, and a much easier one. This is something you have control over today. If a thousand people buy those tomatoes at safeway that were sprayed with round up and ripened with gases today, Safeway is going to order more and restock them. People are voting for what they want with their purchase. And I'm definitely not about to say..."F*** It" the air is polluted, so I might as well eat the poisoned food. I can still minimize health risks. Like I said, organic and natural is the way it used to be. Corporate food changed it. I'm not damning the farmer, I'm damning the corporations that control the farmers. Broken record....but watch the move and you'll understand. |
Oh, I agree that our food isn't what it should be, but those movies are a little bit "Al Gore", too. They've got an agenda of their own.
Childhood diabetes and obesity are up because kids are lazy. Back when we were kids we were out riding our bikes till dark, skateboarding and playing baseball. Kids these days spend more time studying and playing video games. Computers are the source of a lot of laziness. How many average hours do you think people spend on a computer every day? Be careful what you consume that's labeled as organic. I'd be a bit concerned about how some of the organic farms are doing business. Remember, at the end of the day they're still in it for the same money as the huge growers. I bet you could make a movie solely based on practices in organic farms. If I didn't grow that stuff in my yard, then I'm not believing it's 100% safe. Wholefoods is a business just like Safeway. Let me borrow the movie next time I see you. I'm down to watch it for sure. I grew up pretty organic. We didn't eat processed foods. No sodas, very little sugar. My mom was really picky about that stuff. I think it's part of why I've always been really healthy. |
Nice post Evan.
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Here's a little something to read. As the demand for organic goes up the line between organic and mass-grown will become much finer. People are demanding healthier food. It's amazing what technology can help create.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine...2/b4005001.htm |
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I have half a pork and a 1/4 cow in my freezer right now. It' cheaper and taste way better, when you raise your own meat you know what is going into it. I grow my own veggies during the summer for the same reasons. I wish I could find a cheaper way to grow during the winter. I am not near as good as Jarrod but i try to eat organic when I can.
Look around a lot of local ranchers will raise meat for you. We are lucky that we have a ranch in the family. Look into it before you jump into it though. certain animals need certain needs. for example raising one pork is not healthy for the pork they need to be in at least pairs. |
Regarding the Whole Foods China thing.....if you're going to be serious about Organic, and if you're going to be serious about supporting the whole "locally grown," thing then you have to look at the label. Organic 365 is the most generic of the Organic brands. I've always questioned that brand. And although this video may prove that whole foods is not staying true to their business model, for me, it in no way challenges the importance of eating natural foods, grown without, or enhanced by chemicals.
"Childhood diabetes and obesity are up because kids are lazy." I've seen people exercises like crazy for 6-9 months and not loose a single pound. You're totally right, but active lifestyle isn't the only reason. In addition to more sedentary upbringings, kids are eating differently. Like you, when I was a kid, juice or some soda was a special treat. These days, this is what kids drink when they're thirsty. Foods are heavily processed with sugar and flour. Foods are higher calorie, and harder to digest. They lack nutrients, enzymes, and good bacteria that help us process them. Food Inc. definitely has an agenda. |
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