Organic or "regular" meat?

Do you buy organic or "regular" meat?

  • I only buy organic meat

    Votes: 1 2.2%
  • I buy mostly organic meat

    Votes: 5 11.1%
  • I raise and eat my own meat

    Votes: 2 4.4%
  • I buy some organic and some regular

    Votes: 13 28.9%
  • I buy regular meat only

    Votes: 14 31.1%
  • There is no difference between organic and regular meat

    Votes: 6 13.3%
  • I don't eat ANY meat

    Votes: 3 6.7%
  • Chicken Sammich

    Votes: 1 2.2%

  • Total voters
    45

~Jessie~

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#1
Do you buy organic or "regular" meat?

Probably 90% of my meat that I buy and cook is organic and free range- I also try to buy local if I can. There is a definite difference when it comes to taste and texture, IMO.

So... does that matter to you? Can you tell the difference? Do you buy organic, or do you just buy whatever is on sale or available at the store?

Poll to follow!
 

CaliTerp07

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#2
Regular. I don't like meat, I eat it because I feel like I need to have protein in my diet (and I don't like beans). If I could survive getting all my protein from peanut butter, I would! The only meat we ever buy is chicken breasts, and ground beef/ground turkey.

I really like Costco's boneless skinless chicken breasts. Two breasts in individually freezer wrapped packages, so convenient!
 

sparks19

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#3
pretty much whatever is on sale in the meat section at the grocery store or whatever brian shoots and brings home :)

So it's either grocery store meat or the REALLY free range stuff LOL. The organic stuff at the grocery store is so expensive and I have a hard time believing that there is much difference in the grocery store organic and the grocery store regular stuff other than a big price hike.

I am thinking of looking for somewhere that we can buy a half a cow or something... although I don't know that we have room for that int he freezer lol
 

~Jessie~

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#4
pretty much whatever is on sale in the meat section at the grocery store or whatever brian shoots and brings home :)

So it's either grocery store meat or the REALLY free range stuff LOL. The organic stuff at the grocery store is so expensive and I have a hard time believing that there is much difference in the grocery store organic and the grocery store regular stuff other than a big price hike.

I am thinking of looking for somewhere that we can buy a half a cow or something... although I don't know that we have room for that int he freezer lol
I wish we knew someone who hunted because I would LOVE to have access to venison and wild turkey. YUM!

One of Ian's co-workers bought a whole cow not too long ago from some guy who raises them. I was definitely jealous. We don't have the storage space at all.

There are people in my neighborhood who have cows and I'm always tempted to knock on their door and ask if they can sell me some meat. Haha. They look delicious :D

There's a definite difference in taste between the Publix chicken breasts and their Greenwise organic ones. The organic ones are less fatty and a lot more tender.
 

PWCorgi

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#5
Frodo eats organic, free range bunnies from a Minnesota farmer lol

Ryan and I eat regular meat.

Can you see who wears the pants in this house? :p
 

Lilavati

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#6
I have about 250 lbs of organic, grassfed beef in my freezer right now . .. we just bought part of a cow. And 4 organic, pastured rabbits. And some of my aunt's grass-fed lamb, and her son's, "free-range" (LOL) venison. Trying to track down a good source of pastured pork, some more lamb, and some chickens, all in bulk so its cheaper. Oh, and some grassfed bison for something less than my first born child.
 

Taqroy

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#7
I said that we buy both but honestly I think all of our "organic" purchases are accidental. We generally buy whatever is on sale. Someday I'd like to look into buying half of an all natural cow but we definitely need a freezer first! Or maybe I'll buy half an elk off my brother next year....that could work.
 

Gempress

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#8
I'm like Sparks. My major consideration is what's on sale, and the rest of the time I buy regular. I'm not a fan of organic. Knowing people on the production side of the industry, I know what's involved in growing organic. I think most people would be surprised at the relatively little difference between the two. Honestly, I think organic farming has as much negatives as regular, except that producers and suppliers can charge more because it's trendy.

Here's an article that I think sums it up pretty well.

http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4019

ETA: Since this article was written, it's been proven that organic foods are no healthier than regular. I need to find that article.
 

~Jessie~

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#9
I have about 250 lbs of organic, grassfed beef in my freezer right now . .. we just bought part of a cow. And 4 organic, pastured rabbits. And some of my aunt's grass-fed lamb, and her son's, "free-range" (LOL) venison. Trying to track down a good source of pastured pork, some more lamb, and some chickens, all in bulk so its cheaper. Oh, and some grassfed bison for something less than my first born child.
I've had the hardest time finding pork, so I usually just buy whatever is at the grocery store. The only time I eat pork is when I make pulled pork (NOM!) so it's tender and delicious and smothered with sauce anyway!
 

Lilavati

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#10
I've had the hardest time finding pork, so I usually just buy whatever is at the grocery store. The only time I eat pork is when I make pulled pork (NOM!) so it's tender and delicious and smothered with sauce anyway!
I find the treatment of pigs at feedlots to be even more upsetting than how they treat cattle. So for me its not so much the "organic" (which tells me nothing about how the animal was treated) but humane raising that motivates me. That and heirloom, pastured pork tastes better.
 

~Jessie~

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#11
I find the treatment of pigs at feedlots to be even more upsetting than how they treat cattle. So for me its not so much the "organic" (which tells me nothing about how the animal was treated) but humane raising that motivates me. That and heirloom, pastured pork tastes better.
I definitely agree. I'd like to find a local, pastured source. I found this website and I have to sort through it to see what I can get access to.

http://www.eatwild.com/products/florida.html

ETA: Looks like there is a pastured farm 20 minutes away from me that has pork. They're open on Saturday mornings so I guess I know where I'll be going haha.
 

RD

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#12
Honestly, I don't notice much difference between organic meat and "regular" meat. The only time I noticed a difference from the normal grocery store meat was when I had the beef we raised on our cattle ranch or someone brought home a deer or turkey.

I do like organic foods, especially when it comes to fruits, but I don't see a huge difference when it comes to meats.

My big concern when buying meat is the treatment of the animals, which unless I go to a farm myself and buy an animal, I can't really guarantee my own peace of mind each time I take a bite.
 

Saeleofu

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#13
I get whatever's on sale. I scored three nice sized steaks for $2.75 yesterday :D

When it comes to other groceries, the same thing is true. If organic and regular are the same price, I'll go for organic. I also scored a pack of fresh organic mint and a pack of fresh organic chives for 25 cents each yesterday ;)
 

Southpaw

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#14
We've never bought organic meat. The meat from the local meat shop (I don't think they're really "butchers") tastes WAY better than anything from the grocery store, but it's not organic.

I only eat chicken though.
 

Miakoda

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#15
I bought a cow from my uncle. Her name was Lil' Dumplin. We ate her. :D There is a definite different taste in "homegrown" grassfed beef that your typical commercial beef cattle IMO.

With that said, I'll buy organic sometimes, but I don't worry about it much. (I do get my milk from a local dairy I used to work for as I know their cattle are treated better than most people on this earth and they are truly hormone and antibiotic free. it costs more, though)

The thing that gets me with organic and "free range" is the false belief that they give. For example, buy free-range eggs, one would think the chickens are living a happy life running around the farm being chickens. Not true. All that needs to be done, legally, to declare one's chickens as "free range" is there needs to be a door/opening in the coop/cage where the chickens are kept so that they could go out if they wanted to. The kicker is that most of those openings are not large enough to allow for the chickens to actually get out. So not sure why this is a 200% price increase kind of difference.

And organic farmers tend to have their farms right smack between "regular" farms. Ever hear of water "run-off"? They are not near as "organic" as some think or would like to believe.
 

HayleyMarie

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#16
I "try" to buy mainly organic, but its pretty hard since I am still living at home and I don't have the freezer space for bulk.

Now when Tyler and I move to BC, were planning on buying mainly organic meat, if we can. As well as hunting in the fall.
 

katielou

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#17
No meat from the grocery store ever.

I really dislike meat but will eat it now and then, I cook it for my husband.
We buy everything from a little on farm butcher. If he doesn't have what we want we won't die without meat :)
 

MandyPug

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#18
Living where i do, there are a ton of producers around to buy from and many are organic. I have 2 sources for organic beef and a source for organic pork and there's lots of sources for organic chicken and turkey. Even eggs we get from small farmers or even people i know that have some hens but can't eat all the eggs themselves.

ETA: We also have a lot of organic bison available too!
 
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Red.Apricot

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#19
We're too broke to eat enough meat to make a difference. We eat a chicken every three weeks or so.

My parents used to buy half a pig from their ranchy-type friends every year until Mama Pig died. That was basically the only pork I liked ever.
 

Doberluv

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#20
I don't eat that much meat anyhow, a little chicken, mostly wild Alaskan salmon (2-3 times a week) and beans, eggs, stuff like that. Occasionally, some beef and pork. I never put too much stock in organic...figured it was a big racket. The marginal benefits don't justify the cost for me. I believe that article Gemp posted...it makes sense. Taking up at least twice as much land to grow the same amount of food is harmful to the environment. There are all kinds of inconsistencies and nonsense in the cultural fad of organic food. jmo.
 

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