Organic or "regular" meat?

[HayleyMarie]

Originally Posted by ravennr

for ourselves, we buy organic. that means i've DRASTICALLY cut down the amount of meat we eat. Ry is getting to love this semi-vegetarian thing though. he is in love with black bean burgers, black bean burritos, meatless nuggets and chili.

unfortunately, i cannot afford, at the moment, to only buy organic for Rock.
i buy him cheap steak cuts, pork, and veal.

i'm hunting for a good butcher though.


ETA: got ahead of myself. i typed organic, and it is, but i meant to clarify. we buy from a store we know gets meats that are humanely raised and treated, including feeding. i had to search a database to find them, but the end result is better tasting meat that i feel better about eating. the health part doesn't come in for the fact that we eat that meat, but what we're replacing the bulk of our meat intake with. my cooking overall has become healthier.

Teagan mostly gets store bought stuff as well, although I do suppliment with grass raised Buffaloo from the local health food store, when I can. But next fall when Tyler gets into hunting. Im hoping I can feed her venison.

[Lilavati]

Originally Posted by release the hounds

that's a pretty good take on the whole thing. i'd have to say I agree.

Just a note on the antibiotics used in ag. I think I saw somewhere that 80% of our antibiotic usage is in the ag industry and that isn't just to get a sick cow well or prevent illness long enough to slaughter them, but it is used to get them to gain weight, which means they can make more. Nice use of a formerly potent life saver that is becoming less and less effective everyday.

That's what I was trying to say, about the antibiotics, but you said it better. The organic standards ban any use of antibiotics. I actually don't approve of that, because a sick animal should be treated (not left to suffer or slaughtered and thrown away because it died sick), and I don't mind eating an animal that has been treated at some point with antibiotics. But I DO object to large scale, routine dosing of animals with antibiotics to counteract overcrowding and unnatural diets (one reason they gain more weight), not only because its countering inhumane conditions, but because its outright dangerous to everyone else by creating drug resistant bugs.

But in a grocery, you pretty much have a choice between regular (routine drugs) and organic (no drugs). A lot of small farms (that can't afford organic certification) hit the happy medium . . . they don't dose routinely, but they admit to using antibiotics for valid veterinary reasons. That's fine with me.

[ravennr]

as soon as visiting a small farm in person and buying from them is a possibility for us, i would love to do it.

i've been toying with the idea of following my sister and going to school for sustainable agriculture. she's taught me quite a few interesting things, not just about what we eat.

[Skivvies]

I don't eat meat, but I buy organic cage-free eggs and sometimes organic dairy. I'd really like to begin eating more locally-grown food.

[Saeleofu]

Our eggs are from our own chickens. I never liked eggs before, but I like the eggs our chickens make!

I wish I could afford (or even find!) meat from rare breeds. The motto in the farms at the zoo is "conservation through consumption" so I'd be thrilled to find some rare breed beef or pork. Funny how with all the cattle around here, it's easier to find alligator than rare breed beef.

[Zoom]

Feedlots are where you'll find the cows standing knee high in poop. There's a lot of feedlots between Denver and KC and I think I've driven past most of them. You learn to hold your breath when you see a certain mile marker, LOL!

I usually just buy whatever is at the store because that's where my budget is right now. However, I do very, very much prefer the taste of grass-fed beef. I've had toooooo many hamburgers that tasted like feedlot to like the typical grain-fed, feedlot beef that tends to be the cheaper buy. Slaughterhouses are going to be cleaner than feedlots, just by virtue of the cows not standing around for more than 12 hours before getting processed. When I'm in a better position to do so, I'm going to buy a big chest freezer and buy half a cow from a local rancher.

We get our eggs and honey from a lady my mother works with that has her own farm. You cannot beat actual free-range, farm-fresh eggs. They are just amazing.

[Saeleofu]

You cannot beat actual free-range, farm-fresh eggs. They are just amazing.

True that! Gavroche and Logan would agree, too. Logan gets SUPER excited when we bring the eggs in. Gavroche has resorted to turning down cold eggs and only eating fresh-from-the-chicken eggs lol

[monkeys23]

My family has a natural beef company, so the dogs and I are pretty lucky. That grocery store crap from factory farms is downright icky. We do vaccinate and worm, but no hormones/antibiotics. Any calves get sick and need treated, they are treated and sold on the regular market instead of going into our natural beef program. A good portion of our cows and both our bulls have actual names, not just numbers. Same with other ranchers in the area that sell their calves to us for the natural beef program. Of which all the primal cuts go to the Boise co-op. It is grain finished, but again all local good stuff and all on a small scale with minimal miles. I think that something that local is much better than overpriced "organic" thats got 300+ miles on it. Plus it grosses me out bigtime that to get an "organic" label you cannot worm your stock.... mmmm liver flukes! *gag*

We also have about 80 head of ewes and two rams. Pasture raised, homegrown lamb is so much better than that overpriced crap they fly in from NZ/AUS.

I much prefer working the cows to the sheep though. Sheep are so dumb.

My mom buys a couple pigs each year from a local pig farmer and has the guy who butchers our lamb do the pigs for us. Mmmmm actual real bacon.... drool....

And a neighbor down the road has laying hens that we donate all our veggie/fruit/etc scraps to in exchange for eggs. They are in a roomy chicken house with a fenced in/roofed yard to keep them safe from predators. She also raises a few batches of meat chickens every year and my mom buys 10 or so from her usually. OMG I usually don't like chicken at all, but those roasters are so delicious!

And my little bro hunts. I went to have dinner with him last night and we had tasty elk steaks and salad. Omnomnom....

Dogs and I are pretty lucky to have access to this stuff.

[sillysally]

Originally Posted by Lilavati

PETA would like us to believe that all farms are industrial nightmares. That is, of course, not true. The industrial farms, would like us to believe that they are all small farmers who sincerely care about the welfare of the animals. That is also not true.

Farms range from factory farm nightmare to humane family farm, and by and large, other than checking it out yourself or by reputation, there's no way to know where that plastic wrapped package with a happy cow on it that costs three times normal price came from. And that's without taking "organic" into account, which really has very little to do with the welfare of the animals. At the margin, "organic" farms probably take slightly better care of their animals, because they have to to not use all the antibiotics and such . . . on the other hand, many small farms can't use the organic label, because it costs too much to get the certification.

Mike and I are increasingly buying from Virginia small farmers and buying grass or pasture fed. It tastes better, and we can be fairly certain about how the animals were treated (something no label in a grocery will tell you for certain). We don't care too much about organic, though I get organic milk at the grocery to avoid BGH (and milk from farms just isn't feasible . . .if we can't freeze it, then we have to go to the store). But, of course, the sort of places we generally buy from basically are organic. And I don't care if they dose a sick cow with antibiotics so he or she gets well (which organic farms can't do . . no antibiotics, period, not just no preventive use). We have also switched to vegetarian 2-4 days each week so that we can afford the difference in price (and its better for us anyway).

If more people made the same choices: eat less, higher quality meat from more humane operations, we could still feed everyone, and probably without much, if any, increase in land use. Its the demand for cheap meat in vast quantities that, at least in part, drives an industry that treats animals . . .in a way I wouldn't treat them, although its not as bad as PETA wants you to think, nor is it all the same. But if I wouldn't treat an animal like that . . .why should I buy from people who do? I am genuinely fond of cattle and chickens. I like them. I rather like goats too, and my aunt's sheep are pleasant creatures. I don't particularly like pigs, but I nod to their intelligence. However, I also think all these critters are extremely tasty . . . but I want to know that they lived well and died humanely.

This!

The birds do get organic fruit and veggies if I buy them fresh ones. Birds are fairly sensitive to chemicals.

[GipsyQueen]

I barely eat meat - if I do though, I buy organic. Usually from a regional supermarket.