Locally farmed or store bought

[flipper0512]

Not sure where to post this, if anyone wants to move it, feel free.

I went to a local fall festival this morning and ran across a bunch of local farmers that sell their meat.  My original thougt would be it would be cheaper, man NOT the case!!!!  pork butt $8 per lbs to give an idea.  We purchase 2 lbs ground beef to try, will prob do a meat loaf.  I understand the volume is not there and prop taxes and cost of managing a farm is not chaep, but figured with less hands involved prices would be cheaper.

So, i have no problem supportting local farms, but is the price worth it, what are the differences in taste??????????

Thanks again!!!!!!!!!!

 

[fpnmf]

 It costs more for the local guy to produce the meat than the mega farms that supply processing plants that slaughter 16,000 pigs a day.

 I buy some local meat but am more inclined to get the BOGO at Winn Dixe.

http://books.google.com/books?id=tc...6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=16,000 pigs a day&f=false

  Craig

 

[solaryellow]

I have been buying from local farms lately but my reasoning is a little different. I am more concerned about the wholesomeness of the food vs. the price. It isn't cheap but I do think it is worth it.

 

[daveomak]

I have found the local farmers markets are much higher than buying direct from the farm... Set up, travel, time at the market, etc.... 

Go right to the farm and see what you can do on price... You'll probably have to buy a whole pig or cow and pay the slaughter fee, (usually $75 for a cow) then cut and wrap ($0.75# hangin' wt). But you can have the animal hung for as long as you want.. We usually hang beef for 21 days.. get the cuts you want.. soup bones, tongue, ox tails, shanks w/meat on them, hangin' tenders, liver, heart, all the good stuff others do not take.. The final price is usually a little higher than sale price but worth it if you can afford to lay out $12-1500 dollars for a freezer full of beef at one time..

 

[venture]

For something like a butt, I would shop for price and where it is cut right.

For a specialty cut, you might want to pay more and hope it is better?

Good luck and good smoking.

 

[jak757]

I have been buying from local farms lately but my reasoning is a little different. I am more concerned about the wholesomeness of the food vs. the price. It isn't cheap but I do think it is worth it.

I'm finding myself in in this camp myself.  It's more costly.  But I think much better for us too.

 

[supercenterchef]

I know that with beef, method of slaughter is very important to taste...I would suspect the same is the case for pork.  If so, perhaps the local farms with lower volume can perform 'more humane' slaughter...which might make it worth it?

 

[SmokinAl]

I have found the local farmers markets are much higher than buying direct from the farm... Set up, travel, time at the market, etc.... 

Go right to the farm and see what you can do on price... You'll probably have to buy a whole pig or cow and pay the slaughter fee, (usually $75 for a cow) then cut and wrap ($0.75# hangin' wt). But you can have the animal hung for as long as you want.. We usually hang beef for 21 days.. get the cuts you want.. soup bones, tongue, ox tails, shanks w/meat on them, hangin' tenders, liver, heart, all the good stuff others do not take.. The final price is usually a little higher than sale price but worth it if you can afford to lay out $12-1500 dollars for a freezer full of beef at one time..

You must have one heck of a freezer Dave!

 

[matuz]

Here is my whole thinking about buying local beef and if it is worth it:

What are they fed? Grain or grass?

MOST commercial farmers feed their cows with corn feed...along with a lot of private farmers.  Why? Because it is cheap and you don't need as much land. I prefer my cows to be grass fed(requires more land=$$).  I get enough corn in my diet from all the other processed foods out there. I can tell a difference in taste, and have not turned back.  Each year my wife and I buy a 1/4 of a grass fed cow from a local farmer in Ste. Genevieve, Mo.  

Downside to grass fed = not as marbled and less tender.

Upside = higher nutrient levels, and leaner and LITTLE TO NO CORN!

But honestly, I have yet to complain about a meal that we made with our roast, steak, hamburger, stew meat, etc...

So as you can see I go by grass or grain first, then by local or commercial.

 

[SmokinAl]

We get all our meat from farmer Sam ( Sam's Club )!

Don't have a clue where it comes from, but it's a heck of a lot better ( price & quality ) than I can get in the grocery store around here.

 I live in a small town & the options are limited. When I used to live in Ft. Lauderdale I had many more options & could be a little more choosy.

 

[rubbin butts]

We are rural here, in north central Florida, which warrants the way we do it.

We purchase a black angus calf for $50.00 to $100.00. Put it in pasture 8 to 10 months, then move it to the pen for 60 days and it gets bagged feed from a local feed producer. In the pen his movement is restricted to an area 20' by 20' which means it won't be running the pounds off. This step adds marbling to the meat and tenders it up. Then we carry it to a local slaughter house to be killed, cut, and wrapped.

For our pork, we pick the hog we want from a local farmer and have it also handled by the same slaughter house.

Works out great for us, we get better quality at a better cost than we can get at the stores. Plus we know what it's been fed.

 

[matuz]

We are rural here, in north central Florida, which warrants the way we do it.

We purchase a black angus calf for $50.00 to $100.00. Put it in pasture 8 to 10 months, then move it to the pen for 60 days and it gets bagged feed from a local feed producer. In the pen his movement is restricted to an area 20' by 20' which means it won't be running the pounds off. This step adds marbling to the meat and tenders it up. Then we carry it to a local slaughter house to be killed, cut, and wrapped.

For our pork, we pick the hog we want from a local farmer and have it also handled by the same slaughter house.

Works out great for us, we get better quality at a better cost than we can get at the stores. Plus we know what it's been fed.

Hmmmm...has me thinking on finding me a pig and putting that in the freezer too!

 

[moikel]

OK THIS IS A TRUE STORY! Years ago family friends had a farm manager that supplemented his income by trapping or catching with hunting dogs wild pigs.Most of what he caught would be a mix of old time razorback & domestic pig gone wild,he was near a town called Mudgee which is prime farm country & a big wine district. 

If he caught them young enough he would put them in a pen then give them a dose of all wormer  & whatever else to kill parasites then just feed them up on whatever he could get cheap. The big ones would go to export market ,sent what we call short gutted,liver ,heart,lungs & kidneys in. I wouldnt eat one if you paid me!I hunted a few in my time, they stink.

Anyway hes feeding about 6 youngsters up in a pen on my friends farm,he' d get grain,vegetables from the throw out bins & reject breakfast cereal from the Kellogs factory sold in huge bags,cornflakes,rice crispies that had got overcooked etc. His mate rings him to let him know they are doing a demolition of a little hospital in a town about an hour away & they have found a full pallet of the high protein stuff in the tube that they feed you with if you are unfortunate enough to be in a coma .Use by date just passed does he want it? Does he ever. So in the truck gets it then proceeds to split the tubes mix it with cornflakes feed it to porkers.

These guys just go nuts

. So xmas time they get slaughtered on farm, & I get invited to dinner when theres roast leg of ICU  fed pig. Never had pork like it before or since,cooked by my friend who was a trained chef,skin off,fat trimmed to get some of the gamey taste off. Truly spectacular

 probablly illegal now. But this 

not so big on rules. Never to be repeated but thought you might dig it.

 

[michael ark]

Watch king corn on netflix you'll never look at beef the same.Get my meat at sam's.

 

[solaryellow]

Watch king corn on netflix you'll never look at beef the same.Get my meat at sam's.

That is what made me start looking locally.

 

[michael ark]

Check out the (The future of food) on netflix it shows the goverments role in the mess.

 

[solaryellow]

Check out the (The future of food) on netflix it shows the goverments role in the mess.

There is a bunch of stuff on Netflix about our food supply that frankly scares the hell out of me. I look forward to one day winning the Powerball and raising my own food.

 

[michael ark]

I got a power ball and a mega millions in my wallet right now.I'm looking at selling my house and moveing to the hills to do just that.

Then i can be a real life arkansas hillbilly.

 

[solaryellow]

I think I can handle being labeled a hillbilly if I could raise my own meat and veggies.

 

[alelover]

x3