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Just watched Food Inc, some questions for you
So... I'd been wanting to watch it for awhile, but admit that I hadn't because I already have a lot of issues over what I eat (mainly due to environmental and animal cruelty problems) and DH REALLY didn't want me to watch it because every time I see something about food production I have a hard time eating anything afterwards.
Anyway - I made him sit down and watch it with me tonight. DH agreed with a lot of the film but was quite skeptical about some parts. We've actually been disagreeing over food for awhile now, but it's progressed to where we try to buy as much organic as we can, and I buy most our produce locally grown (not to mention DH's parents have a farm and they give us lots of veggies). We are STILL disagreeing about meat. He's willing to pay a little more for local, organic, humanely raised meat - but all the CSAs near us are incredibly expensive. As in, 6-7 times more expensive than the grocery store. The obvious answer would be to eat less meat, but I can only push my carnivore DH so far. He's agreed to eat vegetarian 1 night a week, plus I've really been cutting down on meat portions for our other meals.
So the question is - from the big grocery chains (Costco, Kroger, Publix) are there "organic" brands that are truly organic and not just some mega-corporation trying to make a buck off the green movement? We're going to switch slowly, one product at a time so as not to have too much sticker shock.
Also, does anyone know what percentage of the beef market comes from the big CAFO feedlots?
4/25/12 ~ Our angel, Persephone James, is here!
Re: Just watched Food Inc, some questions for you
Probably not the answer you are hoping for, but I would say that vast majority of the beef in the grocery store is from a CAFO. Even the organic normal grocery store meat is likely from an organic CAFO. That means there are some better conditions, but its is still a lot of animals crammed together. Places like Whole Foods have stricter animal treatment standards that standard organic even for their non-organic meat. Still, your best bet is a farm that you can go to and see.
Have you looked into local meat that isn't a CSA? We just buy individual cuts at the Farmer's Market. I get stew and ground beef for $7/lb and steaks starting at $13/lb. It is certainly more pricey that standard grocery store, but it's not 6-7x more. I found this in a quick search and the prices seem really reasonable. http://www.countrygardensfarm.com/Meats__Produce_Available.php
My Blog
After I posted this last night, I found a local supplier who has pasture raised/grass fed beef (and pork) and their own processing plant, so if you buy a whole or half cow it comes out to around $3/lb for all cuts. I'm incredibly excited about this, and DH is definitely on board at that price. We're going to ask all our friends if they'd be willing to go in on a whole cow with us.
Now I just need to find free range poultry!
Soooooo happy that we're finally on our way to eating food that I don't have to feel guilty about!
4/25/12 ~ Our angel, Persephone James, is here!
I was also going to suggest going in on a whole/half/quarter animal. We did a "quarter" (100 lbs) beef last fall and it will last us all year. We paid $600. If we had done the meat CSA, we would have paid probably triple for that amount of meat. I'm also buying 8 chickens from a local grass farmer. That will cost us in the $150-$180 neighborhood.
It costs more, but it's totally worth it.
I think what your H is missing is that the organic free range grass fed meat is not being sold at an inflated price because it's somehow gourmet; it is reflecting the real cost of meat. Meat is supposed to be expensive and we are supposed to eat less of it. The only way to produce quantities of meat that will keep up with millions of people eating meat every day (or 6 days a week) is to mass produce it on a CAFO with subsidized corn feed and so on. So seeking cheap humanely raised meat that you can eat in large quantities is kind of missing the larger concept.
Having said that, yes, buying a half a cow is an economical way to go because the farmer saves on processing costs, so it's great that you found that... however if it were my H I'd still attempt to explain the above point.
That is so awesome! I wish I could find prices like that here in SoCal. You'd think with all of our hippies and health nuts I wouldn't have such a hard time finding CSAs, Co-ops, and real farmer's markets!
Enjoy your good food!
check localharvest.org - you can put in poultry and they'll pull up anything near you.
also consider seafood. Responsibly fished/farmed fish is a nice alternative (and it's good for your heart!)
We are slowly making meats our "sides" and veggies our main dishes and that seems to be a nice balance for us.
There's a book called Vegetable Dishes I can't Live Without ( http://www.amazon.com/Vegetable-Dishes-Cant-Live-Without/dp/1401322328/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277072514&sr=8-1 )
That has AMAZING recipes in it - and the author is vegetarian so a lot of the recipes can stand on their own and then we just add a little bit of meat/fish.
Alice Water's The Art of Simple Cooking is inspirational as well. And- of course- anything by Michael Pollan.
Good luck!
ibis, I totally get what you're saying. I think DH will get it with time (he usually does) but right now it's just a matter of changing too many habits at once. It also helps that we're both trying to eat healthier, so cutting out meat (and eating leaner meat, like fish) is something we agreed on and are sticking to. I think once he sees how good the alternative can be, he'll come around to my way of thinking.
emmie, I'm definitely aware of the seafood issue. In fact, I carry the sustainable seafood card with me in my purse.
Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone!
4/25/12 ~ Our angel, Persephone James, is here!
Beans and whole grains like quinoa are excellent sources of protein. So are eggs, we get free-range eggs from the Farmer's Market too. You can buy less meat but make more meals if you don't do the standard dinner of a large meat portion, starch, and veggie. Try stir-fries or meat on top of a salad. That stretches your meat meals further.