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Buying local meat
Not sure if this is the proper board to post this, but I thought you all would have the best chance of knowing. I am looking into making the switch to locally bought, free range chicken. Granted prices fluctuate based on the cost of living, but in general, what can I expect to pay per pound? I found one local farm and they are $8/ lb for boneless breasts. Whole chickens are $3.75/lb. I would much prefer just the brests, but I can learn to do whole chickens, too.
Just wondering so I can budget appropriately. I try to eat 3 servings of 30g (roughly 6 oz) of chicken or other lean meat a day. This could add up quickly, but I do want to move away from grocery store meat. I do not eat red meat, but have considered making an exception for Bison (farmer down the street from me), but that's darn expensive!! FWIW, I live in SE Ohio.
Re: Buying local meat
I'm in NE Ohio. I buy Gerber's chicken (vegetarian fed, free range) located out of Wooster, which is local for me, but at least still Ohio-based for you. It's $3/lb whole chicken, closer to $5/lb for just the breasts. They sell it at Acme (a local grocery chain, not sure if Southern Ohio has those or if it's solely a Northeast thing), but I know other grocery chains in Ohio carry Gerbers as well. The chicken at my local farmers market is actually a little cheaper but I can't always get there.
I found this website helpful: http://www.localharvest.org/
Welcome LnA5909, yes this is the right board for this question
Congrats on moving away from factory farming, that's a great step to a healthier life.
You're going to pay more for pieces than you are for a whole chicken, since the farmer has to pay a percentage of every bird's price to the butcher to make pieces like boneless breasts. It's also hard to compare prices as it varies regionally. I'm in Northern VA, and at our Farmer's Market boneless breasts are $10/lb and whole chickens are $4/lb. So a whole chicken costs me abot $15. Ask about buying in bulk, they may offer a discount.
If you want more chicken for your buck buy a whole chicken and roast it. That's one dinner for us, then I pick the carcass clean and that makes several lunches worth of chicken casserole or chicken salad sandwiches, and the carcass gets made into chicken stock. It's like 6-7 meals for $15. ETA: Have you considered trying more meatless meals? Beans and whole grains like quinoa are also 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.Gerbers used to have yellow and red packaging but they've switched to green. You can see a picture on their site: http://www.gerbers.com/
Thanks for the help. It looks like it's best to take the whole chicken route. I am alright with dedicating a day to butchering in order to prep for meals later. I'll just have to teach myself what I'm doing before hand. I have had, and do love quinoa, but currently I am trying to meet some fitness goals and I just don't see the same results from plant proteins that I do from meat proteins. I do also incorporate eggs (that we get from our neighbor's chickens) into my diet, but I struggle if I eat them more than once every 2 days or so.
We have made the step to a CSA this year and absolutely love it. The veggies are incorporated into every single meal as suggested. Unfortunately, the farm we go to doesn't have any meat. Since I am currently limiting grains and beans/ nuts, my meat intake has really increased. So I figure now is the perfect time to take that next step. Thanks again for your help!
Perfect; this is the package I did see, now I just have to find another local store that carries it. I e-mailed them so hopefully I will know soon.