how much do you pay for local meat?

pfal6

I finally was able to get to the farmer's market in my town. We have a family run humane and natural farm that charges $5.50/lb for whole chickens. That just seems really, really expensive. This farm is not organic yet, but the chickens are fed organic feed. I checked out Whole Foods and I can get organic whole chickens for $2.99/lb.

I also paid $7/lb for local ground beef. Are these prices typical? I don't mind paying the price for beef as we hardly eat it (the last time was November!). B ut chicken is really all we eat besides fish and I have a hard time paying that much. 

 

Thanks!

BlueMnM

we haven't done the chicken from the farmer's market yet, but for beef it is like $6.50/lb. i do not eat beef, but DH says he cannot go back to "regular" beef. so i have no issue paying that.

also look at where you live. are there farms close by or are the vendors traveling 1hr or more. living in DC i know they are coming from a distance, so they have to factor that in the price.

LargeMargeSentMe

We've gotten chickens from two different farms. One was $3.25/lb and one was $3.50/lb. 

thew8isover

I haven't bought whole chickens, but I can get just under a pound of thighs for about $2.50.

CharlottesWeb

Around here the cheapest you can pay for local, humanely raised chicken (not necessarily organic) is $3.80 lb. But it goes all the way up to $5.50 per lb.

Ground beef is typically $5-$5.50 per lb. And goes up from there. It's definitely more cost beneficial to buy in bulk. I paid $600 last year for $100 lbs of beef. It included everything from ground beef all the way up to tenderloin. It will last us a full year before we need to restock.

CharlottesWeb

I just noticed you're from MA. Where? Let me know if you need some sources for chicken. I know several places.

GRKaters

Through our co-op last week, I paid $8/lb for boneless skinless chicken breast and $4/lb for ground beef, from a different farm. We get eggs for $2.50 or $3/doz depending which farm, too.

 

pfal6

hi charlottesweb, I am in Grafton which is close to Worcester. The chicken is coming from Silvermine farm and the beef is from a farm with a 413 area code so I know it is closer to Springfield. I would love some sources for chicken. I have a huge chest freezer and can and plan to buy in bulk. But really 5.50/lb is just way too much for me to afford!

marshmallowevening

We're in LCOL, and local meat is about $4/lb here, more if you pay to have it delivered.

CharlottesWeb

Oh yes, I am familiar with Silvermine. She provides eggs, and vegetables through our co-op (Mass Local Food). She is pretty pricey. But her methods are pretty top notch. Open Meadow Farm just starting to offer chickens through the co-op (and at Farmer's Markets-not sure which ones). They are $4.65 per lb.

There's also Caledonia farm in Barre ($3.80 per lb.). I'm getting 8 from him as soon as they are processed. Which should be very soon.

And Stillmans, they are $25 per bird. 3-5 lbs. Balance Rock in Berlin has chickens. I got a couple from him last year. I can't remember how much he was.

kelbrian

It's $14 for a small whole chicken (about three pounds), so that comes out to about $4.66 per pound.

I pay $6/pound for organic local ground beef and ground pork. Ground turkey is nearly $8 per pound.

It's cut down our meat/poultry consumption greatly, which is never a bad thing. I just add in beans, lentils, or mushrooms if I can instead.

heliocentric

The place where we get our chicken is pricey. A 4lb. bird costs $14.50. Ground turkey is $7/lb. We usually get chicken sausages (4 small pieces for $8) or poussins ($7.75 each). I don't think they are certified organic, but they are humanely raised (free roaming, hormone & antibiotic-free) which is probably more important to me than what kind of feed they get. We rarely eat poultry because of its price.

The organic stuff at WF is probably not a good comparison. It might be factory farmed stuff that is fed organic feed.

Do you like venison? We have a friend that hunts and gives us the meat (we trade home-brewed beer for deer). It's delicious and pretty much the only meat we eat now. Plus you can't get much more wild or local than that!

Pescalita

Our meat CSA is $6/lb for 4lbs roast/braise cuts and 5lb ground of beef, veal, pork, lamb/mutton and/or chicken/poultry.

SuperGreen

At my Farmer's Market, we pay $5/lb for whole birds, so a 4 lb bird is $20.  We pay $8/lb for bone-in breasts and $10/lb for boneless breasts.  Our pork and beef is $8-$10/lb depending on the cut. This is what it costs in my VHCOL area for a small farmer to make a living without using antibiotics and raising his animals humanely.  I am very happy to have access to this kind of meat and am happy to pay the farmer a living wage so he doesn't have to rely on government subsidies like the big meat producers.

LoveKiss

Since we just moved a little over 2 weeks ago, I haven't found my local poultry supplier yet. But the farm across the street from our neighborhood has grass-fed,  hormone free, humane beef. Ground is $4.99/lb. NY Strips are $18.99/lb, and stew meat is $5.99/lb. It's slightly pricier than the cheap stuff at SuperFresh and slightly less expensive than the organic stuff at the organic supermarket.