Eating beef..

[Kelkens]

With this E coli at the major feedlot supplying meat to almost every grocery story I am pretty scared to buy beef.

I am going to try a butcher that does buys direct from the farmer and does his own butcher. My brother knows someone. He said you have to be careful as a lot of butchers get their beef from that plant.

How about the rest of you...any one else scared to eat beef..

[wolfwoman]

nope, we process our own

[Kelkens]

Yes that is the direction we are leaning.

When I was at Superstore a lot of beef coolers were empty.

[DianneS]

We're avoiding beef for awhile. We eat mostly chicken and fish anyway so it won't be too much of a change.

[Kelkens]

We do as well altho. it is nice to have a steak barbecue or a pot roast once in a while. I usually aim for one red meat meal a week just to get enough iron.

[imasham]

My wife and I bought a whole cow last year and the end price to my freezer, after everything, was an astoundingly great $2.70/pound. We're just getting ready ready now to buy this year's half cow and based on recent auction prices I estimate that I'll pay around $2.42/pound this year. That price may go up slightly depending on how beef prices go and on the cuts I decide on.

Additionally the ranch I buy from uses no growth hormones or antibiotics so the meat is better. I donated a bunch of the steaks to a church event in July (at which time the meat had been frozen for ten months) and heard rave reviews from my friends on how good the meat tasted.

[Kelkens]

I would like the name of the ranch if you could pm me.

[Bubbelinchen]

you can eat beef whenever you want, as long you cook it through. i buy ground beef and roast(you kill any bacterias if you cook it through) if you eat medium raw steak or so then there is a risk.

[aww]

The bacteria can be killed by cooking it but I understand that the excretments of the bacteria are still toxins to us and those aren't killed off by heat. If I had to buy meat I'd buy a roast or steak or something and actually wash it before I cook it - I would think that it would be on the exterior of the beef and not the inside (other than ground beef where it could be anywhere). I could be wrong though. Either way, we have some wild game in the freezer so I'm sticking to that right now!

[ferna243]

Where do you buy a whole cow?

[ferna243]

Still eating beef. I don't eat beef everyday, maybe once a week, but I had it yesterday and about a week ago. I might think twice if my immune system was compromised in some way.

[imasham]

Where do you buy a whole cow?

I purchased it direct from the farmer (near Lamont). They have an arrangement with a local butcher (in Ardrossan) to do the processing. I like buying direct from the farmer as I know my money is all going to the supplier without the middle man. Most of the time commercial farmers make the same amount as the local farmer but all along the way middle men make huge profits while adding little to no value. This is why all of the meat I bought last year cost an average of $2.70/pound and the price for many cuts in the store are $5, $8, $15, $20, etc. a pound.

I must admit to being a little surprised by the reaction that most people have. They all admit that the benefits (no growth hormones, no antibiotics, less animal stress, far less transportation, staggeringly dramatic cost reduction, support of local business rather than a conglomerate) are great but virtually nobody wants to go to the effort of doing it themselves. The only explanation I can come to is laziness. Obviously one couple alone doesn't need to buy a whole cow such as the 573 pounds my wife and I got...but you can get neighbours, other family members, work colleagues, etc. and all go in together and buy, for example, 50-80 pounds each. The money we saved just in the last year easily payed for the upright freezer we bought to store it all in.

Example:
Let's say you have a nice Sunday dinner once a month and you buy a great 8 pound prime rib roast. My cost for this roast is $21.60. Superstore had the same thing (well not exactly the same thing...remember that hormones and antibiotics are used) for $9.98/pound this past week so the same 8 pound roast would have cost you $79.84. That's a difference of $58! Multiply that by once a month for a year and the savings are almost $700. Many people would never be able to afford that prime rib roast in the first place...let alone have one every month! So another benefit to all this is being able to have better cuts of beef.

The above example may be claimed to be extreme by some. Fair enough. Just remember that when you compare the costs I have with the local $4-$6 per pound roasts that you may buy, to factor in the other benefits. Safeway currently has a nice Inside Round Roast for $4.99/pound. Not a dramatic savings over my $2.70/pound but make sure you compare apples to apples. As you shop around, look at the prices of beef that is advertised as hormone/antibiotic free. Those prices are significantly higher than the cheap beef you may usually buy.

[aww]

I thought regulations in Canada prohibited antibiotics and growth hormones to be used on our meats?
Or may it's just for dairy (I know for dairy it's prohibited).

imasham - on average, how much does the whole cow (including processing) cost? I'm wondering if it's feasible for our household.

[imasham]

Canadian beef cattle have plenty of additives injected or added to feed. The retailers try to make you believe (by charging exorbitantly higher prices) that raising a cow without the additives is a lot more expensive. Take a browse through your nearest grocery store and compare prices of regular meat with additive free meat. Your statement about dairy cattle is generally correct.

The whole cow I bought last year cost me $1,545 for 573 pounds of meat. That was the total cost, after all processing. I was able to specify the exact cuts and types of meat I wanted and the list below shows what I got. Most families may not be able to afford this in one go...I get that. But you can certainly round up (no pun intended!) four other families and spend $315 for 115 pounds.

Pure Beef Patties	119
Ground beef tubes	96 x 1lb
Inside Round Steak	26
T-bone Steak	30
Sirlon Butt Steak	20
Strip Loin Steak	10
Outside Round Roast	3
Cross Rib Roast	3
Chuck Roast	6
Eye of Round Roast	1
Prime Rib Roast	2
Sirloin Tip Roast	4
Tenderloin	4
Short Ribs	6
Finger Ribs	2
Beef sausages (28 pounds)	1

[litteone]

Im still eating the beef! The truth is, you could eat lettuce and get E coli . Its all about how plants are handling our food.... scary! There are a lot of farmers around edmonton that sell cows. one company even delivers to your house weekly if you want. here is a link -------> http://www.eatwild.com/products/canada.html hope it helps