One reason why our area is soo expensive ..

**ironmaiden** · 04-22-2006, 09:16 PM

I noticed that ground beef is very expensive our way. Then one day in the grocery store I notice a sign saying that ALL their ground beef is angus beef and that a very small percentage of all beef is angus - can't remember exactly but maybe 10 or 15%?? But, geesh, that's why it is so expensive our way, they are trying to feed us "the best", but Tuesday night hamburgers or casseroles I could do with the other 85% of beef sold in the US.

It's this "upgrade" "you deserve the best" mentality that creates artificial wants and an excuse to sell me more expensive products.

**ewokgirl** · 04-22-2006, 10:41 PM

That's so frustrating! While I do prefer lean beef so that not so much fat is cooking out, it doesn't have to be from the best part of the cow! That's just silly. Ground beef isn't supposed to be the good stuff!

Do you remember a couple of years ago when meat and egg prices were up because of all the people on the Atkins diet? That irritated me. I get frustrated by fad diets dictating prices and availability.

**dolphin** · 04-22-2006, 11:18 PM

The Albertsons here also sells Black Angus beef. It's so high priced I had to stop shopping there as my hubby is a meat lover. I have been going to Smith's/Kroger who sells the cheaper grade for a cheaper price. We rarely ever have just a burger and mostly use the hamburger for spaghetti sauce, casserole, and meatloaf. I just drain the fat, lol.

**frugalfarmwife** · 04-23-2006, 07:27 AM

Angus is just a breed, they have a great marketing program and yep, it runs the price up! We won't raise angus as they tend to be more aggressive, really it's not the breed, it's how it's fed! We raise holstien calves (dairy calves) and it's a GREAT lean beef that is easy to raise, now they don't fatten up like the beef breeds but they sure cook up good!

We also have a Charlois/Maine Angou cross (beef) cow that we breed to a Holstien bull and get a NICE cross that beefs up really well, the bull calves gain quickly and butcher well and the heifers (girls) are GREAT mamas that give a LOT of milk.

As I said though, it's not the breed so much as how it's fed, isn't marketing amazing?

Is there any way you could buy meat by the 1/2 or 1/4? Get a chest freezer and get to know a local farmer, you'll get MUCH healthier meat! The majority of grocery meat is feed lot raised with feed stuffed into them. Our cows are pasture raised and the ONLY medicines they get are a regular dewormer and vaccines, no additives or chemicals fed to them.

kj

**Blessed** · 04-23-2006, 12:50 PM

Well said KJ!

**ironmaiden** · 04-23-2006, 03:02 PM

I wouldn't know how to find a farmer. Eastern Massachusetts is city and crowded suburbia. Any ideas?

**Kelly0411** · 04-23-2006, 07:18 PM

I buy my meat from a local farmer. The taste is sooo much better, and your right no additives etc. I found mine through a co-worker who had an uncle that had a neighbor that had a farm! LOL

**frugalfarmwife** · 04-24-2006, 07:58 AM

Go for a drive! Go out in the country, look for a small farm, a few cows/sheep/goats/chickens around, look for someone outside and chat! Trust me, a farm wife likes the company, lol, and if they don't sell their own they probably know someone that raises a few cows for meat that would be glad to have a buyer. We're just small at the time and when we butcher we just sell to family/friends, we ship the cattle ourselves to a local butcher (good friend) and he cuts up and packs the way we want it.

Trust me, NOTHING as TASTY as WELL RAISED beef!

Ours have a pasture, a great life and GOOD FEED. And the cost is actually very low in comparison to grocery store beef!

kj

**frugalfarmwife** · 04-24-2006, 08:07 AM

Also, check your yellow pages for meat processing and call them, these are butchers and a lot of them will know farmers that they can put you in touch with to buy a 1/4 or 1/2 cow.

kj