I like to grill and cook chicken and beef.

After doing some research online and watching some Good Eats...I was inspired to look for some places around VA/NC that raise and sell grass-fed beef and free-range chickens.

Understanding I would be paying more for the better beef (and now that my wife is saving us money with her couponing), I decided to search the internets and found Tender Grass Farms (http://tendergrassfarm.com/). I did a little producting searching and ordered some steaks, ground beef, and chickens.

I ordered 27 pounds of meat (mostly beef) for $200.

I ordered it today.
It will arrive tomorrow frozen in dry ice.

I'm pretty excited.

The farm is in VA, so that's why it doesn't take long.

Just wanted to start a thread about a better quality meat than the corn-fed, hormone-filled meats we are eating today.

I mean, seriously, have you ever seen a cow graze in a corn field?

Anyone else go for the "more natural" type of beef?

8/29/2011 11:18:00 PM

man i tell you what

my wife started buying all our beef and chicken from our friend's farmer neighbor

SHIT IS WAY DELICIOUSER THAN GROCERY STORY OFFERINGS

[Edited on August 29, 2011 at 11:34 PM. Reason : there's a cow field directly across the street from my neighborhood. i want to eat them]

8/29/2011 11:33:30 PM

free-range chickens are skinny as hell

fresh beef is nasty/gamey as hell

it's common in my culture to have ceremonies/celebrations where we kill and eat chickens/cows/pigs so yeah I know from experience

[Edited on August 29, 2011 at 11:34 PM. Reason : not sure what definition of "free range" you have, after looking at wikipedia]

8/29/2011 11:34:19 PM

my dad actually helped make the report for NC on Grass Fed beef.

its really nice to see some of the stuff they found and read about it if you are eating it.

http://www.mocagbiz.com/outreach/gfbeef/MOCGrassfedBeefFINALREPORT.pdf

take a look...and there is a good place out in Greenville that we got ours from when the survey was done. I will try and get the name of the place.

and yes, farm raised is better than mass produced. also depends on the way you cook it.

8/30/2011 12:16:14 AM

So, you buy a bunch of meat to ruin it in the freezer?

That sounds like a far better solution

8/30/2011 12:31:55 AM

corn fed cattle just tastes better than grass fed

8/30/2011 1:04:45 AM

My dad bought and raised a pig last year...the sausage was ok, but the the bacon was easily the best bacon Ive ever had.
He bought two this year...Im highly looking forward to their demise

8/30/2011 2:12:30 AM

all i eat is chicken and beef (rarely do i eat pork. maybe once a month, and i eat meat of some type every meal).

as far as the chicken goes, i haven't really tasted much difference between free-range and steroid-induced... the biggest difference is size. When you're on a budget like I am, the steroid-induced chickens are the most cost efficient. I'm ok with that.

As far as beef, there's more of a distinct difference in flavor between grass fed and corn fed, but I still prefer corn fed due to, as i said before, price and value. I can sacrifice the warm fuzzies and a slight taste difference for the savings.

That said, if there was a more economical way to mass-produce grass fed beef and free-range chickens, I'd be all for it. Things being what they are, though, I'm not bothered by it at all.

[Edited on August 30, 2011 at 2:40 AM. Reason : .]

8/30/2011 2:40:23 AM

I care most that the chicken is given vegetarian feed and neither are given antibiotics. Secondary to that is that the beef doesn't stand knee deep in shit.

Rare Earth Farms at the farmers market rules.

8/30/2011 6:56:38 AM

The meathouse is grass-fed & free range. So is almost all the stuff at the farmers market. Why are you getting it shipped, when there is plenty in the area.

8/30/2011 7:46:11 AM

Yea. Your hippie friends are going to be PISSED when they hear you're killing the earth by having meat shipped to you instead if buying locally.

[Edited on August 30, 2011 at 7:56 AM. Reason : Duh]

8/30/2011 7:56:05 AM

Not sure where you get your info from but hormones aren't used on chickens.

8/30/2011 8:27:03 AM

^I was wondering that myself. No need to freeze a shitload from VA when you can get that stuff all over NC. Especially in the triangle. Hell I am loving the variety here in Carrboro with Weaver Street Co-op and the farmers market maybe a mile away from my apartment.

As for grass vs. corn, I have to say that the chickens don't have a terrible life. I have grown up around my uncles farm where he raises chickens for Perdue, and they have a pretty damn nice setup in his 3-4 houses. They are kept nice and clean, get fed and watered regularly, and have a good temperature set for them at all times. Shit they did not even lose power during the hurricane because he had a big ass generator setup for them. So yea antibotics and hormones aside, the chickens have a pretty nice life, even in a "factory" farm.

[Edited on August 30, 2011 at 8:34 AM. Reason : ]

8/30/2011 8:31:32 AM

Quote :

"The farm is in VA, so that's why it doesn't take long."

Why'd you order from VA when there's a bajillion free-range cattle farms that operate close to the Triangle? Seems to defeat the purpose of buying locally source meats to get it from out of state

We're thinking of joining a meat CSA. There's a couple of them in the area. These are the ones we've looked into:

http://rareearthfarms.com/
http://www.coonrockfarm.com/

There's one more too that I can't recall the name of off the top of my head. I like that the Coon Rock one gives you a variety of meat (the guy told me it's usually one whole chicken, a couple pounds of sausage and/or bacon, some lamb, and some beef) but I feel like the beef only ones are a better deal.

We're also thinking about splitting half a cow with some friends as that seems to be the most economical way to buy the meat. There's some farms near here that will also let you order a whole or half butchered pig.

Quote :

"As far as beef, there's more of a distinct difference in flavor between grass fed and corn fed, but I still prefer corn fed due to, as i said before, price and value."

But you're getting a pretty terrible value when you consider that studies have shown corn-fed beef to have lower nutritional value than pasture beef. Cows evolved to eat grass and do pretty poorly on grain.

Also, if you buy your meat in bulk, the price works out to be about the same. Granted not everyone has the space or enough friends to buy in bulk, but this is really the best way to go about it. I guess you could argue that if you bought half a factory cow it would still work out cheaper but I don't know who would bother to do that or if you even could.

[Edited on August 30, 2011 at 8:40 AM. Reason : a]

8/30/2011 8:35:33 AM

^^ your uncle's farm is nothing like a a lot of the problem factory farms then (which is a good thing).

Many true factory farms the birds are overfed with low quality food and kept restricted to very little movement. This allows them to grow the birds as big as possible in a short amount of time without hormones and also results in a higher saturated fat content than normal chickens would have (and is not always reported correctly). Sure they're bigger but they are more unhealthy.

I really don't care too much about the quality of life for the chicken itself so I don't really approach the whole organic / free range/ etc. debate from that angle, but I do care about the quality of my food.

And no, hormones are not currently approved for use in poultry (though plenty are for beef). Just antibiotics (which is also not great for us).

[Edited on August 30, 2011 at 8:44 AM. Reason : ]

8/30/2011 8:43:09 AM

Quote :

"Most true factory farms the birds are overfed with low quality food and kept restricted to very little movement. This allows them to grow the birds as big as possible in a short amount of time without hormones and also results in a higher saturated fat content than normal chickens would have (and is not always reported correctly). Sure they're bigger but they are more unhealthy."

This. I worked in poultry research for two years and one of those years was spent on an industrial farm out in Salisbury. The conditions those birds were kept in were downright nasty, leading to a lot of infection amongst the birds. Cannibalism is also high in those conditions, which I can't be convinced is good. For me it's not really about "Oh those poor little birdies," because I do view them as a commodity, but birds that are allowed to form sores on their feet and bodies from standing in their own droppings can't be all that good for you.

Seeing that firsthand as well as the conditions of a lot of pork farms down in that area was a big catalyst for me deciding if I'm going to bother to eat meat, it should be meat raised in the best conditions possible for my own health and safety.

8/30/2011 8:47:57 AM

Eh again I don't really care about the condition of them so much, but I know some use the argument of "free range is more ethical". Also the people that say that hogs get beat and abused just for the pleasure of the farmers. My uncle has about 3 hog houses that are maybe 10 years old and I have never seen anybody mistreating the animals. Hell they also had power during the entire hurricane as well.

If you are making the choice solely based on the quality/taste then so be it. But I have never personally understood people that claim that all farmers are abusive, as I think it is easier, less stressful, and ultimately more profitable for everybody to keep the animals happy and content.

8/30/2011 9:26:41 AM

^

What about antibiotic laden meat and the likelihood of creating super bugs.

8/30/2011 9:34:33 AM

^That would obviously fall under quality & taste. Hell I am considering getting milk from Maple View Farms because it is antibiotic and all that other BS free for my kids, who love milk. I don't think their milking herd are magically treated better than cattle in 95% of other farms though. I was specifically talking about groups or people who claim to not eat meat because the animals live terrible lives of abuse and degradation.

[Edited on August 30, 2011 at 9:44 AM. Reason : ]

8/30/2011 9:41:03 AM

most of them do live pretty crappy, unsanitary lives, it just doesn't bother me as bad as the quality of the food that results (as bad as that may sound). You have to be careful even with "free range" and "organic" too with as terrible as the FDA is at defining and qualifying.

8/30/2011 9:57:06 AM

Quote :

"You have to be careful even with "free range" and "organic" too with as terrible as the FDA is at defining and qualifying."

True. It's why I try to stay away from buying meat at the supermarket period. If you don't know where it came from you can't know the conditions it was raised in.

There's a dude that lives down the street from my parents that raises chickens and sells the eggs for $3.50 a dozen. You get to see exactly how the chicken live and you really can't beat that price considering people at the farmers market get away with charging $5 for a dozen eggs

8/30/2011 10:01:30 AM

After watching Food Inc and reading all kinds of Paleo articles I would like to eat grass fed beef but it is so expensive. The one time I went to The Farmer's Market to buy some the guy working at the Rare Earth Farms booth was really nice and informative. I guess I need to find someone to split some cow with but I don't even know if I have enough freezer space or how to deal with the large cuts of meat.

[Edited on August 30, 2011 at 10:50 AM. Reason : .]

8/30/2011 10:49:19 AM

some more sites that sell naturally fed free-range meats, including specialty meats such as bison, rabbit, pheasant, elk, venison, etc.

http://www.blackwing.com
http://www.grasslandbeef.com

Quote :

"Also the people that say that hogs get beat and abused just for the pleasure of the farmers."

well, there is a tiny minority of farmers who obviously does, as there have been many cases in the past few years where people have gone in undercover and recorded such abuse.


[Edited on August 30, 2011 at 10:55 AM. Reason : ]

8/30/2011 10:53:07 AM

Quote :

"but I don't even know if I have enough freezer space or how to deal with the large cuts of meat."

While freezer space is obviously an issue, you can get them to butcher the cow into the usual cuts of meat so you're not faced with giant, unidentifiable slabs of meat

8/30/2011 11:14:58 AM

if you want free range animals, start hunting deer and waterfowl. I personally don't want you douchebags encouraging the spread of blackleg and brucellosis because you're willing to pay a farmer more not to vacinnate his herd.

That, and beef chock full of zeranol and trenbolone marblizes better. less saturated fat, higher concentrations of unsaturated fats, and higher Omega-3 contents sound like a good thing to me. Zeranol and Trenbolone also increase feed efficiency, which means the animal converts more of what it eats into tissue. If you're a conservationalist, you should be able to see higher herd yield per acre as a good thing.

8/30/2011 11:32:27 AM

Quote :

"encouraging the spread of blackleg and brucellosis because you're willing to pay a farmer more not to vacinnate his herd."

Nobody is arguing against vaccination of herds but rather conditions that lead to the overuse of antibiotics. Apples and oranges. There are serious problems with this in industrial herds.

Quote :

"That, and beef chock full of zeranol and trenbolone marblizes better. less saturated fat, higher concentrations of unsaturated fats, and higher Omega-3 contents sound like a good thing to me"

Scientific studies done over the past decade have consistently shown that pasture raised beef performs better in these categories. You can see some of those studies in link JT3bucky posted.

8/30/2011 12:06:45 PM

Yea, multiple studies have shown that omega 3 content, polyunsaturated fat, and saturated fat contents are consistently better (respectively higher and lower) than the hormone pumped beef regardless of what they say about the hormones. The hormones let them grow faster though meaning they are ready for chop and sale quicker.

Also, as far as vaccines and antibiotics, no one is saying it is bad to use them period. Like ^ said, it is the overuse that is becoming a problem. They are pumped with so much stuff as a preventative measure even when they probably don't need it that they are becoming less effective and in turn there is growing concern that the antibiotics are becoming less effective in humans as well.

[Edited on August 30, 2011 at 12:19 PM. Reason : ]

8/30/2011 12:13:26 PM

Quote :

"I ordered 27 pounds of meat (mostly beef) for $200."

...what are you going to do with all that?

8/30/2011 12:15:58 PM

My study is better than your study.

8/30/2011 12:16:18 PM

well you just have to look at the study. It's like the whole thing with ethanol or high fructose corn syrup. Sure, their research says there is no problem - what about all the research in academia that is showing the opposite?

Remember, a lot of tobacco companies had plenty of studies saying how safe smoking was in the 50s, but who paid for the research to back their claims?

Don't get me wrong, I still eat a good burger or BBQ sandwich every once in awhile if I am out somewhere with friends or at a friend's house for dinner and I don't fret over where it came from. But the stuff that I consume on a regular basis I try and be a little more selective with. Is it worth it? It is to me. (I don't ever eat meat at home anymore though).

[Edited on August 30, 2011 at 12:26 PM. Reason : ]

8/30/2011 12:21:17 PM

All of the people involved with those studies had no incentive to flub anything like the cig companies did.

I trust all of the work done in them, I know the people and they are all legit, honest scientist

8/30/2011 12:24:49 PM

Quote :

"what are you going to do with all that?"

freeze and eat?

what other alternatives are there...make a dress out of it? what kind of question is that?

8/30/2011 12:25:18 PM

^^ sorry, I should have been more clear. I agree with you.

I'm saying the studies backing the fact that hormones have provided better health content are generally funded by the industry who is pumping them full of hormones. Same as the people who claim ethanol isn't harmful to engines or your body doesn't know the difference between sugar or high fructose corn syrup.

I'm not sure where eleusis got the info from, but most 3rd party studies I have read (if not all) found that the free range cattle had higher marks in most if not all categories they were checking versus the factory beef with hormones. Europeans already stopped buying most beef from the US within the past 10 years because of the hormone controversy after a bunch of their research proved there was more harm than benefit with Zeranol and Trenbolone being two of the things discussed. US factory farmers won't stop because it would lower their yield so they have to come up with a different excuse for why they use the hormones.



[Edited on August 30, 2011 at 12:39 PM. Reason : ]

8/30/2011 12:27:01 PM

Quote :

"...what are you going to do with all that?"

Meat swimming pool durr.

8/30/2011 12:33:57 PM

Quote :

"I'm not sure where eleusis got the info from, but most 3rd party studies I have read (if not all) found that the free range cattle had higher marks in most if not all categories they were checking versus the factory beef with hormones."

apparently you don't know what the studies are telling you then. cattle fed grass diets have better fat compositions than cattle fed corn diets, but giving trenbolone, zeranol, and estradiol to grass fed cattle will improve their fat compositions even more. yes, hormone use and feed composition are completely unrelated. We gave our cattle growth implants, but they were raised on grass. most farmers I know east of I-95 operate the same way.

also, those of you in here claiming overuse of vaccinations sound retarded. maybe we should bitch about how you got vaccinated for smallpox and measles as a child. If we were talking about giving animals antibiotics, it would be different, but we're talking about vaccinations here.

[Edited on August 30, 2011 at 12:58 PM. Reason : Free Range means no vaccinations are given. Very stupid concept to be promoting]

8/30/2011 12:56:59 PM

Actually I think most people were talking about antibiotics being the biggest problem. I also stated that a lot of the research proved "more harm than benefit" when discussing hormones meaning that though some benefits were seen, the potential side effects are not really worth the risk or in many cases the positive impacts were overstated.

And I know what you are saying about grass fed versus corn fed and I also know exactly what the studies are telling me. However, most of the beef factories are using corn-fed diets and then using the hormones to "catch up". Basically in an attempt to grow cattle as healthy as the grass-fed but as quickly as the corn fed. That is the problem. I'm just not really big on artificial enhancement. Maybe I'm old fashioned or just an overly stubborn mindset when it comes to health. I dono.

[Edited on August 30, 2011 at 1:11 PM. Reason : ]

8/30/2011 12:59:12 PM

^^ Dear Lord no one in here has said anything negative about vaccines. Reading comprehension a little rusty today?

Quote :

" Free Range means no vaccinations are given."

And where do you get this definition from? Firstly, from a regulation standpoint free range only applies to poultry. And free range poultry are regularly vaccinated against diseases such as newcastle.

And I have never heard that pasture raised cattle and hogs are not vaccinated. And since the USDA doesn't really regulate the market I'm not sure where that regulation would be coming from.

[Edited on August 30, 2011 at 1:13 PM. Reason : a]

8/30/2011 1:05:28 PM

I won't get into the vegetarian vs. eating meat debate (I've been ~ 95% veg for almost 12 years and can't see that changing), but I do really like the local meat movement that has coalesced in the last few years. It makes sense to me economically, health wise for both people and animals, and environmentally that our food should come from nearby us.

I don't think anyone mentioned buffalo burgers. Those were pretty tasty when I tried one several years ago.
Less fat, good quality protein, and tasted pretty good.

I also grew up near an ostrich farm and would eat those birds in a heartbeat. They were pretty ill tempered when we would visit.

8/30/2011 4:05:16 PM

My GF is in bio engineering and she insists that the grassfed meat is much better for you. I know when we went to whole foods the beef was from Yadkin County. I think one of the main reasons is because the Yadkin farmers don't use any artificial steroids, etc to mature the cow. And apparently without the steroids the cow can take another 2 years to mature, which is probably why it is more expensive.

8/30/2011 4:11:56 PM

Quote :

"what other alternatives are there...make a dress out of it?"

lmao

[Edited on August 30, 2011 at 4:54 PM. Reason : ]

8/30/2011 4:54:47 PM

Wow. This thread exploded.

I am particularly amused by those of you who wondered why I got the meat from VA.

I live in Newport News.

And as far as what I will be doing with it, well...

http://www.oldsmokey.com/Products/OSCG/oldsmokeycharcoal.html

8/30/2011 5:57:21 PM

Well that makes sense then

And mmm smoked meats....

8/30/2011 7:58:13 PM

message_topic.aspx?topic=592105&page=2#14604819

8/30/2011 8:28:38 PM

good meat is good

8/30/2011 9:08:53 PM

The taste is different but the health risks are much greater with corn fed meet. e-coli is a byproduct of feeding cows corn and it not agreeing with their digestive system. you can eat grass fed beef raw. not rare. raw.

Quote :

" I have to say that the chickens don't have a terrible life. I have grown up around my uncles farm where he raises chickens for Perdue, and they have a pretty damn nice setup in his 3-4 houses. They are kept nice and clean, get fed and watered regularly, and have a good temperature set for them at all times. Shit they did not even lose power during the hurricane because he had a big ass generator setup for them. So yea antibotics and hormones aside, the chickens have a pretty nice life, even in a "factory" farm."

Somebody needs to watch food inc

Also, just buy your grass fed, free range meet at

8/30/2011 9:17:23 PM

I often wonder about that meat at Whole Foods. I read some articles claiming their meat isn't as pasture raised as they want you to believe. I don't know if that's just some uptight hippies or truth though.

8/30/2011 9:18:57 PM

its truth and they admit it. they have a scale that explains how hardcore free range it is. one level means they let the animals out once a week, one level menas they let them out every day and one level means they are completely free range. its not exactly like i said but there are like 7 color-coded levels.

8/30/2011 9:31:36 PM

^They say they're beef was from Yadkin county farmers when I went in the other day.

8/30/2011 9:51:00 PM

^^^ Direct to farmers is best though. At least Whole Foods does pledge vegetarian feed and antibiotic free meat for EVERYTHING they sell.
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/meat/welfare.php



[Edited on August 30, 2011 at 10:24 PM. Reason : a]

8/30/2011 10:23:04 PM

Food Inc. sucked.


It made the farmers seem like the bad guys and they arent.

Plus these farmers are helping millions of people eat...thats why I hated it.

8/31/2011 12:59:14 AM