Saturday, August 27, 2011

Grass-Fed Beef + Free-Range Chicken: Trader Joe's Edition

At the moment, grass-fed and free-range meat is pretty difficult and expensive to purchase. I have not yet seen grass-fed beef at Walmart or Target, but I have bought these types of meat from Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and from a local farmer. I will be going around and posting as I have time at all places where I see grass-fed/free-range meat to help you compare prices!

First, here are my tips on meat-buying:

* You can approach grass-fed/free-range purchases from 2 angles - it's good for the animal and it's good for you. As much as this may demonize me, I prioritize my family's necessities OVER animal welfare. This means if I have to choose between gas in my car to take my kid to his physical therapy appointments or paying for an animal to have a happy, healthy life, I will choose the gas. That being said, I think it's important to investigate ways to make inexpensive grass-fed, free-range meat purchases so that you don't have to make those kind of choices.

* Grass-fed meat is good for you: Particularly the fat. This article here does an awesome job comparing taste, price and nutrition of grass-fed vs. grain-fed cows. Please check it out. SO the idea is that the fat of grain-fed meat is bad for you. If you have to buy grain-fed, buy lean cuts: eye of round roast/steak, sirloin tipside steak, top round roast/steak, bottom round roast/steak, and top sirloin steak.

* HANDS-DOWN the least expensive way to buy a grass-fed cow is to buy it in bulk from a local farmer 1/4, 1/2 or whole. This can be daunting because you have to find a farmer, have a freezer, time it right for slaughter (usually cows are slaughtered in the July/August/September time-frame because they have had time to eat yummy spring and summer grass and get fat), figure out how you want the animal cut up, then pay a huge chunk of money up front. Seriously alot of work if it is your first time.

* Now, for chickens. Ideally raised chickens and eggs are friggin' expensive. I was at one time paying around $15.00 for a small 3.25 bird. Now, this bird had been treated like a bird-king before it was killed: eating no soy, lots of bugs, living free in the sunshine - but I could get a 5lb Perdue chicken for right around $5.00. ONE-QUARTER THE PRICE! MADNESS. I would get so frustrated when my husband would be picking the bird-king's bones clean of meat and say he was still hungry when I was hoping to have some leftovers for a salad the next day. So, I buy the 5lb bird and have been looking for a cheaper option since.

Here are some products that you may be interested in:



                   100% Grass-Fed Ground Beef $5.99/lb.
Grass-fed Ground Beef Patties - $6.49/lb. Unless you are really pressed for time, save yourself the .50 cents per pound and make your own out of ground beef.



 Organic Free-Range Chicken Drumsticks $1.99/lb. $3.60 for this package. Nice price! It should be noted that these chickens are still eating a diet that contains soy, which translates into more of the bad Omega-6 fats. BUT, they are "free-range."
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts $6.99/lb. This package of 1.69lbs is $11.81. Ouch.

Boneless skinless thighs at $4.99/lb. The 1.51 lb package is $7.53

 Breast Tenders for $6.99/lb. The 1.17lb package is $8.18
Whole chicken is $2.49/lb. A 4.78lb bird is $11.90. This is your most economical way to buy free-range chicken from a grocery store. You get the organs and bones - make some stock and fry up some nice treats for your puppies if you don't like organ meat.                                                                                           



Individually packaged boneless-skinless chicken breasts for $7.49/lb. 1.95lbs of meat will cost you $14.61. As a low-budget shopper, these are never on my shopping list.

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