Grassfed Beef @ The Farmers Market!

[DiamondDeb]

I just got an e-mail from the vendor I buy my eggs from at the Farmers Market. Saturday we'll have a new vendor selling grassfed beef!

I have been doing searches but have not been able to learn details like what cuts & prices but the ranch is less than 100 miles away! I have never had the chance to purchase local beef before. The beef is grass finished, too. I was looking for that on the site.

Now, I just hope that I can afford it. I am so excited!

[cleochatra]

Ooh! I would love to know general cost. I know in the store, the grass fed is heckaspensive.

[DiamondDeb]

Originally Posted by cleochatra

Ooh! I would love to know general cost. I know in the store, the grass fed is heckaspensive.

I'll let you know. I'm afraid it will be way too much. Then again, I pay way too much at the health food store when I buy ground beef. I'm hoping it will cost less. This is a new venture for them, too. Their site only talks about steak & different cuts, buying large amounts of beef. They have price per pound listed & it is cheap but it is referring to cost when you buy half a steer.

lol... For only $1500 they'll take me turkey hunting for 3 days or until I bag my bird. lol... Dang, I just want to eat it not kill it.

I might call them Friday afternoon when I get off work.... I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve...

[cleochatra]

Only $1500?! Think about all the pizza bowls we could hunt and catch with that.

[DiamondDeb]

Originally Posted by cleochatra

Only $1500?! Think about all the pizza bowls we could hunt and catch with that.

Especially with my 20% discount!

[jpeaceokc]

Here in Oklahoma, locally produced grass-fed ground beef runs $3.95 to $5.00/lb.

I wouldn't eat anything else. It is wonderful in its taste and nutrition.

[DiamondDeb]

The grassfed beef vendor had not arrived when I was there about 8:30. Hopefully he was just late. It is quite a drive from the farm.

The guy I get my eggs from mentioned he heard it'll be $10 per pound, any cut you want. If that is the case I won't buy any. I can't afford that. I can't afford what I pay now at the health food store.

I'll go back to the Farmer's Market in a bit & see if he is there.

[CindyCRNA]

Originally Posted by DiamondDeb

The grassfed beef vendor had not arrived when I was there about 8:30. Hopefully he was just late. It is quite a drive from the farm.

The guy I get my eggs from mentioned he heard it'll be $10 per pound, any cut you want. If that is the case I won't buy any. I can't afford that. I can't afford what I pay now at the health food store.

I'll go back to the Farmer's Market in a bit & see if he is there.

I paid $6 for a quarter of a beef. I can get grass fed bison for $4 a pound and it is very good. That's too much for ground. About right for rib eyes. But if they charge a flat rate and make no distinction between any of the cuts, that's too much.

[gardenofsimple]

Originally Posted by DiamondDeb

I just got an e-mail from the vendor I buy my eggs from at the Farmers Market. Saturday we'll have a new vendor selling grassfed beef!

I have been doing searches but have not been able to learn details like what cuts & prices but the ranch is less than 100 miles away! I have never had the chance to purchase local beef before. The beef is grass finished, too. I was looking for that on the site.

Now, I just hope that I can afford it. I am so excited!

wow! I take for granted how lucky I am with local vendors! We used to only have one local organic meat vendor, but we have probably 7 or 8 now.

You might want to check out some grassfed cooking information - it helps if you cook it just a little differently. I love Shannon Hayes's books.

[gardenofsimple]

Originally Posted by CindyCRNA

I paid $6 for a quarter of a beef. I can get grass fed bison for $4 a pound and it is very good. That's too much for ground. About right for rib eyes. But if they charge a flat rate and make no distinction between any of the cuts, that's too much.

4$ for bison?! I wish! I think it's 7 or 8 a lb here. I only buy it once a year for bison burgers, cause it's too pricey.

My meat lady just upped her ground beef prices from 3.50 to 4 dollars a lb. The farm down the road was selling it for 6/lb the other day (I think that's WAY too high!)

[2big2bcute]

Bison meat is probably going to go up more in price. There is such a short supply of it right now.

[LynnE73]

Local grass fed beef can be more expensive but you know the saying, "Pay your farmer or pay your pharmacist."

Last year we got a 1/4 of a cow. We also had to buy the freezer to store it in! The cow came from a very small local farm. It was ridiculously good. This year we are getting a 1/3 of a cow from the same farm. I'm not sure what the cost is after the cow is slaughtered and processed... I can ask my husband as he took care of the cut sheet and paperwork if anyone really wants to know.

We have lots of farmer's markets in our area and I have noticed that the grass fed beef is more expensive than when we bought the large quantity. This year we are getting a forest fed pig too! Because we haven't done it yet instead of getting a 1/2 or whole hog we went with the 25lb. variety of cuts (their choice.) We are really looking forward to getting it soon!

[Merski]

We have a variety of local grass fed beef here in Santa Fe. Prices can go anywhere for 3 to 5 for ground beef and up from there. We bought a quarter cow last month and it came to 4.55 a lb for about 150 lbs of different beef. Another suggestion might be your local state fair. A few years back our friends won a 4H auction and we shared the cow with them. My understanding is that you don't bid on the first/second/ or third place winners but the other animals. the kids really take care of the animals so you know you are getting quality meat

I hope you found it wasn't too expensive thru the farmers market vendor.

[DiamondDeb]

I did not go back a couple weeks ago. As it turns out they had the hours wrong and arrived several hours late.

I did go to the Farmers Market today & got a price list. The ground beef is $7.50 lb. and that is over a dollar less than I have been paying so that is good. Still too high, but better & also local. they price varies depending on the cut so I will probably buy stew meat, liver or a roast sometimes but $10+ is not something I am willing to spend. Steaks run $12.75 - $29.99 lb.

I'm really watching my pennies this week as I had some larger than normal expenses so all I bought at the market today was eggs. On the way home it occurred to me that I'm planning to start a few weeks with no red meat soon so it is going to be over a month before I get to try any of the local grassfed beef.

I wonder if they would be able to tell me the fat % of the beef? Not sure how they determine that or if they even would since it is a local business?

[TheHealthyAdvocate]

I have yet to buy grass fed beef for myself. However, I'm going for the plunge and making that investment in my health! So far I have invested in healthy sugar alternatives (Xylitol and Stevia), grain free options and a small supply of supplements (vitamin D, probiotics and melatonin).

At my local H-E-B market they are selling organic beef for about $5/lb. I'm not sure if it is grass fed beef, but it will be a good item to purchase to make a transition to pure, local grass fed organic beef.

[Kitty_katz]

There's a brand called Laura's Beef that is grass fed. It's available at a couple of supermarket chains here: Giant and Whole Foods. It's mostly ground beef that's available but sometimes a few other cuts are there. It may depend on what they can order. At other stores, it seems to be the standard American stuff.

I've noticed that Laura's beef is so much tastier than the ordinary kind. MM-mm!! Oh, yeah...even better when done over fire on the grill.

[DiamondDeb]

I just got an email from a different farm, a closer one. I have bought chickens from them before & they have some beef but not a lot. They butcher only once a year & last year they did not sell any. They will have some to sell in a couple weeks! They just won't know how much until they actually do the butchering. These prices are better than anything else I've seen in the area.

Beef – 100% grass-fed

• Roasts, generally 2-3 lbs - $7.00/lb
• Ground beef in 2 lb packages- $5.00/lb
• Stew meat in 1 lb packages - $5.00/lb
• Soup bones weight prepackage varies - $4.00/lb

[azger]

I got lucky after much searching I found a farm that sells grass fed beef, pork, lamb and chickens! Been great for us the beef is $5.45 a pound so not to bad at all for us. They also render lard so we have that stocked as well. If anyone is in or around Northern VA Mount Vernon Farms is absolutely great!

[DiamondDeb]

I decided to order a roast along with some ground beef. I got an email back asking what cut I want? "...Round (boneless) or chuck or rib (both with bones, bit less meat, more flavor and nutrition from a WAPF standpoint)."

Yes, they follow Weston A. Price.

I need to go read about them on WAPF site but was wondering which others suggest & why?

[DiamondDeb]

I pick up my beef @ the farm tomorrow evening!

This will be my first local beef & I'm looking forward to it.

[kaybie]

I discovered a farm store really close to where I live that is all grass fed/pastured. They have everything! Some of their stuff is super expensive.. such as eggs being 4.50/dozen although they are delicious! Their beef is very reasonable in my opinion. I went in yesterday and got 10 lbs ground beef for $37, I got a roast for $5/lb, some liver (what on earth to do with it, I don't know yet), and some cube steak for $5/lb.

They also have pastured chickens!!! Very hard to find around here, they are like gold to me. I got 2 big ones.. 4.50/lb . But worth it.

I got all of my meat for the month of Dec in the freezer now.. cost me a total of $87. Considering it's all fancy shmancy pastured meat, I think I did pretty good!!

I think this is so much fun! Finding new places to shop and getting such great quality foods and helping out local farmers. I'm kind of sad I got all my meat at once, I want to keep shopping

[MamaSage]

I am incredibly lucky. I have family members who produce organic, grass-fed beef, and every year, I split a cow with my mom...As of last year, I wasn't eating meat (hence, my weight gain :-P) but my husband and kids still ate it.

All in all, this year, for a half, grass fed, butchered/cut...everything from sirloin steaks to ground beef: $400. Lasts us a full year, and then some. This year, we ended up donating a lot of our leftovers.

I do not take for granted how fortunate we are to be getting it for that price. It's excellent beef, too.

[kaybie]

Originally Posted by MamaSage

I am incredibly lucky. I have family members who produce organic, grass-fed beef, and every year, I split a cow with my mom...As of last year, I wasn't eating meat (hence, my weight gain :-P) but my husband and kids still ate it.

All in all, this year, for a half, grass fed, butchered/cut...everything from sirloin steaks to ground beef: $400. Lasts us a full year, and then some. This year, we ended up donating a lot of our leftovers.

I do not take for granted how fortunate we are to be getting it for that price. It's excellent beef, too.

That's amazing!! Even if I could get it for that price, I don't have anywhere to keep it. I live in a small apartment with a very small freezer. Someday I will get a chest freezer but it can't happen right now.

[MamaSage]

Originally Posted by kaybie

That's amazing!! Even if I could get it for that price, I don't have anywhere to keep it. I live in a small apartment with a very small freezer. Someday I will get a chest freezer but it can't happen right now.

I know exactly what you're saying. Once upon a time, I lived in a teeny little bachelor suite apt, with no bedroom, and I used to say that all of my appliances were "smurf-sized". Little stove, little fridge, and subsequently, little freezer. ;-) It's hard to cram too much into those l'il suckers.

[TheHealthyAdvocate]

Lucky you!

[Tea Cozy]

A lady I work with raises elk and this fall I bought half an elk from her..... all grass fed free ranged. it worked out to 2.60/lb after processing. SOOOOOOOO good. Local grocery sells grassfed beef. Average about 5.00/lb from ground to steaks.

[DiamondDeb]

Originally Posted by DiamondDeb

I pick up my beef @ the farm tomorrow evening!

This will be my first local beef & I'm looking forward to it.

I got an email from the farm that they have decided not to sell their beef/chicken anymore.

[MamaSage]

Originally Posted by DiamondDeb

I got an email from the farm that they have decided not to sell their beef/chicken anymore.

Oh, no! Deb, I'm sorry to hear that! Do you have any leads on other sources?

Hmm, weird. I wonder what happened?

[DiamondDeb]

Originally Posted by MamaSage

Oh, no! Deb, I'm sorry to hear that! Do you have any leads on other sources?

Hmm, weird. I wonder what happened?

They didn't really go into detail. They just said it was because of recent changes in their business & family responsibilities. They'd been selling for 3 yrs.

The email said they have some beef left & I'm going to see if I can get some of that.

They included links to other farms that sell. None are really close to here but I'll probably end up buying from one that sells at the Farmers Market but not buy very often because it is so expensive.

[MamaSage]

Originally Posted by DiamondDeb

They didn't really go into detail. They just said it was because of recent changes in their business & family responsibilities. They'd been selling for 3 yrs.

The email said they have some beef left & I'm going to see if I can get some of that.

They included links to other farms that sell. None are really close to here but I'll probably end up buying from one that sells at the Farmers Market but not buy very often because it is so expensive.

I'm sorry to hear that! If you lived anywhere near me, I'd totally set you up with some!

I hope you're able to find an affordable, local source!