Impossible!
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@brenda said in Impossible!:
@Mik said in Impossible!:
How do you figure that, Aqua? My ground beef comes from local, pasture raised cows. It’s slaughtered, cut up, ground and packaged.
+1
Pasture raised with regular hormone cocktails? Pasture raised with a shitload of sodium nitrate added to preserve the meat? With carbon monoxide to give it that rosy glow?
Probably the meat you're buying is devoid of most of that craziness. But it's freaking American ground beef. Unless you've physically walked onto that farm property and watched soup to nuts how that cow makes it into your shopping cart, then no, sorry, "slaughtered, cut up, ground and packaged" doesn't fully cover it.
@Aqua-Letifer said in Impossible!:
@brenda said in Impossible!:
@Mik said in Impossible!:
How do you figure that, Aqua? My ground beef comes from local, pasture raised cows. It’s slaughtered, cut up, ground and packaged.
+1
Pasture raised with regular hormone cocktails? Pasture raised with a shitload of sodium nitrate added to preserve the meat? With carbon monoxide to give it that rosy glow?
Probably the meat you're buying is devoid of most of that craziness. But it's freaking American ground beef. Unless you've physically walked onto that farm property and watched soup to nuts how that cow makes it into your shopping cart, then no, sorry, "slaughtered, cut up, ground and packaged" doesn't fully cover it.
Ours comes from very small farm near our home. It's about as simple an operation as possible, very much a 'mom and pop' small farm owned by people we know. Other than raising the cattle ourselves, it's as good as it gets.
The quality of the product is outstanding, but it's not cheap. They don't have the economies of scale, but they also don't have the production quality issues of a larger scale. They know their cattle well enough to not just treat them as a herd. They're also pastured cattle, not feedlot. It makes a big difference.
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@Aqua-Letifer said in Impossible!:
@brenda said in Impossible!:
@Mik said in Impossible!:
How do you figure that, Aqua? My ground beef comes from local, pasture raised cows. It’s slaughtered, cut up, ground and packaged.
+1
Pasture raised with regular hormone cocktails? Pasture raised with a shitload of sodium nitrate added to preserve the meat? With carbon monoxide to give it that rosy glow?
Probably the meat you're buying is devoid of most of that craziness. But it's freaking American ground beef. Unless you've physically walked onto that farm property and watched soup to nuts how that cow makes it into your shopping cart, then no, sorry, "slaughtered, cut up, ground and packaged" doesn't fully cover it.
Ours comes from very small farm near our home. It's about as simple an operation as possible, very much a 'mom and pop' small farm owned by people we know. Other than raising the cattle ourselves, it's as good as it gets.
The quality of the product is outstanding, but it's not cheap. They don't have the economies of scale, but they also don't have the production quality issues of a larger scale. They know their cattle well enough to not just treat them as a herd. They're also pastured cattle, not feedlot. It makes a big difference.
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@brenda same here. I know the farmers I deal with and how they operate. I know some of the processors too. None of that crap is going into my beef.
@Mik said in Impossible!:
@brenda same here. I know the farmers I deal with and how they operate. I know some of the processors too. None of that crap is going into my beef.
That's good! And I'm sure you can appreciate the relative rarity of having a beef source in America completely devoid of hormones, preservatives and other chemicals?
Please love yourself.
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@Mik said in Impossible!:
@brenda same here. I know the farmers I deal with and how they operate. I know some of the processors too. None of that crap is going into my beef.
That's good! And I'm sure you can appreciate the relative rarity of having a beef source in America completely devoid of hormones, preservatives and other chemicals?
@Aqua-Letifer said in Impossible!:
@Mik said in Impossible!:
@brenda same here. I know the farmers I deal with and how they operate. I know some of the processors too. None of that crap is going into my beef.
That's good! And I'm sure you can appreciate the relative rarity of having a beef source in America completely devoid of hormones, preservatives and other chemicals?
Yes, indeed I am aware, and feel very fortunate to live where I can buy from a local farmer. We buy our milk from another farm that processes their cows' milk right at the farm, bottles it, and will even deliver it. Living in a rural area is t3h bomb.
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@Aqua-Letifer said in Impossible!:
@Mik said in Impossible!:
@brenda same here. I know the farmers I deal with and how they operate. I know some of the processors too. None of that crap is going into my beef.
That's good! And I'm sure you can appreciate the relative rarity of having a beef source in America completely devoid of hormones, preservatives and other chemicals?
Yes, indeed I am aware, and feel very fortunate to live where I can buy from a local farmer. We buy our milk from another farm that processes their cows' milk right at the farm, bottles it, and will even deliver it. Living in a rural area is t3h bomb.
@brenda said in Impossible!:
@Aqua-Letifer said in Impossible!:
@Mik said in Impossible!:
@brenda same here. I know the farmers I deal with and how they operate. I know some of the processors too. None of that crap is going into my beef.
That's good! And I'm sure you can appreciate the relative rarity of having a beef source in America completely devoid of hormones, preservatives and other chemicals?
Yes, indeed I am aware, and feel very fortunate to live where I can buy from a local farmer. We buy our milk from another farm that processes their cows' milk right at the farm, bottles it, and will even deliver it. Living in a rural area is t3h bomb.
Ironically, we live in a rural area, too, but our local market is absolutely terrible.
Everything they sell is crazy-ass third-rate crap from China. Everything. There are probably 4 items in the store I'd consider fit for human consumption.We do have a farmer's market around for half the year, though, and all of that's wonderful.
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@Mik said in Impossible!:
@brenda same here. I know the farmers I deal with and how they operate. I know some of the processors too. None of that crap is going into my beef.
That's good! And I'm sure you can appreciate the relative rarity of having a beef source in America completely devoid of hormones, preservatives and other chemicals?
@Aqua-Letifer said in Impossible!:
@Mik said in Impossible!:
@brenda same here. I know the farmers I deal with and how they operate. I know some of the processors too. None of that crap is going into my beef.
That's good! And I'm sure you can appreciate the relative rarity of having a beef source in America completely devoid of hormones, preservatives and other chemicals?
Part of the problem is the FDA. Go read the rules and regs for a kill operation sometime.
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Side story...
My best friend's dad was an entrepreneurial pirate. During WW2 (and right after), he made some damn good money with a bootleg beef operation. He had 600 free range cows (not counting steers, heifers, or bulls), might as well do something with them. Since he also owned a country store, he also had a steady supply of beef and labor from his neighbors. Got a bill at Charlie's store? He'll take a beef for it or he'll be happy to let you work your bill off killing and helping butcher beeves.
On Saturdays, way before sunrise, Charlie would head down to the store and meet up with his crew for the day. He'd pack a big pan of biscuits and a pot of gravy. Mrs. Charlie would follow with a big ol' granite coffeepot fresh off of the stove. As fellers sat and stood around, munching biscuits and swilling coffee, tasks would be laid out for the morning. Work would cease at noon and Mrs. Charlie would feed the crew.
Beef buying was by word of mouth only. First come, first served, unless prior arrangements had been made. All sales were in cash. No animal was cut up past quartering, as it was the buyer's responsibility to do the final cuts. Hindquarters or forequarters would be wrapped in a sheet or cheesecloth provided by the buyer and the meat would be placed in the car or truck by one of Charlie's crew.
People would be lining their cars up at daylight. Charlie would take care of orders and the crew would snub 'em, kill 'em, hang 'em on the gambling sticks, skin and then Charlie usually quartered them out. Payment was made as the beef was loaded.
A dozen steers was not uncommon for a Saturday morning.
