Hulver's site || Comments || Grassfed isn't necessarily grass fed.

The grassfed association by blixco (2.00 / 0) #5 Thu Nov 15, 2007 at 10:43:57 AM EST

is a good place to start looking into the business side of this.

I'm not advocating small farmers. (Your friend can find a processor for his meat, by the way, but he'd have to pay by the pound to process it). I'm advocating responsibly produced food, large ranch or not. Locally (central and east Texas) a few of the ranches got together to form a co-op that now supplies meat year-round to a few local stores.

Your friend might find just such an alliance, but I doubt it. This isn't a hobby. Intensively managed ranches are a lifestyle, a full-time-plus job.
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"You bring the weasel, I'll bring the whiskey." - kellnerin
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meat processing by StackyMcRacky (4.00 / 1) #10 Thu Nov 15, 2007 at 10:54:47 AM EST

the ranch we buy from charges us by the pound for the cow (or however much of the cow we're buying), and then we pay for the processing ourselves. there's a place in Bryan she used to use, but now uses a place in Brenham that's cheaper.

last spring, total cost of the meat we brought home (and subsequently lost in the freezer accident) was $4.00/lb. pretty damn cheap!

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He usually was paying a processor by sasquatchan (2.00 / 0) #12 Thu Nov 15, 2007 at 11:03:48 AM EST

but found that the price/lb when selling to come anywhere near break even meant no-one would buy his product. Plus, he'd have to haul his pig/cow/ram off to the processor on days the processor was open for "walk ins" and what not. Huge hassle.

Yes, he could do it full time, but would never make money. Economy of scale. Get big enough, hire some illegals, get gubmint subsidies, then maybe you'll get a profit. If you can find a market for your expensive beef/pork/mutton.

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thats the key by my 2 cents (2.00 / 0) #26 Thu Nov 15, 2007 at 02:04:55 PM EST

"expensive food," it just doesn't sell.

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It does. by blixco (2.00 / 0) #28 Thu Nov 15, 2007 at 02:21:56 PM EST

see Whole Foods stores as an example of just how well it sells.
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"You bring the weasel, I'll bring the whiskey." - kellnerin
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no kidding by StackyMcRacky (2.00 / 0) #34 Thu Nov 15, 2007 at 07:48:32 PM EST

my sister works for Whole Foods, and gets a 20% discount. she says with the discount, her grocery bill is now the same price as regular stores.

i've noticed that WF sells the same crap HEB does for quite a bit more. i suppose it's how they pay their stockholders.

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: ok then by my 2 cents (2.00 / 0) #42 Fri Nov 16, 2007 at 12:41:27 PM EST

theres probably just no demand for accurate food labelling.

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Here in San Francisco: by fluffy (4.00 / 1) #43 Fri Nov 16, 2007 at 01:18:25 PM EST

I live right next to Whole Foods so I do most of my grocery shopping there. It seems expensive at first blush, but now and then I go to the Safeway (half a mile away) and everything there is just as expensive. Some things are even more expensive there.
busy bees buzz | sockpuppet revolution
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IAWTP by R343L (4.00 / 1) #45 Fri Nov 16, 2007 at 01:55:28 PM EST

The only thing that is really different in price are produce .. but Whole Foods produce is lightyears better than Safeway's. Though really I should go to the farmer's market more often (tomorrow!) I pretty much don't shop at Safeway hardly at all (except late night runs when I have messed up in planning) even though both are equally convenient for me.

"it's been a long time since i let self doubt keep me from doing anything. much to the chagrin of those who have to observe the consequences." -- 256
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Oddly enough: by fluffy (2.00 / 0) #46 Fri Nov 16, 2007 at 02:12:31 PM EST

The produce at the SoMa Safeway is often MORE expensive than at Whole Foods. For example, at Whole Foods, an organic lemon is 70 cents (jesus crap that's a lot for a lemon), but at Safeway it's $1.69 (!!).
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That Safeway by blixco (2.00 / 0) #47 Fri Nov 16, 2007 at 02:39:13 PM EST

us a strange one. My brother worked as a butcher there for a couple of weeks. They're apparently almost entirely separate from Safeway Corp. Different buyers, different reps.
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"You bring the weasel, I'll bring the whiskey." - kellnerin
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: Well that doesn't change the fact by fluffy (4.00 / 1) #48 Fri Nov 16, 2007 at 02:48:04 PM EST

that it's the only alternative to Whole Foods in walking distance of my apartment, and more expensive.
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it does to me by alprazolam (2.00 / 0) #32 Thu Nov 15, 2007 at 06:34:37 PM EST

i just bought a $7 loaf of bread last weekend, $11 pound and a half of chicken, and i'll buy a $10-$12 bag of coffee this weekend.

there's a place for cheap food and for real food. i still buy diet mt. dew and pretty highly processed beef jerky. at the same time, i'll generally only buy non hormone/antibiotic chicken, 80% wild caught fish, and i support local growers at the local organic/farmer's markets and "specialty" stores.

i'm about a third of the way through Omnivore's Dilemma, it's pretty readable.

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$7 loaf of bread? by StackyMcRacky (4.00 / 1) #35 Thu Nov 15, 2007 at 07:50:36 PM EST

hell, i'll bake bread for you if that's what you're willing to pay for it!

(clock and i make all our own breads - it's the best way to make sure nothing nasty is put in)

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Hmm, by ambrosen (2.00 / 0) #37 Fri Nov 16, 2007 at 06:52:56 AM EST

I've got 2 £2.50 400g loaves of bread in my shopping basket now (and a long wait at the till). I guess alprazolam's are twice the size of mine, so I win the expensive bread contest.

But given that these are wheat and gluten free, cellulose gum free and low fibre, they are the only option for me. And a godsend, quite frankly.

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pricey by Merekat (2.00 / 0) #38 Fri Nov 16, 2007 at 08:15:09 AM EST

Do you get to claim any of the cost back via the NHS or tax rebates? Coeliacs in Ireland can.

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: Not as such. by ambrosen (2.00 / 0) #40 Fri Nov 16, 2007 at 09:47:48 AM EST

I'm not actually coeliac (I was biopsied for whatever reaction it was when I was 14), but if you are, then you get bread and baking mixes on prescription. As prescriptions are available at a capped price of just under £100 a year, that's not too bad a price at all. I do have up to 800 Calories a day of supplements I can take as required which are prescribed though, so it does even out in terms of value I get from the government.
And calorie for calorie, this bread's much cheaper than rice cakes.

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also... by StackyMcRacky (2.00 / 0) #36 Thu Nov 15, 2007 at 07:51:50 PM EST

you could buy pasture-fed whole chickens for what you're paying for a pound and a half.

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: eh by alprazolam (2.00 / 0) #39 Fri Nov 16, 2007 at 09:05:55 AM EST

i'm not really willing to do pre arrangements and drive any further than an hour. i just go and buy one or two things that i know i'll eat. the cost isn't that big of a concern to me really although i don't buy stuff this expensive all the time. more like i'm willing to spend extra to try it out occasionally.

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