# Buying Beef - Pork by the side



## Berubeland (Sep 6, 2009)

Hey guys,

In my wild internet wanderings, I have been looking into pasture fed beef, pork and even chicken. 

You can also buy direct from the farmer if you want. 

There are also a couple benefits

1 - Better quality meat
2 - Better life for the animal
3 - It's cheaper

The prices I have found are $3.99 a lb which is the same price I pay for lean hamburger, but of course you get roasts, steaks and so on rather than just ground up beef. 

Have any of you tried this? Is there a difference in quality? Taste?


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

I have, and do prefer it. I'm also in AB where we are really picky about our beef.

I do find the quality much better than most grocery stores, and even a little better than the Costco AAA beef. The price is worth it too. The only draw backs I have had are freezer room thatnit takes. So I have spilt the beef with friends and family, which becomes a harder effort to coordinate then people what to trade different cuts.

The taste is generally richer, a little fattier unless you get it trimmed well. Well worth it in my mind.

I have done the same with chicken and it was more expensive but really good. It was the best chicken i have had. No comment on the pork.

$3.99 a lb sounds really expensive for lean ground beef. We pay 5.89 ish a kg


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## crazyjackcsa (Aug 8, 2010)

We've done it in the past, it takes up a tonne of space (as was said). Another issue is just how much of it you eat. Since it's there taking up space, you feel obliged to eat it, and that means a lot more red meat than you would normally eat.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

Maybe it's because Berube lives in Toronto. I often see lean ground beef at 2.50/lb. It is on sale regularly.


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## hboy43 (May 10, 2009)

Hi:

My neighbour and I split a half cow from time to time. $2.50 /lb IIRC last time from the farmer down the road.

hboy43


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## Ethan (Aug 8, 2010)

I have 1/6 of a cow in my freezer. Several members of my girlfriends family go in together to buy half a cow once or twice a year. Love buying beef directly from the farmer. Cheap and delicious.


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## BBB (Jun 13, 2011)

My Grandparents buy a 1/2 of beef off a family friend, but not sure what the charge is for it. I know they sometimes complain its sometimes more fatty then store bought, but the cow was in good care and was grass fed, not from a feed-lot with 10,000 over cows. Not sure the price though, but $2-3/lb sounds about right.


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## awesomeame (Nov 15, 2011)

Berubeland said:


> ...The prices I have found are $3.99 a lb...


That's a ripoff. Check out faulfarms.com. They're outside of Ayr, maybe 1.5hrs from toronto. All organic, if you buy the front 1/4 or 1/2 it's 2.75/lb, the back end is 2.95/lb. Wonderful beef, it's all I eat..it's worth the drive 

Matt


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

i have some relatives keep a few animals - horses, a cow, pheasants - on their country property.

one fine summer day they held a huge family reunion lunch down by the lake. Steaks were grilled on the outdoor stone fireplace. Nineteen were seated including the children. Suddenly a child's voice piped up. Mom. Was This Fernande.

after that people didn't really eat their steaks, they sort of picked at em gah.


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

I live in Nortwest Mississauga and looking for farms who sells lamb, beef, chicken, pork etc. 
I did some search on the Web, but couldn't find ... if anyone has links/addresses please let me know


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## praire_guy (Sep 8, 2011)

Here in Winnipeg a side/quarter of beef is 2.89 lb and 3.89 lb for grass fed. (hot weight). 

Not sure why grass fed is more. Should be less, no? No feed to buy.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

If grass-fed were cheaper, all grocery-store meat would be grass-fed.


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

Probably because it's less land to buy. You can keep the cattle in a small area and feed them grain. Grain is cheaper than land.


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## Berubeland (Sep 6, 2009)

Grass fed needs more land and takes longer. It's mostly leaner than grain fed, but you need to feed the beef longer because marbling requires a certain amount of weight gain per day.

On the other hand cows have 4 stomachs because they are designed to digest cellulose. Feeding them grain produces a condition called acidosis. Apparently acidosis is the reason why we now have this extremely dangerous e coli on the loose killing people. That and large feedlots where large groups of cows stand and live in poo for months until they grow big enough to go to the slaughterhouse.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

^Yeah. Feedlots are pretty horrific. I'm not vegetarian, but I do believe livestock should be raised humanely. It adds a bit to cost, but I think missing out on $1 hamburgers at McD is tolerable. On the other hand, I'm a well-fed prosperous person, who am I to tell poor people they can have meat they can afford.


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## realist (Apr 8, 2011)

I have bought 1/2 pigs from http://www.wheelbarrowfarm.com/animals.html a couple of times now. The prices are not necessarily any cheaper than the grocery store, in fact they are generally more expensive than the "on sale" meats, but I find the quality has generally been better. The bacon for example is some of the best I have had. 

There are a number of CSAs or farm ordered meat options available. I haven't tried it for beef yet, I just don't have the freezer space.


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## canehdianman (Apr 7, 2009)

I have tried to convince the wife that we should buy a part of a cow.

Any Calgarians who could recommend a good value, grain-fed beef ranch?


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## Gunstar (Nov 8, 2011)

canehdianman said:


> I have tried to convince the wife that we should buy a part of a cow.
> 
> Any Calgarians who could recommend a good value, grain-fed beef ranch?


Check out Hoven Farms (http://hovenfarms.com/). 

We have purchased from them before and the food quality was excellent.


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## Addy (Mar 12, 2010)

We're about 2 hours west of Ottawa, anyone here know a good farm in the area? I can google search but that doesn't tell me the quality of the beef, chicken, or pork.


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## canehdianman (Apr 7, 2009)

Gunstar said:


> Check out Hoven Farms (http://hovenfarms.com/).
> 
> We have purchased from them before and the food quality was excellent.


Thanks Gunstar! I'll take a look.


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