WineLovers Discussion Group

Not that I'm totally buying into the Locavore thing, but Gail called about a Craigslist ad yesterday for a local ranch selling their own beef. Hormone- and antibiotic-free, grass fed, finished with free choice corn/alfalfa mix.
I stopped by after work and got a $100 sample pack, which turned out to be roughly 30# of various cuts (15# of 90/10 ground), all but the ground was vacuum-packed and labelled; all was frozen. Meat looked great, especially the huge T-bones (two of 'em were 3#!). And the ranch is only 19 miles from home.
Looking forward to grilling some up this weekend.

Smart lady you have there. My guess is you will be buying for these folks a lot. The organic meats are very big in our area. Our locally owned meat cutting shop has expanded into organic meats and in season meats. Today they had antelope which I had not seen there before. Also, a variety of game birds were being offered. They just recently purchased a defunct fish market 1/2 block away and are remodeling for a full service, in season seafood market, all wild caught. More organic, local meats, and eventually will be smoking hams, and processing their own sausages, without the harmful ingredients. This is the second locally owned store to do this. I had my first locally grown and processed bacon last week without all the junk, it was so good. I like that they are putting it into 1/2 lb. packages. Both places do a great business and are crazy busy. Of course, both do a fabulous Dungeness crab business, cooking them everyday during the season.

Robert Reynolds wrote:Not that I'm totally buying into the Locavore thing...

Hi, Robert. Just curious: What is there not to buy into, if you know what I mean?

What is there not to buy into? Just because something is produced locally doesn't mean it's necessarily better quality.

-Paul W.

Jon, if I find a local product that is of acceptable quality and it makes economic sense for me to buy it locally rather than buy the same product that has been shipped in from who-knows-where, I will. But keep in mind the limitations inherent in one's home area. Also, Paul's point is right on point.
The jury's still out on the taste of this beef. If Gail and I like it, we will have a local source to go back to.

I buy 95%+ of my beef and pork from a local farmer. We only do freezer cuts as a 1/2 or a 1/4 animal is just too much for us to consume in a reasonable period of time. While I have been very pleased with the pork, I have noticed that the beef (steaks/roasts) quality can, and does, vary from animal to animal.
In the last year or, this farmer switched some of his cattle over to grass finished to meet that demand and I'm wondering if my quality issue is somehow related to how the animal is finished. In the future, I'll be sure to ask for my beef from a grain finished critter.

Thanks, I see what you mean. If the quality, availability and price are there then it's "thumbs up".