Saturday, January 4, 2014
Where's The Beef?......
apparently not much in the US.... Do we have a beef shortage now? I am used to seeing produce from other countries which I very seldom buy but not beef! Sometimes I see fish from other countries but not BEEF.....
This was in the flyer put out twice a month from our little grocery store. Good price considering but I won't be purchasing. Beef from Mexico...who would have thought?..... and Smithfield sold out to China...How long before we see pork from China?
It never would have happened a few years ago but they can see how uninformed most Americans are and they will buy just about any piece of junk that walmart puts on the shelf then buy another one when that one breaks. Walmart got caught selling bad meat in china: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/02/walmart-donkey-meat_n_4530628.html
ReplyDeleteI read that about the China Walmart. Something about fox meat mixed in with donkey meat. One is preferred over the other in China? I know...different cultures and such. No telling what will be packaged here in the near future! I have been to the poor market areas of Mexico just across the Texas border. I would not be buying groceries there unless my family faced severe starvation.
DeleteI find that my food selection is increasingly deminished by choosing only American products. (So is our dog's!)
ReplyDeleteFor sure GS.. When we got the new puppy for Christmas I had a hard time finding chew bones made in the US. I did end up buying one toy from china that was a fabric shaped bone as his favorite things to chew on in the house was my throw rugs.
Deletethat is why we try our best to use a local butcher. I never buy meat from walmart, because you never know what is mixed in it..ugggg
ReplyDeleteIts just a way for other countries that don't like us to infiltrate our food products and do God knows what to us...and the majority of consumers are oblivious to it because they think nothing bad can ever happen.
If we have a butcher with-in driving distance, I don't know about it. I am just remembering all of the lettuce and tomatoes grown in Mexico that made a lot of people sick last year and now they expect us to buy their meat? Beef would be a bit safer if you cooked it well done but who wants to ruin a good steak?
DeleteWe finally were able to raise our own grass fed steer this year. We got to the point where we would not buy any beef from Safeway or Walmart when we learned how animals are treated and the crap they put In our food. We found a local butcher shop that processes beef and pork rom local farms. They make their own bacon, too. We feel very fortunate. I will not buy Mexican produce, either. Even if it claims to be organic. I agree that most consumers are clueless about their food.
ReplyDeleteI have not bought meat from Walmart in a long time. Their prices are ridiculous although they match other ads. I don't have time to stand at the register with a sales paper and negotiate my groceries. I try to avoid Walmart but sometimes it is a necessary evil! I am going to go on a hunt for a butcher in nearby towns.
DeleteSometimes on Craigs list there is an advertisement for 1/2 grass fed beef. I tried to talk my neighbor into going in half with me but she preferred to buy as needed. I don't have the freezer room and don't know if I could devote enough time at a stretch to can most of it.
We sold half of our steer and the other half is in the freezer. There are just the two of us and we will have no problem consuming it in a year. Used freezers are pretty cheap and having clean unadulterated meat would be worth it to me.
DeleteI personally won't eat grass fed beef I just never have liked it but we don't buy much beef anyway as we butcher our own lambs each year and generally sub in lamb for beef. As for a shortage I believe we do have one as so many ranchers were forced to sell off their herds the last few years.
ReplyDeleteI like the marbling in grass fed...to me there is more flavor. I have not had much lamb in my life time and the chops I had a few times I did not care for. Maybe it wasn't prepared right...to each his own. Guess we will break down and start butchering goats when the freezer is empty. Hopefully we have piglets due in February. Have a fish pond and will be starting another poultry flock in February. Maybe the need will not arise to buy foreign meat. I can always become a vegetarian and live off what I grow but would rather not....I like my meat!
DeleteThere is a difference between grass fed (green and lush) and range fed. The flavor is different, too.
DeleteWell now I feel lucky to have an Okie beef source.
ReplyDeleteConsumers are oblivious to where their food comes from. I just posted a picture of my first litter of meat rabbits on FB. You would think I had committed a crime talking about eating rabbit, lol! I will take my rabbit over medicated chicken and Mexico beef anyday!!!!
I think PP is right. The drought the last few years did a number on the cattle industry.
Lucky you Kelly for having a source for beef...As far as your facebook friends go tell them you are all for PETA.
DeletePeople Eating Tasty Animals!
Mamma Bear,
ReplyDeleteYou just never know where your meat comes from unless you're doing the research. People..... unlike us, really don't pay attention. They just buy the best deal, and don't care what's truthfully inside. Like you, I watch who and where I buy my meat, and food.
This shortage may be from the drought, the cost of food for the cattle, and the death of cattle from the floods and snow storms out west. Remember not to long ago 100,000 cattle died from the blizzard in Wyoming, Montana, North and South Dakota, and Nebraska?
Sandy...I had forgotten that the news reported that the death of all those cattle would have an impact this year...no new babies. I know it was horrible trying to get hay for the past couple of years also. Made me sick to see hay being shipped to China when our ranchers needed it so badly. I would like to raise a steer but have a lot on our plate already and besides that I have no clue where to start. Guess our protein will come from the critters we already have!
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