Invest in Food

sprottmoney.com ^ | 3/20/15

[Cowman]

Why has beef gotten so high in price? Hamburger is the price a good steak use to be.

Partly due to the government digitally printing money -- you have more dollars going after the same goods so it takes more dollars to buy those goods.

As for the meats; Energy and grain. Cows eat grain (corn mostly) to finish them for market. There is a mandate that 10% of the gas you use is to be ethanol that is made of corn thus the price of that corn goes up and it becomes more costly to feed and finish the cows.

Why is pork less than beef? because pigs are more efficient in converting the grain to meat and they have a higher dressing percent i.e. there is less of the pig that becomes waste than for a cow

But ultimately, it is the policies of this administration that makes your burger more expensive

[LadyBuck]

If the neighbor is trustworthy, despite being an idiot about safe food storage, perhaps you can switch it up...

You offer to store the food & they can store the non-perishable gear (sleeping bags, how-to books, basically anything sturdy that takes up space & won’t be affected by heat)

[LadyBuck]

Buying half a cow makes sense - do you have storage/preservation recommendations?

My sister & her hubby buy their meat that way. She freezes some, cooks & cans most of it. Labor intensive (I’ve gone to MI to help her & we do swaps - my Augason freeze-drieds for her canned meats & veggies)

any ideas or suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

[greeneyes]

We normally just freeze it and use as needed. My brother -in-law owned a locker plant and we always bought our meat by half or quarter until he retired.

That’s when we started buying it from the store. Now we are back to this - not only cheaper, it doesn’t have all the extra water and chemicals that meat in the store often does.

Our Daughter doesn’t really like hamburger except in Chili, so she is making jerky. I like hamburger jerky, because it is easier to chew. I have just used the jerky kits, but my daughter has recipes that she tries.

I do buy chickens, pork, and turkeys on sale and can them. If I was to can the beef, I would do it the same way - just can the meat using the cold pack method - nothing added except maybe salt and broth made from the bones.

Then you can just use the meat in any recipe you want - all kinds of beef soups, stews, and casseroles. Hubby’s all time favorite is a Hamburger casserole:

1 lb. cooked hamburger, with onions,salt,garlic,pepper
1 pint canned green beans
1 pint canned condensed tomato soup
Mashed potato topping

Add the ingredients to a 1 1/2 - 2 qt casserole dish in the order given. Bake @ 350 for 35 minutes Sprinkle with Cheddar Cheese, and bake till melted.

We grow and can the green beans. Grow our own tomatoes, potatoes, garlic, onions. I am experimenting with recipes for tomato soup right now, if I find one I like, then I’ll can the tomato soup myself.

Sometimes I make this in a crock pot, and instead of mashed potatoes, I just peel and cut them into quarters, and cook it on low till the potatoes are done.

The books that I have read indicate that many spices will become bitter or have an off flavor during the cooking process, so that is why I just can the meat with not much else. I use the cold pack method, because it is easier to avoid getting grease on the glass rim.

[greeneyes]

There’s a reason our grandparents had root cellars.

[greeneyes]

Two reasons that I can think of:

Drought - Ranchers sold off their herds a few summers back, because of the cost of grain and shortage of water. So a shortage developed.

QE - So called Quantitative easing by the Fed, is a euphemism for devaluing the dollar so that the dollar doesn’t buy as much - in other words, inflation of prices.

[Jane Long]

Thanks for the cold pack method mention. The last time I canned meats, I didn’t use cold pack....and I did have grease issues. I’ll use cold pack, next time ;-)

[greeneyes]

Lots less time consuming too. If it “don’t” come easy, I just let it go. LOL