Posted on 08/19/2012 10:55:34 AM PDT by blam
How To Save Money On Meat As Corn Prices Soar
Andrea Woroch, AndreaWoroch.com
Aug. 19, 2012, 12:14 PM
A few weeks ago, the USDA warned about the impending increase in food prices as drought continues to diminish corn and soybean crops. More recently, however, the USDA advised corn crop yields are even less than previously estimated, making the future of grocery bills even more bleak.
Since 40 percent of US-grown corn is used for animal feed, beef, pork and poultry will see the most significant price increases. If you and your family depend on meat as a primary source of protein, consider the following eight strategies for reducing your grocery bill without sacrificing your taste buds.
1. Buy Lean
You may be tempted by the pricetag of 70 or 80-percent lean meats, but all of your savings will end up at the bottom of the grill. The fat comprising the remaining 20 to 30 percent of that package will render during cooking, making the lean-meat purchase a better deal in the long run. Plus, lean meat is the healthier choice -- bonus!
2. Avoid Pre-cut
Cubed meats and pre-made patties are convenient, but ultimately a waste of money. If you're guilty of purchasing these pre-made provisions, cease and desist to realize immediate savings. Additionally, grind your chuck at home or ask the butcher to do it for you. You'll get the same ground meat for much less, plus it seems fresher!
3. Buy in Bulk
If you consume a lot of meat, buying in bulk is a no-brainer way to keep costs down. Consider going in on a side of beef with a few other families to score healthier, high-quality meat for less. You'll need storage space, but you'll pay
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(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
As for the double whammey of drought and oil prices, I think the oil whammy has not hit yet, wait till Iran goes balistic. After the smoke clears, just try finding a barrel of oil to buy.
We run our cars on corn, and we breed cows that eat corn, not grass. But our corn eats oil just as much as water. It takes 4000 calories of petro chemicals and fuel to raise 3000 calories of corn.
We have also converted most of the family farms into mega corn combines.
Congressional cornball logic.
And there will be no shortages.
The American farmer exports meat by the boatload.
Sometime during the past year the Successful Farmer (a trade magazine) had a special issue entitled "Boat Loads of Meat". It detailed the huge volume of beef, pork, and poultry exported each year and it's importance to the financial well being of the American Farmer.
This year,of course, there will be fewer exports, but we'll have all the meat we want and need. There will be MORE meat than the American public can buy, so there will still be meat exported.
As we have done for decades.
I’m not young. I remember as a kid my mom, grocey stores and even resturaunt menus touting “corn fed beef”.
My Dad had chickens and we would sell the excess eggs, So I agree about the taste. We also had goats and sold the excess milk. I love goat meat but never could like goat milk, I used to beg my mom to buy some cow milk.
That was a stupid comment!
That was a stupid comment!
Free range wholistic protein PING!
Wow - I do nearly the same thing, except I wrap the foil up and throw it in the mail with one of those postage-paid envelopes from some group I don’t like. At least that way it doesn’t go to a local landfill :).
Yeah, great to hear we can save money on meat, but did you hear that a Republican nominee for the Senate repeated what he heard from some doctors about the likelihood of pregnancy resulting from a rape?!
Now THAT is something important! < \sarcasm>
My local (Newport News, VA) Save-a-lot market marks down about-to-expire meat to 50%. They also regularly mark down discontinued or overstocked items to 25% or the original price.
Over 90% of America food comes from family farms.
Actually, the biggest difference between the two is textured (we eat pastured pork and chicken too). The taste varies from farm to farm. The meat CSA we get is fantastic, but another farm we tried I hated, my DH loved.
” Over 90% of America food comes from family farms. “
It ain’t our Granddads’ family farm though - the modern family farm consists of hundtreds of acres, and millions of dollars worth of equipement and special-purpose buildings...
They’re ‘corporate farms’ in everything but name...
(My Grandfather raised three kids - sent two to college - and lived quite well on 80 acres in the 30s, 40s, and 50s..)
Has the limit on feral hogs been lifted? Is it essentially “open season”?
Better yet, skip the pan entirely and make a free-form meat loaf. Baking the loaf on a rimmed baking sheet allows the fat and juices to drain and exposes more surface area for a better crust.
They’re run by families.
I know, I came from one and still have a lot of friends who operate these ‘corporate’ (LOL) farms.
If and ONLY if you also brought your dog.
I like the way it handles woodchucks.
We are in for tough times. I wonder how the city folk are going to take it.
Actually I don’t make a “loaf”. I form the mixture into a low, round mound—no “sides”—and bake it. Lots of crusty edges/
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