Store bought food versus home grown

[Weedygarden]

This is a copy and paste of something one of my South Dakota cousins shared. We don't really know what is in our food unless we grow it and process it ourselves.

Janet's Diner​

·
Know what you’re buying. This picture has store beef(left), and farm beef(right). There is an obvious visible difference between the two! But the differences don’t stop there!
1. You may notice in the picture the color difference. The store bought is pumped full of additives and water. There isn’t a guarantee of where that beef came from either. Yes, it may have USDA label on it but as long as that animal was packaged in the US, it can be called a Product of the USA. The meat in the package is not from one single cow, rather scraps from multiple cows. It could have came from Argentina, Canada, or Brazil.
2. The beef on the right is darker and is farm raised beef. It is filled with more nutrients & flavor. The ground is also from one cow and not just scraps from multiple cows.
3. Buying your beef from a local Farmer/Rancher you are helping to buy a little girl dance shoes or a little boy baseball gear. Buying from the store just lines the pockets of the already wealthy meat packers. Let’s help each other. We help you eat healthy, you help us provide for our families.
Buy from a local ranch/farm!
Borrowed from another farm.
This is why we buy local beef!
*Copied! (OP credit- Nelson Locker LLC)

 

[Amish Heart]

We get a half a cow that my cousin raises each year. The hamburger is darker, but it's also alot leaner. Tastes great! Not a whole lot of fat in the pan.

 

[Haertig]

The thing is, you don't know what you're getting from the local farmer/rancher either ... unless YOU are that farmer/rancher. We can hope what we are getting is better, but we don't know the financial/family situation of that local farmer/rancher and what corners they may be cutting to try and stay afloat.

I would tend to prefer something from a local farmer/rancher all things considered though. The problem sometimes is finding it.

 

[Weedygarden]

The thing is, you don't know what you're getting from the local farmer/rancher either ... unless YOU are that farmer/rancher. We can hope what we are getting is better, but we don't know the financial/family situation of that local farmer/rancher and what corners they may be cutting to try and stay afloat.

I would tend to prefer something from a local farmer/rancher all things considered though. The problem sometimes is finding it.

My cousin who raises beef, once had a local butcher process a steer for him. Whatever fat they used in the hamburger was terrible. It wasn't from the beef and who knows why? I have no idea what cousin is doing now, or maybe what the butcher is using.

Cousin's uncle was a butcher, about two miles from home, and he was a busy guy. He has been gone for a while, so cousin used this other butcher. All the people I know in South Dakota who talk about getting butchering done say that it is hard to find a good butcher. One (there were a few) in my hometown had a locker where you could rent a locker in a freezer room. People said he would take some meat home every day from the lockers. Another cousin worked for him. He was known to be a good butcher, but he took his cut in more way than one. People still talk about the fact that there is no replacement for him and his skills.

 

[Aklogcabin]

I kinda believe that beef in stores was also raised on a farm. And farmers sell their beef into the market. What some stores mix their meat to fat is the issue. I would still promote buying local if folks can.

 

[Peanut]

This past spring I slaughtered a beef I raised... the burger is leaner, darker and tastes far better, to me. Luv the steaks too! Especially the bone-in cuts.

Out of habit I still check ground beef prices at the market but have no plans to buy any of it.

Lets not forget the veggies... I despise store bought tomatoes, luv home grown. In winter I buy the little cherry tomatoes.

But this applies to all the veggies I grow. They have more flavor than store bought.

 

[Haertig]

Out of habit I still check ground beef prices at the market but have no plans to buy any of it.

It has gotten ridiculous here. $7.50 to $8.50 per pound for the 93% lean stuff. That's just the store brand stuff that comes in those little plastic logs. The stuff on the Styrofoam plates that I usually get is a little more (I'm thinking it may be fresher ground, but it's probably not - it's probably the exact same stuff that's in those tubes). I cook more chicken, pork and fish these days since it's cheaper (well, not all the fish is cheaper - salmon can be a real wallet buster around here as well) In dishes where you can successfully substitute ground turkey for ground beef (lasagna, etc.) I definitely do that. I still do Sunday night ribeyes or NY strips on the grill though!

 

[The Lazy L]

Every year we would by a quarter beef from the neighbors. Until the wife realized that every day she drove past the pasture and saw the beef that would end up in our freeze. She refuses to eat our chickens when they stopped laying too.

 

[Amish Heart]

I know the animals we eat. Even the half a beef from my cousin. And the pork from my neighbor. I'm either there at the butchering helping, or know the person personally who did it. I know the mean roosters I eat, too, because I do those and the turkey myself. Our other neighbor brings lamb sometimes from her animals, and I see those, too. So it is possible to know the meat from the farmer.

 

[Magus]

I can really taste the difference in tomatoes and eggs from the farm versus store bought..
How did we let things get this far?

 

[dademoss]

I can really taste the difference in tomatoes and eggs from the farm versus store bought..
How did we let things get this far?

Apathy, and some people do not know the difference.

 

[Magus]

Sounds about right. still sucks though.

 

[sonya123]

Our biggest expense producing meat to sell at the farmers market is the processing. It has to be USDA inspected and all the meat processors anywhere near us have problems getting enough help and keeping up with demand. Ours just cancelled on us for lack of workers. Sad but true. There are a few very large meat processors that get factory farm cows to make into walmart bugers but they won't process the few cows/pigs/sheep whatever small local farms want processed. You can sell a half an animal without inspections but most people don't want to buy that much meat at one time plus you still have to get the meat processed somewhere.
We make more money selling live animals to the auction.
If we actually charged enough to make a profit, you're looking at $15 a lb lamb burger....( we are charging $9 now) and most people don't spend that on meat.
Factory farming produces cheap meat and get processed in huge facilities by illegals. This what you are eating when you buy walmart meat. Cows are standing knee high in **** in a feed lot in Nebraska or Texas until the get shipped off to the huge factory processing facility.
This is why we do what we do ( without making a profit).
Oh forgot this: while those poor cows are standing in the feed lot, guess what they are eating? GMO corn , so they get fat faster.

 

[sonya123]

other food:
eggs, store eggs smell fishy and look pale yellow, our eggs don't smell fishy and the yolks are dark orange
bread: mushy store bread that doesn't mold or taste like anything
tomatoes: store tomatoes are picked green and gassed to turn red and don't taste like anything
milk: the watery stuff from the store does not in any way resemble milk you get fresh from a cow or goat
apples from the store have a weird coating on them and don't taste like apples

It's no wonder everyone is getting cancer and having other health problems, the food most people eat here is just crap

Great topic!

hahaha have not found a way to reproduce store potato chips, but those are definitely bad for you ....

 

[Haertig]

I can really taste the difference in tomatoes and eggs from the farm versus store bought..
How did we let things get this far?

I'm not sure where I'd get a tomato, in Colorado, in the middle of winter, other than at a store. They are so much better home grown in summer. But that doesn't work here in February. Any tomatoes you eat then will indeed be store bought. There's no other choice. We didn't "let it get this far". It's just a fact that tomatoes don't do particularly well when it's -15 outside.

 

[Bacpacker]

I'm planning to set up a small ponics system in the basement. Probly gonna be just prior to or just after retirement.

 

[Tommyice]

I'm not sure where I'd get a tomato, in Colorado, in the middle of winter, other than at a store. They are so much better home grown in summer. But that doesn't work here in February. Any tomatoes you eat then will indeed be store bought. There's no other choice. We didn't "let it get this far". It's just a fact that tomatoes don't do particularly well when it's -15 outside.

No one eats seasonally any longer.

 

[Magus]

I'm not sure where I'd get a tomato, in Colorado, in the middle of winter, other than at a store. They are so much better home grown in summer. But that doesn't work here in February. Any tomatoes you eat then will indeed be store bought. There's no other choice. We didn't "let it get this far". It's just a fact that tomatoes don't do particularly well when it's -15 outside.

Can you get an old-school bus and put it on your property legally? Instant greenhouse! Tomatoes, strawberries, and herbs all year long! and It starts by painting it black and yanking the seats. inside you put a two tank propane burner and two shelves over each window. the lower area is for storage. you can even plumb it with plain garden hose with a sprinkler head over each planter that you can disconnect in below freezing weather to keep it from bursting. the propane burner not only heats it but generates CO2 that plants love! you can even grow mushrooms and potatoes in the lower areas as they don't require much light. Two of these could conceivably feed a family of 4 right up to spring planting and beyond, just remember to rotate the soil every two seasons or it dies.

Add this and things really go BOOM!
https://www.instructables.com/Water-Bottle-Skylight/

 

[Bacpacker]

No one eats seasonally any longer.

Depends on your growing habits and what you store as its producing

 

[sonya123]

I'm not sure where I'd get a tomato, in Colorado, in the middle of winter, other than at a store. They are so much better home grown in summer. But that doesn't work here in February. Any tomatoes you eat then will indeed be store bought. There's no other choice. We didn't "let it get this far". It's just a fact that tomatoes don't do particularly well when it's -15 outside.

I freeze and can my extra ones. How did people used to eat in winter?

 

[Weedygarden]

I freeze and can my extra ones. How did people used to eat in winter?

My grandparents stored food in the cellar. They bought 100's of pounds of potatoes in the fall. Lots of cabbage that was made into kraut. My aunts and uncles talk about being so sick of kraut because they ate so much of it. They were German and Czech, so that was a common thing to make and a way to preserve it. They got dried apricots, prunes and raisins that were used for kolaches and stewed for sauce for dessert with dinner. They raised chickens, pigs, and cattle. They bought beans in 50 pound bags. Grandpa grew wheat (and other grains) and they ate it boiled for breakfast and ground it for flour. In their very small house, the kitchen stove probably also kept their home warm.

 

[Haertig]

Can you get an old-school bus and put it on your property legally?

I highly doubt my neighbors would be very happy about that. I doubt it would be legal either. Remember, I'm suburban. My lot is maybe a little bigger than most suburban lots, but it's only 1/2 acre. And weird shaped because I'm on a cul-de-sac. Smaller in the front that faces the street, wedge shaped and a lot larger in the back. I'm not living on a homestead.

 

[Amish Heart]

Then you're stuck with the grocery store junk or a farmer's market.
Little granddaughter and I have a joke when company comes...they usually think it's cool to stay on a farm in an amish town. But they either like farms (like in a real one), or they are farmer's market people. I've seen our share of both that have visited. Oregon sis was terrified I was going to butcher something while she was here. I told her no need...our freezers are full, and there's no fat meat birds or mean roosters at the moment. She didn't spend much time walking around. I put a sprayer on the hose and told her she could water stuff. That was a big deal for her. My Florida sis comes often and always helps out with all of the animal and garden chores in the morning, even mucking out runs and weeding. She enjoys it, and I think she comes to see us and mom, but also the animals...how the turkeys and geese are growing...what the garden is doing...all of it.

 

[Magus]

I highly doubt my neighbors would be very happy about that. I doubt it would be legal either. Remember, I'm suburban. My lot is maybe a little bigger than most suburban lots, but it's only 1/2 acre. And weird shaped because I'm on a cul-de-sac. Smaller in the front that faces the street, wedge shaped and a lot larger in the back. I'm not living on a homestead.

They made us get rid of ours too after all that work. it even had underpinning! Nosy, self-righteous scumbags will have lots of things they no longer need the day after. I just have to wait.

 

[sonya123]

My grandparents stored food in the cellar. They bought 100's of pounds of potatoes in the fall. Lots of cabbage that was made into kraut. My aunts and uncles talk about being so sick of kraut because they ate so much of it. They were German and Czech, so that was a common thing to make and a way to preserve it. They got dried apricots, prunes and raisins that were used for kolaches and stewed for sauce for dessert with dinner. They raised chickens, pigs, and cattle. They bought beans in 50 pound bags. Grandpa grew wheat (and other grains) and they ate it boiled for breakfast and ground it for flour. In their very small house, the kitchen stove probably also kept their home warm.

Mine did the same pretty much. I think if you have fresh eggs and milk , plus dried stuff and meat you can get enough vitamins you don't need a fresh tomato in middle of winter.

 

[sonya123]

I highly doubt my neighbors would be very happy about that. I doubt it would be legal either. Remember, I'm suburban. My lot is maybe a little bigger than most suburban lots, but it's only 1/2 acre. And weird shaped because I'm on a cul-de-sac. Smaller in the front that faces the street, wedge shaped and a lot larger in the back. I'm not living on a homestead.

May I ask a really silly question? Why are you on a homesteading forum if you don't live on a homestead ? Just curious

 

[Amish Heart]

My grandparents lived down the road from where I live now, and I know they didn't get anything out of season, and they were just fine. I'm sure they had home canned tomatoes, peaches, pears, all of that in the off season. Just not fresh. My favorite cousin won't eat a tomato from the grocery store. But she eats months of them when they are in season.

 

[Tim Horton]

Many good points brought up here.. When I lived in the great frozen north we had a neighbor, friend who was a butcher.. Coincidently he was from Switzerland so he did sausages and many products like that as the Europeans did.. We also had a lot of wild game meats available.. Bear, moose, 2 kinds of deer, and occasionally woodland caribou.. Not much as garden goes as our growing season was zone 2.. We were able to grow our local trifecta of garden produce, potatoes, green beans, peas to abundance.. Tomatoes, zucchini, and other fragile things were 365 store items.. Surprising to many we did harvest a large quantity of domestic and wild high and low bush fruits.. Now on Lake Superior many things are different.. Location, location, location...

So.... From this experience I would like to add a bit of a twist to the idea in that, as good as all homemade, home raised, products are concerned I saw the benefit of a balance of home produced and store bought canned products... To me, again, location, location, availability will be different for all...
***
May I ask a really silly question? Why are you on a homesteading forum if you don't live on a homestead ? Just curious

Easy... It is a life style engrained from our families, fun, and useful no matter the level you can or can not participate at this exact moment and place in life... Do the best with what you have available, where you are at the moment...

 

[Tommyice]

May I ask a really silly question? Why are you on a homesteading forum if you don't live on a homestead ? Just curious

I can't answer for Haertig, but I'm also suburban (1/4 acre) getting more ubanized by the day. I come here for the gardening advice, canning advice, the camaraderie. You don't need many acres to live a deliberate, clean eating lifestyle. I also won't always live here. I do plan on leaving for a more rural location closer to my brother, but that won't be until after Dad is gone or he can't live by himself any longer. If the later happens, he'll be told "pack your crap, we're leaving."

A little story--a few years ago I found a group of morel mushrooms in my yard. They were growing out of a missing area of concrete on my patio next to a concrete block building that used to house the pool filter. Why were they there instead of a woodland? It was the universe's way of saying "grow where you are. You can survive." But sometimes you need a little advice outside the norm for your area.

 

[Haertig]

May I ask a really silly question? Why are you on a homesteading forum if you don't live on a homestead ? Just curious

It's not the name tagged to the forum, it's the people here. Even the ones that see things differently than I do and ones I argue with, I still consider everyone a friend. Some are weirder friends than others, but I've got some pretty weird physical friends as well.

You could rename the forum "WeLoveCats", and even though I am not a big cat guy, I would probably still come back and chat with friends in the "Off Topic" subforum.

In all truth, I would probably not be here if I hadn't been invited by Phideaux. It's not a forum - by the title on it - that I would have joined on a personal drive-by. But Jim asked me a couple of times over months/years, even though I protested "I don't live on a homestead, how would I fit in there?" Well, I was right about that, I don't fit in, but I still enjoy the place.

Just a blind guess on my part - but I'd almost be willing to bet that if you took a survey of all members here, the majority would NOT be living on a homestead. Just my guess though.