Organic Animal products... Worth it or not?

jr1985

I think I've been watching WAY too many food documentaries lately like 'Forks over Knives' and 'Vegucated'... While I still have no desire to go vegan (or even vegetarian for that matter). All the sections on how the animals are treated, processed, etc are completely grossing me out, I don't see how those can be healthy conditions for the animals, thus not sure how healthy it is for me to eat animals that are kept in such close confinement, pumped full of antibiotics, etc.

But buying organic meat especially is SOOO EXPENSIVE! For those of you who do buy organic meat... Is it worth it for the price to you? Is it really that much healthier? Do they all end up going to the same butchers anyways where they could very well be cross contaminated with 'regular' animal products anyways?

Thanks for your help!

erg2013

I am trying to be more careful in the meat/dairy that I buy for this reason.

I was traveling and was in a country that does not use any type of factory farming. The chicken I had for dinner was seen running around that morning. And it tasted completely different. That was eye opening for me. That chicken was able to do normal activities and was not caged it whole life. I felt better about that.

Right now, I pay $5 for a dozen eggs that are not only cage free - but completely free range outside with room to roam about.
And they are fed a vegetarian diet. They dont taste better, but I feel good about my choices. I would love to find eggs at a local farmers market - even better.

As far as meat, right now it is a budget issue.

Illona88

When I lived on my own (have no say over the groceries now) I did buy organic meat and dairy, for ethical reasons.
I was a student, so on a tight budget, so what I did is that I only ate meat 2-3 times a week.
Totally worth the taste and the fact that the animals are treated way better.

amandazylstra

I tried going the organic meat route for the same reasons, but it was way too expensive for my meat eating family. They want meat everyday, it just isn't feasible. I did not notice a taste difference.

Yogi_Carl

In short - way too expensive.

Though their lives and living conditions are somewhat better, they are still usually sent to the same slaughter houses and meet the same fate as non organically reared.

Free range hens sounds great until you realise they have no more room to move than battery cage hens in larger egg industries and male chicks are still despatched in the same way - I'm not going into detail here out of respect and avoiding the soapbox.

I found myself going down the only route avaialble to me - vegan.

erg2013

I use born free eggs - i looked up online:
http://www.bornfreeeggs.com/animal-care.php
I pay $3 extra for a dozen for these.

Is this bogus? I really want to do the right thing here.

jr1985

I use born free eggs - i looked up online:
http://www.bornfreeeggs.com/animal-care.php
I pay $3 extra for a dozen for these.

Is this bogus? I really want to do the right thing here.

Do you have a local farmer who sells organic eggs? an extra $3 a dozen seems pretty pricey... but then again I'm just getting started looking into organic prices so have no idea if that is reasonable or not?

carriempls

I think this is a question you can only ask yourself. It's absolutely worth it to me, but I don't eat meat at all because of the ethics of it.

I can also afford to be choosey. It's a priority of mine to follow my conscious. If I were poor or starving or it meant the difference between being able to feed my family or not then I wouldn't have that luxery.

I came to vegetarianism slowly myself, and I figure every choice counts. Every meal I had without meat was a little less suffering in the world. Every time you buy organic it's doing something a little better for yourself and the world, even if you can't make that choice all of the time. Doing something is always better than doing nothing.

KenosFeoh

There are much higher standards that a product has to meet to be marketed as organic, and it's those standards that matter to me. I can't always afford the organic choice, though.

MrsMeisner

Here's a good link for more information on how different brands of eggs are rated:
http://www.cornucopia.org/organic-egg-scorecard/

My suggestion would be to research, research, research. Unfortunately you can't take a company's website at face value as there are a lot of misleading claims they make. It looks like your eggs rated pretty well though.

Keep in mind though that there's a difference between being organic and humanely raised. Just because a product is organic does not mean that the chicken/beef/etc was raised humanely.

Here's a good link for more on humanely raised products:
http://www.certifiedhumane.org/

LeonnieH

I mostly look out for free-range meat and eggs but also do buy organic. I won't buy cheap value range meat on the grounds that it's unethical to the farmer and animal. Our preferred option however is to buy local and that is either directly from a local farmer or as we are doing right now we have a friend with a small-holding who is raising a pig and a lamb for us, all free range and we know exactly what it's being fed, where it's living, how it was cared for, where it will be slaughtered and butchered etc. My priority really is to buy locally and free range where possible not only because I feel it's healthier but it's fairer to the producer and animal too.

MrsMeisner

One more good link for decoding different terms:
http://www.redrover.org/decoding-humane-food-labels

corn63

One of my favorite comedians Bill Engvall had a nice sentiment on chickens... and he couldn't be more correct: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfPa56OWme4 (no cursing or anything, might wanna put your speakers on low though)

The meat is just expensive. I'd find a local co-op to purchase from where you can talk to the people that raised the animal you're eating. Or start raising your own animals.

sweetzoejane

I don't think it's just about buying organic. It's more about buying local and grass-fed/pasture-raised for me. Find a local farmer's market or CSA delivery (community-supported agriculture) and read about the farms and how the animals are raised. You will be surprised at how much is likely available to you. Sometimes it really can be expensive, but if you actually cut back on eating so much meat, and use it in large dishes that can feed you more than once or your whole family, it's actually not. I think about how I'm paying slightly more for higher quality, healthier, better-tasting animal products that support local farmers and are better for the environment and business. If it's important enough to you, you'll buy it and spend less on other things.

danimalkeys

We buy a half a cow from theFFA (Future Farmers of America) chapter at the local high school. The beef is field grazed and is processed in a local butcher. It's a pretty hefty cash outlay but it lasts us a year. The last one we bought cost us about 3.50/lb. Considering I got all kinds of great steaks (filet, strip, t-bone, ribeyes, sirloins) that would be $6-12/lb at a quality butcher, London broils, different roasts like bottom round, top round, chuck, pot roast, etc, short ribs, oxtail, stew meat and lean hamburger, the cost is really worth it. Even high quality hamburger is more than $3.50 a lb. I think we got about 80lbs of burger, all in 1lb packages so doing chili or burgers or anything that needs hamburger is super easy.

You have to have a big freezer, which we do, a chest freezer in the garage. The beef is WAY better than anything you get in any grocery store or high end butcher shop. It's all local from the feed, the cow itself, to the processing.

We're thinking about doing a hog like that too, since we enjoy pork and our dogs eat a lot of it as part of their diet.

girlinahat

Keep in mind though that there's a difference between being organic and humanely raised. Just because a product is organic does not mean that the chicken/beef/etc was raised humanely.

^^ this.

For me it's about local and that doesn't necessarily mean buying organic. organic is about what materials (ie. chemicals) they can use on their products, not about how humanely the animals are kept, although it often goes hand-in-hand. however, organic certification is hard to get and a lot of very very good farmers don't bother with it. Also, read Michael Pollan's 'Omnivore's Dilemma' for a perspective on Big Organic in America.

I get my meat from my local butcher. They have a reputation for buying local free-range well reared meat. It's not cheap, but the meat is very tasty and well produced. Thankfully in the UK our farming system does not rely on the pack-em-in tight feedlots to the extent that I hear about in the States. I don't think our cows eat much corn (I could be wrong, but I do think our farming systems are more human, not perfect by any means)

I get my veg from a local community farm (we don't really have CSA's in the Uk as such, and it is organic, but I buy it mostly to support a local venture. I also buy additional veg from my local greengrocer. Most of it isn't organic and neither do I know where it has come from, but to my mind buying and supporting a local business wins.

therayeraye

Do you have a big freezer? and/or local sellers?
I get all my beef from a local organic farmer who raises all the cattle grass fed, no hormones and is humanely raised and slaughtered. It also works out that buying half a cow at a time is WAY cheaper than buying beef from a grocery store

You also know that your meat has been individually tested and all your ground beef is from one animal.
If it's possible in your area it might be worth looking into at least

bcattoes

If you have the money, I think it is worth it. I'd pefer local grass fed, but I rarely buy it due to cost. I generally try to stick to hormone and antibiotic free when possible. Chicken and pork are usually pretty affordable, likely since the use of hormones in poultry and pork is illegal in the US. Beef is harder to find and more expensive. So, we eat a lot of chicken and wild caught fish and not so much beef.

But, when eating out, there is only one restaurant that I know of that used local organic meats. Some grass fed, some not. It's expensive and not close to my home. So, when we eat out I just order what I want and don't worry about it. Same if I buy the cheaper meat pumped full of nastiness. I figure adding stress to the nastiness can only make it worse.

erg2013

Thanks for the links, very helpful. Right now, I am on a tight budget.
I live at the beach and good farmers markets are limited. I will keep searching.

pinkyleigh83

We buy organic, 100% grass fed pastured products as much as possible. It's worth it to me but it's also hugely because we can afford to get it & it's available in our area. Grain fed, conventionally raised meats have SO much wrong with them it's scary. Arsenic in chicken feed? No thank you!
Because money is an issue I'd just doy best to get what I can. Scan sales & often chicken with the bone in, skin on is cheapest.

bcattoes

often chicken with the bone in, skin on is cheapest.

I wish!! I prefer bone-in skin on breasts. In my area I can almost never find all natural or organic bone-in skin on chicken breasts. Everything is skinless and boneless except for sometimes legs or the whole chicken.

The only certified humanely raised chicken available is frozen boneless skinless breasts, but they are surprisingly affordable.

gsgitu

Do you have a big freezer? and/or local sellers?
I get all my beef from a local organic farmer who raises all the cattle grass fed, no hormones and is humanely raised and slaughtered. It also works out that buying half a cow at a time is WAY cheaper than buying beef from a grocery store

You also know that your meat has been individually tested and all your ground beef is from one animal.
If it's possible in your area it might be worth looking into at least

yes, find a farmer. and actually talk to him and listen to how he raises and treats the animals. when i bought my half cow we talked for prob 2 hours about cows and how he raises them and other farming items. be interested, and be friendly. what kind of conversations do you have with the people who take care of you? well, this guy is taking of the food that is going to nurture your body. the meat i got from that guy is amazing. the roasts taste like filet. i made beef stew the other night from the stew meat, like butter! and, not really that much more than buying from your big box stores per lb. and the cow doesn't HAVE to be butchered by an organic certified butcher, your just paying for paperwork. so your cow gets cut on the same saw as a non-organic cow. save a few bucks if you can. eggs, again, find someone who raises and sells them. you find the right farmers and i can guarantee you won't be paying a whole lot more than what you pay in the store. and what little more you do pay is well worth it.

pinkyleigh83

As far as eggs go, don't always think cage free, free range or vegetarian fed eggs are best. There is a HUGE gap as to what cage free & free range actually mean. It could easily mean they are in hen houses with a small door that has access to a small, enclosed concrete patio. And chickens aren't vegetarians, they are foragers meant to eat bugs etc which makes them better for us. I spend $7/dozen on organic, PASTURE raised eggs & they are worth the (sadly) hefty price.

It's the 100% grass-fed, pastured raised meats, eggs & dairy I don't have to often worry about. It's all definitely worth all the research.

jr1985

Thanks for all the links! I'll have to check them out... I also googled a list of local farmers and emailed them to see if I could get their policy on the animals they raise, and a pricelist.