Real food? - Mini vent.

[Britesea]

Whenever bureaucrats get involved in writing laws for the country, weird things happen.
I remember a proposal in San Jose County, CA that they were working on. They said you couldn't have more than one horse on an acre. The proposal went on to say how many of other animals you could have on one acre of land. This was to prevent excessive smell, noise and dust that would bother neighbors. I asked a few questions and found out that the way it was written, you couldn't have 2 horses on an acre of land, but you COULD have: 1 horse, 2 goats, 2 sheep, 2 pigs, 12 ducks, 12 chickens, 12 guinea hens, 12 rabbits, and 12 quail on that same acre.

 

[WendyJ]

I think I know which one I would prefer to be neighbours with

 

[sumi]

Do they actually check what they are proposing, or are they too busy thinking up new ordinances?

 

[sumi]

Back to real food, DH and I went over to the next town for some errants and while we were there we visited a butchery that is known for good quality meat at decent prices. We found they had a range of venison, Kudu, Springbok, Warthog, etc. (Not unusual here, most big shops and supermarkets sell venison). Their Kudu steaks was cheap, very cheap compared to beef, so we grabbed some and DH tossed them on the BBQ last night. Were those things tender? I think I probably could've cut it with my fork!

I said to DH I'm done with that bits of cow we used to buy. The venison is way cheaper, not just the steaks, the stewing meat cost 50% less than the beef, it has an amazing flavour, it was raised naturally! Until that animal got fed a lead pill it lived it's life out there in the veld with no stress, no feed lot rubbish, no antibiotics. It's awesome And it's cheap! lol

 

[WendyJ]

Ultimate free range!

 

[sumi]

Yep!

 

[Britesea]

I envy you, Sumi! I did find a local butcher that sells organic chicken and grass fed beef, as well as buffalo, elk and venison... but the wild meats are so expensive! Something like $15 for elk (and not even the best parts!). The domestic meat is a little more expensive than the stuff in the big stores, but it's so much healthier. I'm buying it now; we can afford less meat, but at least it's better for us.
In the meantime, I have healthy duck eggs that I can make meatless meals with.

 

[Hinotori]

I'm thankful for our butcher here. We paid $3.39 a pound hanging weight for our grass fed half a cow. They have their own herd they sell from and we can get any bits of the cow that we want. If we wanted grain finished it's a bit cheaper per pound. They contract out with other local farmers for pigs, goats, and sheep.

 

[Britesea]

I read that it takes costs about 40% more overall to buy good-for-you organic foods. I hope I can continue to afford it. I'd like DH to go hunting, but the tags are expensive and he isn't an experienced hunter so likely he wouldn't get anything. He's gonna start fishing though.

 

[sumi]

Britesea, that is crazy expensive! Venison is cheaper to produce, so it should be cheaper than farm raised meat, right? Someone's being greedy.

@Hinotori It helps a lot of you can find someone like that and buy directly from them. Win-win. Or if you can somehow raise your own meat somewhere...

We went to the supermarket last week and I looked at their cheese (Gouda and Cheddar) prices. Nothing under R90.00/±$9.00 per kilogram (2.2lbs). I went to a smaller shop after that and found the same cheese @R80.00/kg, went to the butchery and found the same cheese @R70.00/kg... Something wrong here?