Organic, free range chicken or grass fed beef?

[mommyx4]

If your food budget would only allow one of these, which would you choose?

The other being conventional beef or chicken.

I'll admit I love boneless, skinless chicken breasts for the convenience but it's so cost prohibitive to buy organic free range. I can afford grass fed/grain finished beef. They don't use antibiotics ever and are local. I can also sometimes buy whole chickens from Trader Joes that are free range at 2.49 a lb. but otherwise, it's all too expensive. I do feel silly spending $8 a gallon on raw milk, and then turning around and buying conventional meat.

I know that NT says our fats are most important to be organic and grass fed, etc but they are also the most expensive. I also have a larger family with boys that can out eat sumo wrestlers. An example, if I buy a 5lb roast chicken, it's gone in one meal. I do make stock from the bones, but still..it's expensive!

[misty.warden]

I'd pay extra on the beef, hands down. I do feel ethically torn about treatment of chicken, but I can't taste the difference like I can with beef.

[AK_Mom4]

My preference would be to buy the grain-fed/finished beef over the chicken. I prefer to support local if I can.

 

And... I don't really lilke chicken much, so would prefer to spend my $$$ on the beef.

[hearts4homeschooling]

Grass-fed beef is so much better than conventional even if it isn't organic. I am astonished at the difference.

Tender steaks and roasts, yum! I roast my roasts from frozen and find this makes them more tender than from thawed.

[Elinor Everywhere]

Grass-fed beef is so much better than conventional even if it isn't organic. I am astonished at the difference.

Tender steaks and roasts, yum! I roast my roasts from frozen and find this makes them more tender than from thawed.

 

 

This is interesting! Can you tell me how long and at what temp? So often I want a roast for dinner but forgot to thaw it. :tongue_smilie:

[Mnemosyne]

Beef. It's a fattier meat, so it's important that it isn't filled with pesticides/toxins and grass-fed will change the ratio of O3-O6 in a very favorable way. The taste of grass-fed is a bit different, though, so you may want to make sure you like the taste before spending a lot of money on it. Not everyone does.

 

Since chicken isn't as fatty, I don't mind getting that conventionally quite as much (though the treatment of the animals is a whole another issue). Most of the toxins are stored in the fat. :)

[Lucy in Australia]

Beef, here, too. I've read too much to go back to conventional beef any time soon :ack2: I order my beef in a bulk pack about once a month to save a little. I also buy free-range (but not organic) chickens. When they're on sale I try to buy as many as will fit in the freezer.

[AdventureMoms]

Beef! It's so much fattier so you're getting more good fat for your money. I get boneless/skinless chicken breasts too and though they are conventional, they have so little fat that it seems a better buy. Someday I'll do everything free-range, but its not in the budget now. grass fed beef from a farm is about the same as grocery prices if you can buy a half a cow, at least here.

[Jennifer3141]

We don't eat beef since it's not really that nutritious compared to buffalo or chicken so I'd go with the chicken.

[Caitilin]

I don't like beef or cook with it much. I vote chicken, with buffalo as a distant second.

[happypamama]

I'd go for the beef. Grain is not at all the proper food for the cow, and grass-fed beef actually has cancer-fighting properties.

[*lifeoftheparty*]

Another vote for the beef; hands down.

[bobbeym]

Beef. I test positive for a beef allergy, but grass-fed and angus beef don't cause allergic reactions. I don't have allergic reactions to conventional chicken and can't afford $3.50 or more/lb for fresh organic/free range chicken.

[ktgrok]

Beef, but only if it it grass fed totally, not grain finished. Chickens are killed sooner, so have less toxins in their bodies than cows. And the fatty acid profile of grass fed beef is awesome.

[mommyx4]

Thanks everyone (-;

Off to order 1/8 of a cow.

[Orthodox6]

We eat both. If backed into a corner, forced to choose, I would vote for the chicken. Fewer long-term health hazards from that kind of poultry than from beef, if current research can be believed at all.

[MFA323]

Beef. Definitely. We made up for the difference in cost by cutting back on our meat consumption. We've discovered a lot of great meals built around beans and grains. We also pay $8/gallon for organic, raw Jersey cow milk. It's absolutely worth it.

[NotSoObvious]

Beef. I test positive for a beef allergy, but grass-fed and angus beef don't cause allergic reactions. I don't have allergic reactions to conventional chicken and can't afford $3.50 or more/lb for fresh organic/free range chicken.

 

Wow!!! I wondered if there was any truth to this! I get sick EVERY time I eat conventional beef, and I've never been sick from grass fed. Amazing! I just thought it was in my head.

[Orthodox6]

Beef. I test positive for a beef allergy, but grass-fed and angus beef don't cause allergic reactions. I don't have allergic reactions to conventional chicken and can't afford $3.50 or more/lb for fresh organic/free range chicken.

 

 

Interesting price comparison! I would rather pay $3.50+ per pound for the chicken than the $7.99 per pound asked here for the grass-fed beef.

[NotSoObvious]

 

 

 

Interesting price comparison! I would rather pay $3.50+ per pound for the chicken than the $7.99 per pound asked here for the grass-fed beef.

 

Hmm. Interesting. Although, I find that a pound of beef makes meatballs for two meals, where a chicken makes dinner for one night and soup for another. So, as far as feeding us, it lasts the same and I pay more for the chicken. Hmm...

[Georgiana Daniels]

Learning a lot from this. I didn't realize that toxins were stored in the fat, etc. I'll have to be on the lookout for grass fed beef. Organic food store?

[SarahW]

Yes, beef.

 

Organic, free-range chicken is a label that, unfortunately, doesn't mean anything.

 

The type of chicken that you're used to eating can not survive a truly "free-range" life. The type of chicken that can truly run around in the grass and eat bugs has almost no white breast meat and will tend to be very tough.

 

I do notice the difference of "organic" chicken when it comes to dark meat, regular chicken thighs taste like rancid corn oil to me these days. But if I'm just throwing regular chicken breasts into a dish I just get the cheap frozen packages.

[UrbanSue]

Learning a lot from this. I didn't realize that toxins were stored in the fat, etc. I'll have to be on the lookout for grass fed beef. Organic food store?

 

 

 

Yes, fat and organs are where all the bad stuff goes. Fats and organ meats from clean animals are some of the healthiest things you can eat (I'm rendering lard from organically-raised pig in my crock pot as I type!) but among the worst things you can eat in a conventional animal.

 

The cheapest way, by far, to get grass-fed beef is to find a farmer selling whole cows and go in on 1/4 or 1/8 or even 1/16. Sometimes the farmer will sell fractions that small, sometimes you need to find a friend to share with you. Around here I can find grass fed beef for $4-5/lb and for that I get lots of ground beef (and that is cheaper than grass-fed ground beef at a grocery store) plus roasts and steaks and stuff. So it's a really good deal. I also sometimes put in orders at grasslandbeef.com when they have sales. I never just buy single packs of grass fed beef in the store. It's crazy expensive.

[Georgiana Daniels]

 

 

Yes, fat and organs are where all the bad stuff goes. Fats and organ meats from clean animals are some of the healthiest things you can eat (I'm rendering lard from organically-raised pig in my crock pot as I type!) but among the worst things you can eat in a conventional animal.

 

The cheapest way, by far, to get grass-fed beef is to find a farmer selling whole cows and go in on 1/4 or 1/8 or even 1/16. Sometimes the farmer will sell fractions that small, sometimes you need to find a friend to share with you. Around here I can find grass fed beef for $4-5/lb and for that I get lots of ground beef (and that is cheaper than grass-fed ground beef at a grocery store) plus roasts and steaks and stuff. So it's a really good deal. I also sometimes put in orders at grasslandbeef.com when they have sales. I never just buy single packs of grass fed beef in the store. It's crazy expensive.

 

 

Thanks for the tip. I'm guessing we'd have to do online then because I really don't have a clue about farms etc around here. In fact, I don't even know of one, though there must be one somewhere. We do have an extra freezer so storage wouldn't be a problem and we do eat a lot of beef.

[cjzimmer1]

 

 

The type of chicken that you're used to eating can not survive a truly "free-range" life. The type of chicken that can truly run around in the grass and eat bugs has almost no white breast meat and will tend to be very tough.

 

 

 

 

For stuff that is commercially produced and/or sold in mass market stores this may be true but not for chicken bought from a farmer. My dad raised chickens for 20+ years in a field behind the barn and they always had plenty of white meat and were not tough (unless they were laying hens which tended to be several years old, less than 1 year old were not tough). It really depends on the breed you are raising.

 

I've also been buying whole chickens from a local farmer since my dad is too old to raise them anymore and while they don't have as much white meat as the breed my dad raised, they still have plenty (but this is spoken from someone who doesn't like white meat) and are not tough.

[Susan in TN]

Grass-fed beef is so much better than conventional even if it isn't organic. I am astonished at the difference.

Tender steaks and roasts, yum! I roast my roasts from frozen and find this makes them more tender than from thawed.

 

 

That's interesting. I always thought grass fed beef would be more tough and stringy. It's the main reason I've been hesitating to order 1/2 side of beef.

[RoundAbout]

Beef. It tastes so much better. I had a friend from Germany who could not eat US beef for years because of the taste and texture. She would get bison instead. This was before grassed beef was available and popular.

 

Chicken usually gets adorned with some kind of sauce in this house - curry, stir fry, etc. so I don't notice as much of a difference.

[SarahW]

 

For stuff that is commercially produced and/or sold in mass market stores this may be true but not for chicken bought from a farmer. My dad raised chickens for 20+ years in a field behind the barn and they always had plenty of white meat and were not tough (unless they were laying hens which tended to be several years old, less than 1 year old were not tough). It really depends on the breed you are raising.

 

I've also been buying whole chickens from a local farmer since my dad is too old to raise them anymore and while they don't have as much white meat as the breed my dad raised, they still have plenty (but this is spoken from someone who doesn't like white meat) and are not tough.

 

 

Okay, but my info comes from farmers too: http://www.huntgatherlove.com/content/chicken-really-free-range

 

The "truly" free-range will be heritage breeds, which are different from what you buy at the store, even if the stuff in the store has a sticker that says "free-range" on it.

[UrbanSue]

 

Thanks for the tip. I'm guessing we'd have to do online then because I really don't have a clue about farms etc around here. In fact, I don't even know of one, though there must be one somewhere. We do have an extra freezer so storage wouldn't be a problem and we do eat a lot of beef.

 

 

Try eatwild.com for listings of local farms. I don't know where you live, but you might be surprised. We get our pork from a woman who raises just four or five hogs a year. You'd never know it was a farm driving by her house.

[UrbanSue]

That's interesting. I always thought grass fed beef would be more tough and stringy. It's the main reason I've been hesitating to order 1/2 side of beef.

 

 

Grassfed beef is often a bit tougher but you get a lot more flavor in return. We just cook our grass fed beef a bit more rare than we'd cook regular beef and we love it. When we first tried grass fed beef we thought it was terrible. Grassfed Gourmet by Shannon Hayes is a really great cookbook for grassfed meat (and also for hot fudge sauce!).

[Laura Corin]

I eat less meat and try to get better stuff. I buy free range chicken but mix it with lots of veg/beans/pulses. Beef isn't so intensively reared in the UK, so I just get ordinary beef. Lamb is a pretty good bet because almost all is reared outdoors.

 

Laura

[Georgiana Daniels]

 

 

Try eatwild.com for listings of local farms. I don't know where you live, but you might be surprised. We get our pork from a woman who raises just four or five hogs a year. You'd never know it was a farm driving by her house.

 

Great website! Sadly, there is nothing close to us. Boo.

[LibraryLover]

I would go with the chicken, since the beef is not actually grass fed. All commercial meat gets grass/hay, and is 'grain finished'. That's not better than anything you buy at the market. I would pay for grass fed. Period.

 

Where is your chicken coming from? What are they fed?

 

IS any of this organic?

[runbikeswim]

Grass fed and finished beef. Nothing else like it! I also buy grass fed butter and milk from grassfed cows. It is called "Grassfed", sometimes they don't have it so I buy "pasture raised" milk. It actually has an odd flavor at first, but we got used to it.

 

I buy my beef in bulk from a local rancher. I get a bulk discount as well as 20% off for local pick up( they ship around the country). I actually pick up from the processing facility. It is less expensive.

 

BTW, I buy my organic chicken from Costco. I will admit I haven't done my research as far as how organic but usually I fare well with Costco.

[Tap]

What I actually do (not hypothetical for us) and have done for 18 years

 

Organic, grass feed beef

 

Store bought or local chicken but not organic. I can't bring myself to pay $5-7lb for chicken. If I want chicken it has to be store bought or nothing.

[caroljenn]

I am happy about both of those websites that were posted - eatwild.com and grassland beef. Thanks for that, Hive!

 

I only buy grass fed organic beef now and organic chicken. I usually buy Rosie's brand chicken because you can "trace their tracks." Whatever that means! Since Sprouts changed from Henry's that is they only brand they carry at my store. Trader Joe's has organic chicken breasts in 4 packs I get sometimes.

 

Not only is grass fed beef MUCH healthier than conventional beef, the difference between organic chicken and conventional is stunning. Put a regular chicken breast next to an organic one and see if the conventionally grown one isn't freakishly big. It's like eating Frankenstein!

[UrbanSue]

I would go with the chicken, since the beef is not actually grass fed. All commercial meat gets grass/hay, and is 'grain finished'. That's not better than anything you buy at the market. I would pay for grass fed. Period.

 

Where is your chicken coming from? What are they fed?

 

IS any of this organic?

 

 

Grass fed is pretty much always organic. Most farmers wouldn't bother spraying whole meadows. And being out on pasture means the cows need less treatment for illness. Also, grassfed operations need land so they are necessarily smaller (although there are perfectly reputable larger companies who act as a clearinghouse for lots and lots of small farmers. I know these folks, personally, for example). The little guys simply can't afford the time or money for organic certification.

 

The best thing, for so many reasons, is to connect with a local farmer and buy in bulk. Cheaper, local, more connected to your food, you can see conditions personally. It's too bad that isn't a realistic option for more people.

[justamouse]

Beef. It has more micronutrients, I think?

 

But bone broth from organic chicken is amazing. The meat tastes so much...cleaner? The broth tastes cleaner? I know, lousy explanation, but it's the only way to describe it.

[jenangelcat]

Beef but I'd get a sample first. We ordered a side in the fall and it's barely edible. I can't cut it and I certainly can't chew it. Huge waste of money here. There is a big difference in taste. We've free ranged meat chickens before and didn't notice any difference in taste. Next year I'm going to buy two whole pigs instead. Heritage pork is amazing. Not even closely related to the cardboard you buy in the grocery store.

[Guest Terese]

Topline Foods has an antibiotic free, cage free line of chicken which is far superior to conventionally raised chickens and is much more affordable than organic. You can order online for home delivery and they offer very affordable shipping in the western states with no order minimum so you can try a smaller order first.

 

Their grass fed beef is also grass finished, and they also have other clean, whole foods like wild caught seafood and pastured pork. www.toplinefoods.com

[Momof3littles]

We've had to prioritize with rising food prices as well. I'd go for the beef over the chicken. We have a local place that sells all pastured meats and raw milk. If we buy 50 lbs of beef at a shot, the grassfed drops to 3.50 a lb for frozen meat. When I spring for better chicken, I always, always make stock to get more out of it. I usually just buy the Coleman whole chickens from Costco, although I'd prefer pastured chicken.

[Laurie4b]

Walmart carries a brand of frozen chicken breasts or tenderloins that is cage free, antibiotic free, , etc. It's called Forester's Farmer's Market. I buy it because organic chicken is too expensive and it seems about as close as you can get. We buy local, grass-fed beef.

[Brilliant]

Topline Foods has an antibiotic free, cage free line of chicken which is far superior to conventionally raised chickens and is much more affordable than organic. You can order online for home delivery and they offer very affordable shipping in the western states with no order minimum so you can try a smaller order first.

 

Their grass fed beef is also grass finished, and they also have other clean, whole foods like wild caught seafood and pastured pork. www.toplinefoods.com

 

Cage free Spam?

[Scuff]

The beef we get is grass-fed, grain-finished from a local farmer. It does taste different and is a bit leaner than store bought. (DH doesn't like it.) I'd love to get completely grass-fed, but our grocery budget is already more than the mortgage. I can get good local beef for not much more than the store ($3.50 for hamburger, $4-5 for steak/roast). $8 grass-fed isn't possible. We get local milk, also. Chicken and eggs are mostly store-bought, though I can occassionally get those from a local mini/backyard farm.