568710 Fri Oct 31 10:06:51 -0700 2008 31 3 California 0 4140863 So after reading Fast Food Nation, and being dismayed to find out that Brandt is shipping in tons of corn to feed their cattle, I'm looking to find a source for pastured meat I can cook at home. Does anyone know of a San Diego source for pastured, non-feedlot, grass-fed beef? I've heard about a place on Palomar that has a storefront in La Jolla. Anyone tried this? Thanks. Fri Oct 31 10:06:51 -0700 2008 10809 Josh 1 4140889 You might want to call Iowa Meat Farms and find out what they do. Fri Oct 31 10:16:01 -0700 2008 4140863 21396 normalheightsfoodie 2 4141047 Iowa and Seisel's sell feedlot beef. Fri Oct 31 11:24:17 -0700 2008 4140889 10809 Josh 2 4153624 Iowa Meat Farms sells Berkshire pork from the place Jay gets most of his pork products. At least they did a couple of weeks ago. Thu Nov 06 10:31:56 -0800 2008 4140889 72231 DougOLis 3 4153688 the Kurobuta chops are Berkshire I believe. The only pork chops I consider decent enough for a grill heh heh. Thu Nov 06 10:49:52 -0800 2008 4153624 91897 MrKrispy 1 4140942 It's called Homegrown Meats. All I tried there was a house made jalepeno sausage and a Rosie Petaluma chicken. Their prices are high, but they do claim that their beef is all pasture on Palomar. They have their own aging room, but do have to send their meat up to LA to be processed still, since there isn't a closer operation. ps- if you like FFN, I would recommend The Omnivore's Dilemma. It's a little more broad, but excellently researched. Fri Oct 31 10:41:21 -0700 2008 4140863 187891 cmhuang 2 4143764 Homegrown Meats in La Jolla is expensive but if you want local all grass feed beef they're the only shop I know selling it. Believe it or not there are a ton of cows and chickens raised in this county but there is no FDA approved slaughter house so the actual butchering must be done in L.A. but that's still relatively local. http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080924/news_1f24grassfed.html Sun Nov 02 01:58:32 -0700 2008 4140942 101252 oerdin 1 4140991 You can also purchase your meat from a 4H auction, you have to buy the whole steer, but usually they process it for you, you will need a freezer or friends to go in with you. Fri Oct 31 11:09:45 -0700 2008 4140863 21396 normalheightsfoodie 1 4141025 Homegrown Meats is very expensive and we have had very uneven experiences. I'm beginning to think I can't justify the price for experimentation, even though I would really prefer to keep it as local as possible. Fri Oct 31 11:18:42 -0700 2008 4140863 180283 foodiechick 2 4141054 What do you mean by uneven? I'd likely be looking to buy stuff for braising as opposed to steaks. Fri Oct 31 11:25:14 -0700 2008 4141025 10809 Josh 3 4141085 All we have bought are steaks, inconsistencies with toughness and gristle. You will probably have MUCH better luck with braising cuts, assuming less expensive as well! Fri Oct 31 11:35:56 -0700 2008 4141054 180283 foodiechick 3 4141297 Josh, I have been buying all my meat from Homegrown since they opened. I go once a week and generally buy some grass fed beef (varying cuts, short ribs, ribeyes, and ground have been our favorites), berkshire pork, ground deistel turkey and fresh cut roasted for turkey, various cuts of pork, and the rouge poulet whole chickens (an heirloom breed from France that has soured us on any other chicken.) Also, they have the best wild boar bacon ever. We really love the taste of all the grassfed products and prefer that now over corn-fed. The guys that work there can range from extremely knowledgable to less so but eager to learn and help but they have never been anything other then enthusiastic and helpful. I generally go Sunday mornings after the LJ Farmers market around 11 when they open and have found that crew to be the best. Also, it is more expensive then the grocery store but less so then whole foods. I find that I can buy my meat for two people and generally a dinner party for the week for around $75. Perhaps that is expensive but it covers almost all dinners and lunches for a week and I feel better about what I am eating. Fri Oct 31 13:02:04 -0700 2008 4141054 50314 jturtle 4 4141414 Wow! That is such a raving and detailed review, convinced me to go back. Thanks for all of the detail on various products! Fri Oct 31 13:40:43 -0700 2008 4141297 180283 foodiechick 4 4142018 Thanks a bunch for the detailed report. I will definitely be checking it out. Fri Oct 31 20:17:59 -0700 2008 4141297 10809 Josh 2 4148215 The "uneven experience" is an inherent part of grass feed cattle. The flavor of the meat tends to be effected by the type of grass in the pasture (is native grasses, is it large seed grasses, are there a lot of herbs in the grass mix... All of these things change the flavor and contribute a gameness to the flavor) also grass feed cattle do not fatten up like corn feed cattle so it is a much leaner meat which must be served more on the rare side or it will dry out and become tough. A friend of mine who was raised in Argentina tells me she thinks American cattle are to greasy because they're so fattened prior to slaughter but the extra fat and consistent diet mean the meat almost always juicy and tastes the same no matter where it raised. Believe it or not there are advantages to modern agriculture over the grass feed beef but it depends on what your personal tastes are. Tue Nov 04 02:44:50 -0800 2008 4141025 101252 oerdin 1 4141331 As far as I know the only one is the place up on Palomar and even they have to send their cattle up to LA somewhere for processing so you can't truly get local pastured meat. That being the case, would you consider ordering over the internet from Tallgrass or Aldersprings Ranch? I've had great experience with everything I've received from Aldersprings Ranch. Fri Oct 31 13:13:14 -0700 2008 4140863 72231 DougOLis 1 4145405 Went here today and picked up some stuff. I got a piece of top sirloin, a 2-lb. slice of beef shank, a bit of wild boar bacon, and a little sack of jerky. Prices are definitely quite high, though I imagine they are a much more accurate reflection of what meat actually costs without government subsidies. If all meat was this expensive, there'd be a lot more vegetarians. I cooked the osso buco tonight, and it came out pretty tender and tasty. I can't really imagine having meat as too significant a part of my diet given the pricing here, but it's nice to know there is an option in San Diego. Sun Nov 02 21:16:49 -0800 2008 4140863 10809 Josh 2 4146447 wild boar bacon, you're killing me!!! So how much does a steak, say a ribeye, cost at this place? I want to check it out. Mon Nov 03 10:41:53 -0800 2008 4145405 91897 MrKrispy 3 4147027 FYI, the wild boar bacon is incredible. Steaks vary in price. Top sirloin is $14/lb. Rib eye was......$34/lb. Hence, my purchase of the sirloin. Mon Nov 03 13:52:01 -0800 2008 4146447 10809 Josh 4 4147091 ooof I was hoping it was $20/lb or under. I guess I will try top sirloin first haha. When i was in Maui earlier this year I bought their local grass fed beef and it was cheaper than that. Hopefully prices will drop some when they have been up and running for a while. Mon Nov 03 14:13:47 -0800 2008 4147027 91897 MrKrispy 5 4147381 There might be a bit of confusion here. They have three styles of meat: grassfed, natural prime, and natural. The grassfed ribeyes that I saw on sunday were $23 a pound and ground beef at 8 a pound. Also keep in mind that they are dry aging all the natural beef which may account for the higher price. They also have berkshire port at $15 a pound. Often they will have grass fed carne asada at 13-14 a pound and it is really delicious. Mon Nov 03 16:03:41 -0800 2008 4147091 50314 jturtle 6 4147447 thanks for the help. perhaps Josh is referring to the local beef and non-local stuff is a bit cheaper? Regardless, I fail to understand how cows fed corn can be referred to as "natural". Perhaps they are only fed corn for a part of their life... but there is nothing natural about cows trying to process corn. Ah well. Mon Nov 03 16:27:54 -0800 2008 4147381 91897 MrKrispy 7 4147509 My bad, jturtle is right. I just reviewed some photos I took. The grass-fed steaks like NY strip and rib eye are $24/lb. It's the corn-fed stuff that's more expensive. Diva, I think people are just really used to paying for subsidized meat production. I think meat should be priced to reflect its real cost. That's the only way we'll see consumption drop to a reasonable level. Mon Nov 03 16:50:03 -0800 2008 4147447 10809 Josh 1 4151561 Here is a good summary from Naomi Wise about the different meat options in SD: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2008/nov/05/live-butchers-live/ Also a good reminder of how good Argentinian beef tastes, like real beef Wed Nov 05 12:47:19 -0800 2008 4140863 13239 honkman 1 4152673 I have yet to make it to the La Jolla butcher shop, I'm working on finishing a starter pack of beef from a company called J&J Grass-fed beef. Here is their website: http://www.rangelandbeef.com A friend started a co-op and they drop orders off here in Escondido once a month. I'm not sure how you would go about getting beef near you - if you give them a call perhaps they'll direct you toward a local co-op? The top sirloin we had this week was great, so tender. But I was surprised it arrived frozen, and it is in too large of quantities for just 2 of us. The 2lbs of ground beef was frozen in one large pack and I'm going to have to thaw it, split it in 4 parts and re-freeze the 3 parts I don't use that night. I'm not sure how that is going to effect the meat. They might have other arrangements that I don't know about, it is certainly worth a call! Wed Nov 05 22:12:14 -0800 2008 4140863 210456 tanne 2 4152678 Having gone through my purchases, I doubt I'll be buying much more stuff from Homegrown. The meat was fine, but it was quite expensive. I'd rather just make an occasional trip to Linkery or Burger Lounge if I want meat. I can do without it. Wed Nov 05 22:15:18 -0800 2008 4152673 10809 Josh 3 4153198 Josh--I also read FFN a couple of years ago. After reading it I remember considering giving up meat all together but then relatively quickly changed my mind. I tend to not eat as much red meat and although it would be nice to get meat like you are looking for, it is obviously challenging. I have heard good things about Seisels and Iowa meats. Is your issue with them just that they use corn feed? Also, have you or anyone else tried the butcher at Cowboy Star? Thu Nov 06 07:59:12 -0800 2008 4152678 125219 sdaints 4 4153285 I haven't purchased meat at the Cowboy Star butcher shop but I have stopped in and checked it out. Limited selection and very $$$$ Thu Nov 06 08:29:58 -0800 2008 4153198 10506 DiningDiva 1 4155497 We've moved a non-local thread digression to the General Chowhounding Topics board at http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/570304# Please help us keep the board focused on discussing local chow options. Thanks! Fri Nov 07 05:29:11 -0800 2008 4140863 2 The Chowhound Team 1 4246705 Related to this discussion: http://northparkmeatco.com/ Sun Dec 14 17:53:02 -0800 2008 4140863 13239 honkman 1 4322890 Josh - a place to check out in Temecula, supposed to be opening soon. They carry the J&J Rangeland beef, free range, grass fed. http://www.delaneysartisanfoodsmarket.com/Artisans.html Tue Jan 13 13:00:58 -0800 2009 4140863 43141 rotie77 1 4826650 Josh, Last year we stumbled upon a great deal!!! The San Diego County Fair will be holding their annual 4-H/FFA Livestock Auction on Saturday (7/4/09) beginning at 10:00AM. The auction order is pigs, goats, rabbits, chickens, turkeys, veal, lambs and beef. They will auction approximately 200 pigs, 50 goats, 15 veal, 100 lambs and 75 beef. Animals that are purchased through the auction and donated to the scholarship fund are called "resale" animals. At the end of each species, the ear tag numbers of all donated animals are posted on the resale board and are available for immediate purchase at $1.25 per pound (except beef) based on the animals live weight. Please note that beef were $1.50 a pound and this is last years pricing. Since this is a scholarship fundraiser, the difference between market price and the resale price may be TAX DEDUCTIBLE. For example, USDA market price for hogs may be $.60 per pound on Saturday. You could possibly deduct the other $.65 per pound as a charitable contribution. Anyone can purchase these animals at this extremely low cost. Its a great opportunity to put locally raised products into your freezer. You can pick up your animal on 7/6 (and arrange for a private slaughter) or have a slaughter house pick the animal up for you. The cost slaughterhouse pick up is $100 for beef and $55 for everything else. The slaughter house will deliver the carcass to your processor of choice which may include Tip Top Meats in Carlsbad, T&H Meats in San Marcos, Cliff's in San Jacinto, Scott's in Perris and Specialty Meats in Escondido. You should expect an additional charge for custom cutting by these processors. For more information, call the livestock office at 858.792.4283. Fri Jul 03 02:55:11 -0700 2009 4140863 1090528 foodyintraining