Meat, isnt dead cow/pig/chicken/insert animal here, the same regardless of what you pay for it?

[charliecat]

Its flesh and its owner is dead. Does it really matter how much you pay for it?
I can appreciate that your going to say free range and not fed, erm, crud, but at the end of the day...isnt it just a bit of cow.
Does it really matter that it was in a field as opposed to in a shed?
Does it effect taste? REALLY. Or has the idea that price effects taste been well and truly sold to us?

I don't eat meat so don't know but would assume that in the same way that diet and quality of life affect our health, it would affect animals too? Bad enough eating a dead cow, but hey, a badly fed, stressed one? Eugh!!!

errm bse. where bits of other diseased animals were fed to cows. do you actually eat meat cc?

I think the hormonesinjected into non organic cattle are the thing that worries most people.

But actually, I agree with you. Organic food may be better but most of us can't afford it and your run of the mill meat- and veg for that matter- is fine.

yes, it matters immensely

the change in taste from intensively reared to free range organic is massively noticeable

for instance, when i used to make chicken soup from the carcass of an intensively farmed bird, i;d need loads of seasoning, stock cube and veg

now i use the carcass and water and a pinch of salt

never m ind the fact the poultry itself tastes so much better and juicier

we also forget meat and poultry are luxury items and should cost more

i barely buy any red meat, but again when i do and it is the free range stuff , it is far superior and tastier

i also like supporting local small businesses and farms

Didn't we have this thread a few months ago? Surely it's too soon to resurrect it?

No im veggy But im thinking along the same lines as..gordon brown is great, then all of a sudden the papers decide hes crap, therefore everyone jumps on the boat and agrees.
Or theres a queue, and everyone joins it...instead of going to the empty checkout.
Oh and organic spud not tasting any different to value spud, to me
Im thinking, the FINEST range, and waitrose and all these other things are just catering for peoples needs to want better than the bog standard.

erm, have you ever seen how these non free range animals are kept? im not vegetarian but i would at least like to know that what i am eating didnt suffer all its life!

No, as a non-meater eater eevn I can see it makes a difference, I cook meat, but dont eat it. When dealing with it I can feel and see the difference. Take chicken - free range is plumper and more meaty. The gao between the skin and the flesh is bigger - you can stuff it better for exampl. the sniwey bit isn;t there. Same with other meats

Did we? God I hope i wasnt the OP Dont remember.
And loal produce etc, has became fashionable..to say Oh i get m meat from the butchers. Is a statement of...something...

Actually yes I do believe it effects the taste. I also think that if we rear meat to kill it for consumption then we owe it to the animal to care for it while it's alive. I think it's important to give the animal quality of life before it dies, yes.

charlie cat this is a mischievous and rather irritating thread.

YOU DON'T EAT MEAT

SHUT UP THEN

Ok hula, so its walked about more so its meatier because its had chance to stetch its legs, but taste? Does it effect it?
Completely agree, that you should care for animal(or not eat it, really) but actual taste...does it change, REALLY.
Have there been taste tests. Cheap crap and organically reared?

have a bacon sandwich and let us know tomorrow eh?

I agree with micci. I do think free range chicken tastes better but ultimately for me the decision is based on animal welfare. I don't want to eat an animal that has been squashed in a cage, sow stall, cattle shed etc and not allowed to see day light. I don't want to eat an animal that's suffered in that way.

I guess the key here is choice. If you can afford frre range meat then great, go for it.
But many people can't

OFGS, I have eaten meat, I made the choice to be vegetarian.
I have compared my own taste with organic spuds.
I do not remember as a meat eater being aware of any particular difference in taste, regardless of where my mum had got the meat(m and s or asda or butcher)

I was very surprised to find that it does.

Veg less so - there is very little difference between a value spud and a standard one, it's generally down to grading.

Meat however is more tender and has far more flavour.

I am a convert and happy to be so.

Shut up = rude in my house by the way

ok. here is my understanding of it and i am very happy to be enlightened further.

battery chicken meat is dry and unpleasant and rather young. in a shed or a cage.
free range is usually slightly older bird and has more fat so more taste. although might not have run as much as we may hope.

non british pork is kept in conditions similar to battery chickens. do try not to eat it. (not you cc obvo)
british pork may be indoors but not so dreadful. it is mildly fatty so tastes a bit better.

as i understand it, cows and sheep do not respond well to intensive farming so as long as one buys british is ok.

real free range and organic meat is immeasurably better and will go a lot further. but alas i can't always afford it either. free range chicken is my minimum though and my inner city butcher provides.

A friend has an alergic reaction to non organic carrots (lips swell, mouth itches) and yet is fine with organic ones so either she has some band waggon allergy or it's the chemicals sprayed onto the veg. Taste isn't always a deciding factor, I don't think it is that obvious in veg but in meat, it is (generally) a lot more obvious.

I didn't think it would effect taste but there is a huge difference in the quality of meat when it is free range. It is far more tender and juicer. It still tastes like chicken, it doesn't alter it so that is tastes like something else, but texture etc all come under the taste umbrella imo.

And it's not so important to me, it's a bonus that is better meat. It's about respecting the animal before you kill it that is most important to the majoirity of people that buy free range.

cc sorry i didn't mean to be so rude. cross but not nasty.

Cross because?
Seriously, I have always wondered about this, and have just got round to asking
Can be persuaded to respecting the animal etc etc, not sure why, but still am not convinced bout actual taste.
Thats me laying it on the line, going back to read posts ive missed now.

Ok with juicer, can accept that too, dont they add water or something to cheap meat? Pump it in? eeek? or something?

No idea personally oif it tastes better as don;t eat it.

DH seems to think it does. He almost always noticed a difference when he gts a free range piece of meat compared to a cheaper piece.