Is a supermarket the cheapest place to buy meat?

[humptyNdumpy]

After reading a few threads on here where people said they get meat cheaply from their local farm shops I went out to one today and was at the difference.

Half a leg of lamb was £15.99, it didnt say it was organic or anyhing. I appreciate this will taste better than half a leg of lamb from the supermarket but thats still a lot more money. In Sainsburys half a leg of lamb is about £7.99. I cannot justify paying that uch more for a small piece of lamb.

So when is comes down to it is a supermarket the cheapest place?

I find the farm shop is more expensive for meat - the quality is better but it is too much more expensive. It is local but they buy it in from other farms. Their veg is better and cheaper though as they grow it themselves.

However we have a very good local butcher which is same-ish price as supermarket and better quality. We tend to spend a lot less there though as they have a bigger range of cheaper joints. They also give advice on what is the cheapest joint for us to buy/what to do with it. And we can buy the portion size we want - rather than having to buy bigger because we are restricted by packet size in the supermarket.

Not all butchers work out cheaper, it depends on the individual shop. OUrs is and very good quality - you can tell by the huge queues it has Plus they are lovely in there.

It depends on the butcher. I pass two in my weekly life. One is hugely expensive and not that great.

The other stocks a huge range of stuff. He makes his own marinades so some of his meat packs are fabulous. All I need to do is boil some pots, make a salad, and grill up his italian chicken or minty lamb chops. Mmmm..... His prices for those are very reasonable.

He is right opposite a big Sainsburys and does a roaring trade.

So as in all things you need to shop around!

charitygirl - the English lamb is not yet in season. New lambs are generally born in March - April. A few are born earlier and reared indoors but it is very expensive to do it that way. British new season lamb will be generally more available quite soon in say June - July and is grass fed so very 'natural' and tasty.

That is the other thing about buying meat of course. Buy it in season and it is much cheaper. We have to some extent forgotten how to shop with the seasons.

That is very true ABetaDad. I grew up with a family who relied on a supermarket to provide their every nutritional need, as did DH. There is no need to consider or learn about seasons whilst shopping within the confines of four supermarket walls.

DH and I have followed the same pattern of supermarket shopping since moving in together and whilst it is convenient and cheap its not how I wish to shop forever, mainly because I care about animal welfare and I do think we should support local farmers.

DH and I are not high earners, that doesn't mean we don't want to support our local economy but it does mean we are limited in what we can afford.

It does seem after today's experience that we pretty limited to the supermarket, whether we like it or not.

I watch programmes like Jamie Oliver's where he talks about buying 'British' etc and really want to but it does seem as if that is just too overpriced for us.

I always buy free range eggs, I just wish I could say I always brought meat that was as well treated. If it was just dd and I, I could do without and just buy quality meat now and then, its not possible with DH though.

My conscience is always torn between feeding my family within my budget restrictions and the concern I have over how the animal is treated. And it always seems as though price wins everytime.
Growing up I was such a staunch animal rights protester and would wear make up make up/perfume/deodorant etc that was tested on animals. I look back and remember those days and wish I could afford myself those same principals.

Now it seems really is a case of either 'do without' or 'put up with crap animal care' if you are on a low budget.

It makes me in a way DH cannot understand.

Sorry for rambling, blame a cheap bottle of wine

You are so right ABetaDad. I try and shop in season, grow my own quite a bit etc.

However today DD and I sowed sweetcorn seeds, she was so excited when we saw some in the supermarket later - I had to buy her one (from senegal ). I think I wiped out all of my "grow your own" airmiles in one sweetcorn cob

ilove - The lamb on the site linked to earlier is much more expensive than you mentioned. I could not see whole lambs - a box for £90 odd though.

Dozymares link

We buy our lambs whole via the farmer, who sends them to slaughter then we cut them up ourselves - Scottish Blackface hill reared, we get them in October before they've been brought down to the lowlands for the winter, then freeze them and they last us the year.

Even my kids shout "Mint sauce!!" at sheep out of the car window.

thanks abetadad - i thought that might be the case.

Wish I could get hold of mutton or hoggett (presumably that's less seasonal) - it's ludicrous that I've only had them in posh restaurants!

I'm lucky enough to have found a good butcher and built up a good rapport with them- they give me good cuts, suggest alternatives and can give me the exact amount I want, rather than in the supermarket where I have to buy 1 or 2 packs, but actually need 1 1/2!!

I would say my butcher is probably more expensive than the supermarket, but as I have shopped there for years now, whenever I am tempted by supermarket meat i really notice the difference and don't do it again for a long while! I'd rather buy cheaper cuts of good quality, well hung meat from my butcher than bright pink steak from tesco. I am exactly the same with fish- there is no contest between my fishmonger and the supermarket. AND my butcher and fishmonger deliver my weekly order to my work- free of charge! No contest!

Oh, and if you ask your butcher about mutton/ hogget they can get hold of it for you, although it might be frozen already, as there isn't so much demand

My experience is that if you have a good, normal butcher (as opposed to an ultra posh one or a farm shop selling organics) you will pay more than the supermarket for the things supermarkets discount heavily, like chicken thighs, but you can get a quality which is better than the supermarket premium ranges for less money (eg the standard sausages at our butcher are better than the supermarket Taste the Difference or whatever but still cheaper).

There are also cheapo butchers which are as cheap as supermarkets for the chicken thighs etc but no better.

Yes, sadly the butchers near me are either super posh or super cheapo - nothing 'normal'!

I def agree with people who say it's good to buy cheap things from the decent butcher. Scotts of York (which has recently closed down, tragically) was pricey but their scrag end of neck was still only a pound a pound. And asking what's cheap is a good idea - all the books and sleb chefs claim lamb shanks are cheap but actually they haven't been cheap for years as they're so popular in gastropubs etc these days.

I have built up a great friendship with my butcher and he gives me really good deals.

Yesterday I bought 2lbs minced beef which we watched him mince, 4 fat pork sausages, a dozen eggs, 8 slices smokey bacon and last weeks chicken breasts.

He reduced the chicken for me as he had new stuff in. He stuck it all in a bag for me and when I got home there were 4 big breasts and lots of fillets.

For the whole lot he only charged me £12!!

The chicken is fine and I portioned it up and stuck it in the freezer. I never buy Supermarket meat now and DH and I would rather be veggie!

I get all mine at a farm shop because you know where it comes from. You can get cheaper cuts, they do mutton and brisket for example.They also do quarter of a lamb for the freezer. I prefer to do that and have less-I do quite a lot of vegetarian meals or fish.

i buy cheap cuts from the farmer's market. we get suspiciously cheap "farmyard" chicken - haven't been able to find out what this legally entails, but it's a whole loy cheaper than supermarket free range and it has the look of a free range bird (e.g. bigger legs, smaller breasts). we can also get stuff that's impossible to find in supermarkets - free range chicken livers for pate or carcasses for stock 50p each.

the lamb mince i've had from there is no cheaper on the face of it, but a hundred miles better than supermarket stuff.

and we have a pork butcher who's again cheaper than equivalent quality supermarket stuff and will happily cut you all kinds of weird cuts and include the bone if you ask, again impossible w/supermarkets.