Meat, animal welfare, budget dilemma - what are my options?

[sedgieloo]

Apart from going vegetarian and cutting down loads, I'm just wondering what I can do to afford organic/properly reared meat.

Just wondering what you do?

I'm thinking of using our local butcher. They have their own slaughter house next to the farm. The animals even go two at a time to reduce stress. It's how you would rear your own animals for food if you could I guess.

It's really really really expensive. But now even the big supermarkets have got me rattled about this subject. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

I hope not to return to work after mat leave so budget will soon really come to the fore.

Go in for a chat on about their cheapest cuts of meat and how to prepare them. I assume you have a slow cooker? That will help you get best value.

They may also be able to give you bones for free/cheap - google bone broths to make in the slow cooker. Very nutritious!

We have the same dilemma OP. We basically don't eat very much meat but when we do eat the good stuff. Nearly always have chicken thighs rather than breasts and choose cheaper cuts of red meat too.

We eat veggie quite a lot and have small portions of meat when we do. I add lentils to things like spag bol to make it go further. A bit of bacon/pancetta adds a lot of flavour to an otherwise meat-free meal too.

Definitely talk to the butcher though - that's part of the service.

I've gone veggie now. I'm nearly two weeks in and really happy with my decision too.

That butchers sounds great though.

Thanks for the comments. I am changing how I cook having had advice here about how to batch cook. So I do now have a slow cooker and I'm moving away from plain cooking and trying other things. I have a new baby and a two year old so I've not got much time but there is no reason why I can't find out more about different cuts of meat which are cheaper. I don't think offal is for us though! I am trying to bulk out with pulses more and that's going down quite well.

Also, if you want chicken for eg, don't buy chicken breast, buy a whole chicken and cook the whole thing in various ways over a few days - roast, then pick the carcass for eg stir fry meat, then boil the bones for stock/chicken soup. This may be cheaper?

I agree, talk to your butcher about different cuts. Do you have a freezer? If so you could get a half or quarter lamb jointed in the way you want it which may be cheaper. Also talk to him about his suppliers. Our lamb isn't organic and is 'just' farm assured but it's very very low input - they live solely on grass for about a year, only getting a little top up food at this time of year, no routine abs. As your butcher will know his suppliers then you may not need to pay the organic premium if you feel you can't afford it.

Similar dilemma here. In central london, so no butchers (organic) that are reasonable close. Generally I get sainsburys low fat organic mince 1.5kg is a tenner. I batch cook this into bolenagese (sp!) sauce. It makes four servings with red lentils and lots of veg thrown in for the kids. I use it for spag bog and lasagne. Also second using chicken thighs (could do free range instead of organic) over breast. Darker meat is more nutritious. And use a whole chicken. In slow cooker it doesn't dry out. Generally get other meat from ocado. I get whatever organic pork/lamb roast they have on offer. The rest is usually veggie meals. But I am bad at veggie meals. I also occasionally make hamburgers (it's on the menu tonight!).

We use farmers choice which explains about the farms they come from. They do a huge range. But also speak to your butcher about cheap cuts.

Cheap cuts can include: lamb breast, chuck mince (as opposed to steak), pork mince (as opposed to beef), pork cheek, gammon shank, rabbit (and other game) chicken wings, turkey thigh,

And of course offal. You can stuff lambs heart or make liver into pate.

This is something I've been thinking about a lot as I've recently started eating meat again as I'm following the Primal Blueprint way of eating.

I saw this article in the Guardian this week but haven't had time to go through all the links yet.

Currently we only have meat a couple of times a week but then I go for British free range stuff from Ocado.

If you have freezer space buying in bulk at the farm gate can be cheap way of buying good quality meat. EG round here you can get half a lamb for £70 (I have paid up to £25 for a large leg in a good butcher so I do think this is good value). Loads of meat will last for ages a mix of good cuts and cheaper ones - although you may need advice about how to cook the cheaper ones eg breast of lamb.