QuestionQUESTION: I was just curious if you had any problems getting an adequate supply of
organ meats from your farmers in the winters? I have started calling farms for
grass fed (organ) meats and all the ones I have contacted so far have told me
to call back spring or summer of next year.
I also made inquiry to them about wild game and they said that it is illegal to
sale it in california. So it seems like even if they do hunt game, there is a slim
chance that I would even be able to get my hands on it. Any suggestions?
And lastly, you have stated that we should stay away from supermarkets since
they irriadiate their meat. I know that the beef and chicken have been
irradiated obviously, but what about fish? As far as my area goes, I'm not sure
where to get fish if not from supermarkets. And even if their not irradiated, I
still have the obstacle of getting fish that hasn't been frozen. I read on your
group where someone recommended Wholefoods but the nearest one to me
is 1-2 hours away, and with the gas prices completely sky rocketed, it doesn't
really seem reasonable (financally) to make such a trip unless I buy weeks
worth of fish but then that leads to another problem as to how long I can
store such high amounts of fish before they begin to rot.
Thanks in advance.
ANSWER: I have similiar problems when I try to get hold of marrow and suet throughout the year. They usually supply the marrow and suet right up until early December, and then I've had to wait until c.February or, sometimes, as late as March/April(depending on the farmer), before I could get another regular supply.
I can get organ-meats which aren't 100% grass-fed during this time, as some mainly-grassfed, organic-raised animals are fed a few grains during winter. I generally prefer eating things like raw turkey/raw goose, plus raw shellfish as an alternative,during the Christmas/New Year period, and, these days, I usually make sure to have enough raw marrow to last me until the next available order(these days I tend to have just a couple of tablespoonfuls of marrow every couple of days, so the bones I buy last a long time - and I don't mind putting marrow or suet in the freezer,as it doesn't as badly affected by being frozen, compared to other foods). I can still get 100% grassfed organ-meats delivered throughout the year, such as 100% heather-fed lamb-meats/organ-meats, but it's a hassle to get hold of.
All I can suggest is that you get hold of a huge freezer and buy some organ-meats beforehand and freeze them. While freezing is not ideal, it's a lot better than cooking the meats.
Re Hunting:- Well, you live in a country with a very useful 2nd Amendment to the Constitution, so it should be a lot easier for you to go hunting on your own, if you're based in the countryside. Hunting is more and more tolerated, these days, as most large predators, like wolves etc., have been eliminated from most areas, thus causing deer populations etc. to soar out of control - so governments often encourage people to shoot deer, wild boar etc. Also, an entire deer-carcass can provide a huge amount of food over time, if you're prepared to freeze it. Alternatively, you could discreetly buy wild game from local hunters(most hunters, in my experience, are farmers, as only the latter have enough time and opportunity to hunt). This might well be illegal, but I would suspect that the authorities are unlikely to have the time and resources to deal with such small-time offences - they'd likely only be bothered if there were mass sales of specific species etc. - you'd have to check this out for yourself, though.
Re supermarkets:- I stopped buying raw fish from supermarkets, once I realised that some had a chemical aftertaste, as though they'd been pre-washed in something, and once I realised that fish from local fishmongers tasted way better. Of course, it's generally best to buy direct from fishmongers who are also fishermen, but this is not really an option for you since you seem to be far from the coast.
It's been stated that farmed shellfish is generally a lot healthier than farmed fish, so you might consider that possibility, since you're unable to easily get hold of wildcaught seafood.
Re Wholefoods:- Wholefoods reently opened its first store in my own country, and I, personally, found it to be heinously expensive and not very high in quality(most of the fruit and meats/eggs wasn't even labelled organic etc.).
What I always suggest is that people keep on looking around for the smaller farmers/producers in the immediate area. The reason for this is that the larger a food-producer/retailer gets, the more they focus on increasing profit-margins and so they inevitably start cutting down on quality in favour of quantity, in terms of what they feed their animals on, or by reducing the variety of meats they sell, in favour of meats that sell better etc.. Plus the larger producers have more money to spend on ghastly things like pesticides/chemicals/hormones etc.
Also, if you buy direct from local farmers, you can avoid having the retail-costs added on to your food-bills, whereas this is not the case when you buy food from supermarkets or butchers. If it's too compliated to drive to the farm , then you could have the raw meats/organ-meats delivered to your door. In the UK, there's usually a standard ?(=18 US Dollars) for every delivery no matter how big or small, so it usually makes sense to order in large amounts - given that everything is way cheaper in the States, I'm sure delivery-charges will actually be half as much, so it shouldn't be that much of an issue).
I would strongly advise you to look up the various online organic directories for the US, such as www.eatwild.com etc., to find any nearby organic, grassfed farms in your area(as well as directly searching for "grassfed meat" under your particular neighbouring counties' names etc.)
Also, I should mention that some farmers are so poor that they simply can't afford to pay for the hassles involved in officially converting to organic status, yet their meats can be as high or higher in quality than many of the larger organic producers. So, if you can find a farmer who feeds his animals on a mostly(or wholly)-grassfed diet, with no added hormones/bubblegum in the feed(!) etc, then that might be a possibility - official labels aren't necessarily always proof of quality, after all - it's more important, at times, to find out what the animals are actually fed on, how much room they have to move around etc.
Other than that, all I can suggest is getting food-orders from farmers selling at local farmers' markets. Unfortunately, I've been informed that this is not much of an option in the US, as most such farmers' markets are only held on a seasonal basis, and most of them just sell fruit and veg. However, there may be exceptions.
RPG
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thanks. One last question. Assuming that I do make one trip a week to a
fishmonger to get fish/shellfish. Do you think I can buy two weeks worth? Or is
that stretching it? Maybe one weeks worth? How long can I store fish and
shellfish in the frige without it starting to rot on me?
AnswerIt all depends on what you're used to, and what your tastes are. For example, I'm now happy to eat things like marrow that's been left(sealed) in the fridge for weeks, and I have no problems with eating most red meats if they're left in the fridge for up to 2 weeks(In fact I used to buy every fortnight/2 weeks, though I now buy weekly). Fish, on the other hand, is more of a problem for me, as I can't stand the taste of seafood that's not reasonably fresh, and, of course, raw seafood decays at a faster rate than other kinds of meat. I'll happily eat raw seafood that's been left in the fridge for up to 5 days after purchase, but no longer than that - though, at the very start of this diet, I could only handle raw seafood that was less than 3 days "old" in the fridge. A few RPDers don't have a problem with eating well-aged raw seafood, but I wouldn't recommend it, generally. At any rate, I wouldn't recommend eating only raw seafood, so it's probably best to buy raw seafood to be eaten in the first few days after each week's buying trip, and keep other kinds of raw meats for the rest of the week.
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