At CrossFit King of Prussia, we participate in Philly Cow Share. Since you should already know the benefits of eating grass fed beef (cows that eat grass vs. grains are healthier, resulting in better omega-3:omega-6 balance and thus better lipid profiles, reduced inflammation, etc), it's no surprise that health-conscious CF folks try to eat quailty meat.
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| Mmmmmh. Beef. |
Philly Cow Share works like this: as a group, we each buy part of a cow. Typically each share is 1/8th, or about 43lbs. of grass fed beef. (Some people decide to split shares if they live alone or want to keep costs down) For our gym, we wait until we have 8 shares worth of people and then order a cow. Although we could buy eighths by ourselves from their website, it's cheaper to pay the price of a whole cow at once. Philly Cow Share then gives us a delivery date and delivers the beef by truck directly to our gym. The shares come vacuum sealed with 20lbs. of ground beef and 23lbs. of steaks, beef cubes, and roasts. Ditty and I manage to fit all 43lbs. of beef in our freezer, even with other meat and vegetables in there, but some people go out and buy a chest freezer.
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| A car seat for beef. |
About their cows, Philly Cow Share says,
"We select cows from local farms near Philadelphia in Lancaster, Chester, Delaware, and Mercer counties. We personally visit each farm and talk with the farmer to guarantee the cows are grass-fed and free of growth hormones and antibiotics. We also require the farm to follow sustainable, organic farming practices, but do not require the USDA organic certification."
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| like laying out Halloween candy. Except better. |
An eighth share works out to be $8-$10/lb. Since a grass fed steak can cost up to $30 at a farmer's market, this is a very economical way to eat quality meat. Depending on how much beef you eat, this can last anywhere from a month or two up to six months. If you are on a limited budget, or you just want to try a little bit of grass fed beef, you can also order just a burger patty bundle or just a ground beef bundle (both bundles are $80 for 10lbs.) Considering the fact that you can literally TASTE the difference in grass fed meat, plus the health benefits, I would do whatever you can to make room in your budget for grass fed beef. And if you can get 7 other people in on the deal, buying the whole cow saves you $70+ vs. buying just an eighth yourself.
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| the breakdown of steaks in 1/8th of a share |
Where to get grass fed beef:
Greater Philadelphia/Tri State region - PhillyCowShare.com
Other areas - EatWild.com
Do you eat grass fed meat? Where do you get it?
As you know, I loves me the grass-fed beef. However, do you concern yourself with the lean-ness of the meat?
ReplyDeleteDan, good point! Grass fed cows are naturally leaner compared to their grain fed brethren, but unfortunately even grass fed advocates tout this "low fat"ness as a good thing. At the end of the day, if you can't find a supplier that will leave the trim fat on, then you can always add fat in. Grass fed butter (Kerrygold), ghee, lard, tallow...these are all good things to cook your meat in or just throw on after cooking.
ReplyDeleteWhile really convenient to get a big share of beef like that, those prices seem high compared to http://www.yourfamilycow.com/food-list.html or going direct to other farms.
ReplyDeletemark
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