Here we’ll continue to think about the perception of higher prices at the farmers’ market by considering the prices of meats and cheeses.

As in part 1 (about produce prices), I turned spy and sleuthed the products available at some grocery stores nearby. This was a rather difficult process. Firstly, as I haven’t bought meat at a store in over a dozen years, I had no idea what was available or not. Secondly, the meat items available at a farmers’ market often had no counterpoint at regular grocery stores to even compare them with.

Here’s what I found:

There were no organic OR sustainably-raised meats available at either Giant or Walmart. (although there were plenty of Saniwipe stations – which were definitely new since I last shopped for meat so long ago!)

At Giant: ‘Nature’s Promise’ boneless/skinless chicken breast was $5.49lb. (label read: all natural, no antibiotics, all-vegetarian diet, no growth stimulants or hormones) Regular meats (ie. not the Nature’s Promise brand): ground turkey $4.99lb. (label read: minimally processed, no artificial ingredients), split chicken breasts $2.89 (reading: fresh, all-natural, no hormones or steroids added)

At Walmart: organic eggs were $4.09 dozen (and those eggs were the only organic-labeled product I could find in the meat or egg case at either Walmart or Giant).

Now here, I agree: meats, cheeses, and eggs do cost more at the farmers market. The same chicken products I mentioned above are close to twice the price at the farmers’ market, although organic eggs are only $3.50 and ground turkey is only 50 cents a pound more. But really, how can we compare these prices at all? At the regular stores I went to, I couldn’t find organic, pasture-raised meat of any kind, which actually rather surprised me.

However, the euphemisms the meat industry is now using to make you feel good about grocery store meats were in abundance. But, they really don’t mean much of anything. Let’s consider some of the words on the labels I looked at:

“All natural” means nothing. There is no legal definition for the word. So, all that “all natural” meat means is, I guess, it came from an animal. It says nothing about how the animal was raised or what it was fed.

“All-vegetarian diet” means, presumably, that the animal was not fed any meat by-products. Which, in the case of cows, is a good thing, as they are herbivores (plant eaters). However, “all-vegetarian diet” doesn’t mean that the animal was fed what its body was built to eat. It may have been fed a high ration of GMO corn, rather than grass. And eating so much corn, by the way, is what makes cows sick and therefore they are given antibiotics to keep them going until slaughter.

“Minimally processed” also means absolutely nothing, legally. The food industry, at this time, can stamp that on anything they want to. But it’s supposed to make you feel good somehow. On closer inspection however, you may find that the meat was indeed injected with water or flavorings. “Minimally processed” is in the eyes of the beholder, and the industry is figuring you’ll think the best of the term.

“Grass fed” beef at a grocery store may indeed be grass-fed beef….but that does not mean the cows were out on the range grazing. They may have been in a space with many, many other cows and given hay bales to eat. Remember: to feed our desire for meat, a lot of it has to be produced. And there is no way to produce the quantity ‘we’ want at the price ‘we’ want it without using some sort of factory-style farming. Come to think of it, “grass fed” on a label could mean that the cow did indeed have some hay, but also had a huge ration of corn, which again, it is not able to properly digest.

Remember also, if you should happen to find certified organic meat in a store (likely a more high-end store like Whole Foods) that when ‘factory farms’ or ‘CAFOs’ claim to be certified organic, it does not necessarily mean that the meat was out in a natural environment for most of its life. Organic CAFO chicken farms legally have to provide yard space for the chickens, but access is often just a chicken-sized door opening out onto a tiny dirt-floor fenced-in yard, where few of the chickens ever, ever venture.

When you pay ‘more’ for your chicken, beef, cheese, and eggs from a local farmer, in most cases you are supporting a farmer whose animals truly do graze in a pasture, and who rarely are crowded in tiny spaces. But for a farmer to do that requires a lot of effort and land. It takes a lot of time to rotate herds from one field to another or collect and wash eggs by hand. It takes more land, obviously, to allow a herd or a flock to graze and do other normal animal-ly things (including reproducing in the old-fashioned way rather than by artificial insemination!). But land (and land management) is not cheap, and that counts for something in the price you pay at a farmers’ market. (Versus the confined chicken facility where they can raise thousands of birds in a small building).

You need to read labels, think about what particular words actually do and don’t mean, and ask questions that get to the heart of the issue. Asking questions at the grocery store is rather difficult, but study those packages and think about what the words mean. In many cases, they don’t legally mean a thing. At the farmers’ market, ask the meat/cheese farmer questions. Many are not certified organic, but they’ll tell you about how they raise their animals if you ask. They are proud of their products and take pride in the way they raise their animals. I am not an animal farmer, so I’m sure they’ll have a lot more info and answers regarding this issue than I have! Unless there are a lot of folks in line, most farmers are more than willing to answer your questions.

Although I didn’t study cheese prices at the store vs. farmers’ markets, certainly many of the same issues apply. Remember, a local cheesemaker is usually, first and foremost, an expert in animal husbandry. (BTW, one person who commented on the Part 1 post (produce) said she has found local specialty cheeses to be a bargain compared to store specialty cheeses)

What you’re paying for at the farmers’ market, in most cases, is meat/cheese/eggs from healthier and happier animals, which in turn usually taste better, are better for you nutritionally, and are better for the environment. You’re paying for the health of the land those animals are raised on, versus the veritable toxicity that comes along with CAFO operations.

You get what you pay for.

Remember, we’re eating way more meat now than we were just 25 years ago. Cut down on the consumption a little and buy what’s good for you, the animals, the farmer, and the planet.

(For more graphic arguments on this issue, watch Food, Inc. or Earthlings, both available via Netflix. Caution: Earthlings is so astoundingly graphic, I couldn’t get through it – so don’t show it to the kids. Food, Inc. on the other hand, should be viewed by anyone who eats!)

Stay tuned for part 3: Social justice (the human price)

Read part 1: Produce

Tags: Education, Farmers' Market, shopping

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