Have Your food prices gone way up lately?? (sale, items, money)

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by Woof

It's supply and demand out here ..... people are so into the locavore, environmental, and health scenes that they are willing to pay very high prices for such things. Especially the meat! You could buy lobster and king crab for the prices they charge around here for local goat or lamb.

You make a good point.

When I lived in Detroit, local US lamb was running about $5.99/lb for a leg of lamb.

Drive across the border in Windsor, ON - less than five miles away, you could buy Australian and New Zealand lamb for under $2/lb. And generally, it was better,

[Woof]

Originally Posted by Woof

..... though I have to admit that the local honey is much richer in flavor and texture than the supermarket stuff, and is actually worth twice the price. As are the tomatoes.

Hmmmmm, this might be why it tastes so much better than generic supermarket honey: Honey laundering: The sour side of nature’s golden sweetener - The Globe and Mail

The Chinese have been swinging back into action undeterred after being stopped from selling melamine-laced milk products, radioactive ceramics, and toys painted with lead or Ecstasy.

[Woof]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

You make a good point.

When I lived in Detroit, local US lamb was running about $5.99/lb for a leg of lamb.

Drive across the border in Windsor, ON - less than five miles away, you could buy Australian and New Zealand lamb for under $2/lb. And generally, it was better,

I've read that ranchers in the US made a decision to raise only beef cattle and work against sheep, apparently since the two don't easily co-exist (sheep wreck the cow pasturage or something like that). They also work hard to exclude cheap mutton or lamb from overseas - probably illegally considering the free trade agreements.

I don't see where it's worth all that fuss. It's not like crack cocaine, it's not some addictive meat that is going to outcompete beef. To me it tastes like an inferior grade of pork, but it can be tasty if done right, with garlic and some mint jelly on the side.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by Woof

I've read that ranchers in the US made a decision to raise only beef cattle and work against sheep, apparently since the two don't easily co-exist (sheep wreck the cow pasturage or something like that). They also work hard to exclude cheap mutton or lamb from overseas - probably illegally considering the free trade agreements.

I don't see where it's worth all that fuss. It's not like crack cocaine, it's not some addictive meat that is going to outcompete beef. To me it tastes like an inferior grade of pork, but it can be tasty if done right, with garlic and some mint jelly on the side.

The range wars between cattlemen and sheepherders was largely in the 19th century, when MOST of the land was open range.

Nowadays, producers generally produce lambs or cattle, raised on their own pastures.

I have had some phenomenal lamb dishes in Middle Eastern restaurants in Detroit, Greek restaurants in Chicago, Basque restaurants in Elko, etc. The critical part is finding someone who can prepare it properly.

My next project is lamb tacos with cumin and cilantro served with a Tzasziki sauce.

[Woof]

I'm not much of a Mexican food fan, jlawrence, but if you have a good ME or Basque recipe I wish you'd post it over in the food forum ..... in fact an entire thread on lamb wouldn't be such a bad idea, maybe there IS something really good to be done with the stuff.

[freemkt]

Originally Posted by texdav

I see beef and pork being cheap now but they say its going up. Fish has doubled. I can buy shrimp cheater than catfish. Junk fish called Tauplia which sold for 1.28 a pound is now close to 4.00 a pound;terrible fish.Catfish that averaged between 3.49 and 3.99 at 6.00 plus. That is the main huge increase I have seen.Heck I bought ribeye steaks on sale cheaper than any fish last week.This instead of fish; I am buying shrimp and snow crabs claws on sale at 5.97 a pound to cook sunday.

Thanks for the warning. I've seen tilapia in stores and it seemed cheap, but I was hesitant to try it and now I'm glad I didn't.

[freemkt]

Originally Posted by elnina

You might think that the prices seems to be the same, and didn't noticed that many food companies are shrinking the size of their packaging so they can keep the price the same. The net weight is different, or the amount of portions are fewer.

Yes I've noticed that and I hold out and boycott the offending suppliers as long as I can. Tuna shrunk from 6 to 5 oz a few years ago and I avoided the 5 oz cans until all suppliers had shrunk to 5 oz and I had no choice.

[Woof]

Originally Posted by freemkt

Thanks for the warning. I've seen tilapia in stores and it seemed cheap, but I was hesitant to try it and now I'm glad I didn't.

I think tilapia is ok, a bit bland but firm texture. I think I've heard that it's the most commonly farmed fish in the world. If you buy red snapper at a low price, it's probably actually tilapia with some red dye as this is a common cheat. That will give you some idea of what it tastes like.

Seeing as how this is the frugal forum, maybe someone knowledgeable can tell us how to raise fish such as catfish in a barrel, or a kid's small swimming pool.

[leftmyheartintennessee]

I'm not an expert but know that there are articles in Mother Earth News on raising fish both in ponds and pools.
An internet search could probably provide a lot of info on the subject as well. What about checking with the individual states extension office for info?
We thought about doing this at one point in the back yard. we found out it could be done using a 3' x 12-15' above ground pool. But it needs an aeration system to oxygenate the water. Also it would be better to raise tilapia in the pool as the catfish whiskers can tear holes in a plastic pool liner.
Tilapia is a fast growing fish that's why they would be a good choice for small scale fish farming.
Other than that, I can't tell you anything else. When we sat down to do the math, we found it a little more expensive to do at that time than we were able to afford. The idea has been put on the back burner for now as we are trying to save as much money as possible to move to NE Tennessee hopefully in the spring. Maybe then we will be able to get that project off the ground.

[Woof]

Thanks Tennessee!

I just got some prices from a local farm, not so bad after all if I go there to pick it up. $5/lb either goat or lamb (maybe mutton at that price!) and $3.50 for eggs. I should have looked a long time ago, those are fantastic prices for California! I suppose I'll have to buy at least a quarter for that price.