Do any of you purchase your meat from a free range organic delivery service? Sure I can google them, but it's nice to hear about what other people are using.

Last week, I made the mistake (or maybe a blessing in disguise) of watching that video on the PETA website about slaughterhouse investigations and since I haven't touched any meat, have no desire to either. BUT, my two kids and husband are still carnivores and it's not for me to deny them that. I'd like to do the right thing and put my money where I know the animals are treated better.

Perhaps some of you might suggest Kosher?

I buy organic meat from a local butcher rather than from a box scheme as it's more convenient for me.  It's good to know about where it's been reared etc., and I think if you eat meat you've a duty to make sure it's been responsibly produced by people who care about what they do.  Don't set too much store by anything PETA comes out with, will you?  Those people's view of the entire carnivorous world is way off the spectrum.   The 'meat kills' thing is just stupid.  There are good and bad producers in the meat industry, standards do need to be continually raised, practices improved and we should all be paying a lot more for meat rather than turning a blind eye in order to get a cheap burger... But PETA just takes it to silly extremes.

Having done so myself, I'd strongly recommend anyone spends some time in abbatoirs and dairy farms so that they can judge for themselves...  Many are happy to accept visitors.

Thank you for saying all of this... especially the PETA comments. They are rather extreme! That said though, it still really opened my eyes. I'd really like to visit the locals and see how the animals are treated. I'll do some more research!

Farms and abattoirs are actually fascinating places up close.  :-)  I think it's a huge pity today that we're totally disconnected with our food sources.  And our ignorance of what 'good food' is just means the big industries churning out fake foods and slapping a 'this is healthy' label on the front can pull the wool over our eyes.  If you follow the meat chain through with responsible producers you'll find you're inspired by their enthusiasm for their animals and love of what they do.  It'll open your eyes more positively than PETA

As a PETA member, I know how hard it is to watch and know an animal is suffering for our consumtion.  I have been vegetarian since I was 9, and vegan since 14.  I have had two pregnancies, my first son was born in 2003, and my baby is 9 months old.  During both pregnancies I ate meat to get the cholesterol needed tp suuport them as well as brestfeeding.  Now I am going back to being vegan again, but I understand your need for meat that comes from caring farms.

 

I suggest you go here first

www.eatwild.com

The most common misconseption about "organic" or "free-range" meat is that the animals are grass fed.  Grass fed normally means they are fed grass the first few months of their lives. You need to look for grass FINSISHED, which means the animals are fed grass throught their entire lives.  These animals are well taken care of.  A very good family friends owns one of the farms which distributes to eat wild.  They can deliver.

 

Check out other places like Whole Foods, Henry's or Sprouts.  I am fortune to live in Los Angeles where we have an ample supply of fresh and organic foods. Other states may not.  Hope this helps!

While I agree that PETA videos are pretty harsh to watch, their showing real footage, so I can't say that its' ridiculously biased. I mean, I agree that they have a specific point of view, but their showing what really happens in factory farming, so you can take the video seriously.

 

I'm not a peta member, but I am a vegetarian. I find peta to be too obsessed with their image and not with actually trying to help animal causes, but I don't mind their videos because its all real footage.

I agree that they aren't trying to help the cause of farmed animals because they start from the standpoint that they don't believe animals should be farmed at all.  You're never going to be able to buy  meat from a 'PETA approved slaughterhouse', for example.  :-)  So whilst their videos are real-life footage they are heavily biased to only showing the very worst practices and claiming that this is the norm.  They would never take a video of a good farm with well-cared-for animals, and humane practices ... that doesn't fit their view.

So I still say people should use their own judgement, go and see for themselves and spend their money to reward responsible farming.

I only eat red meat if it comes from my on-line suppliers - from them I get free-ranged meats of ALL TYPES (beef, bison, elk, ostrich, venison, goat, lamb... you name it!!) I would recommend you go to the website EATWILD.com and read all their articles throughly and then look up all the companies that sell humanly raised meats on pastures and NOT feedlots! 

Giasbash, sorry for the stupid question, but how does the meat get delivered? Does it come in your mail? I mean it's meat

Thank you amy_dickson and giabash6260 for the eatwild.com link. So very informative.

Here's my current dilemma. The local farms in my area (Florida) only sell the beef by the whole, half, or quarter cow. I don't need this much. Also, local farms in my area only have chickens available thru June. So here's my question, in the past I used to purchase from Omaha Steaks and get the food delivered, is there a reputable place such as Omaha Steaks that I can purchase pasture raised beef/chicken/pork? Who do you use giabash6260?

moscovite82, the meat is delivered via UPS (or the likes) on dry ice. Perfectly safe!

If you have a local grocery store that tends to be high end, you should be able to get free range and organic meats there.  Trader Joe's, Gelson's, Lazy Acres, etc.  They're usually smaller stores that cater to a specialty market instead of chain stores like Trader Joe's.

I live in Daytona Beach... we don't even have a Whole Foods. No Trader Joe's either, which is why I'm looking for an online service. I have smaller type health food stores which sell some meats but don't have a good selection. It's a "you get what you get" deal in those meat cases, which are about 2 foot by 2 foot, if that.

Pamela, so if they ship it and it's small enough to fit in the mailbox, you get it right in your mailbox? I'm in Canada, by the way, but I'm sure we have something similar... and I'm just curious

Usually it's shipped via UPS, FEDEX, those kinds of delivery services. You have to sign for it. I get it shipped to work so I can pull the packages out and stick it in the freezer. They come in styrofoam (spelling) coolers with dry ice to keep it cold.