This week’s silly thing is more along the lines of silly-surprising than silly-goofy. The many grocery options we’ve got are the reason I started this project. There are a lot of things people consider when shopping–organic, free-range, local, cheapest, dye-free, wheat-free, fair-trade, responsibly farmed…it’s a statistics project of its own for every family.
Today, I present affordable organic meat, courtesy of Trader Joe’s. Yes, I post about cheaper chicken legs all the time. Legs or thighs are half this cost at HEB every other week. But if this is an issue that you care about, and your budget can swing it, Trader Joe’s has certified organic chicken legs for $1.99/lb.
My general meat price is $2/lb. If you’re a meat product, and cost less than that, I’m considering buying you. This is sometimes good (yay freezer full of pork loin!) and sometimes doesn’t work out (pig ears, what should I do with you? and sweetbreads: you scare me), but it’s the point I feel good about stocking up on meat.
Trader Joe’s has organic chicken legs, not on special, but always available at what I think of as my ‘stock up’ meat price. It’s true, my stock up price for chicken legs is the Fiesta 49c/lb sacks. I have to process those though, by removing the back bits and portioning out, which takes a fair amount of work. I do get stock out of the deal, but I know damn well those chickens aren’t living well. So this price interests me. It’s my meat price, but it’s 4x what I pay for that cut.
I’ve started buying more organic fruits and vegetables when they’re on sale based on the Dirty Dozen, and maybe my budget can take this cheap organic into account, also. I’m glad TJ’s is offering it.
Are you an organic meat buyer? I’d love to hear about what your price points are.
Cheep Cheep!
cheepieaustin 
I’m mostly vegetarian, but will eat meat that is responsibly raised with quality of life as part of the farmers’ business model. This means I spend a lot of money for any cut of meat. However, since we don’t eat a lot of it and instead use tofu, beans and other high protein foods to supplement our meat consumption, the cost is worth it to me. Often Whole Paycheck, errrr I mean Whole Foods, had responsibly raised whole chickens and leg quarters for $5/lb. That’s a good deal in the responsibly raised marketplace. People’s pharmacy has a freezer section of responsibly raised meat products, and sometimes I buy from them. And recently we bought a 1/16 of a cow through a responsibly raised farm program that was a fairly good deal. (Can’t remember the per pound price.)
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What is the USDA definition of organic meat?
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As for organic meat, regulations require that animals are raised in living conditions accommodating their natural behaviors (like the ability to graze on pasture), fed 100% organic feed and forage, and not administered antibiotics or hormones. – See more at: http://blogs.usda.gov/2012/03/22/organic-101-what-the-usda-organic-label-means/#sthash.XMTSF1pH.dpuf
Nevermind I found it….
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I’m an organic/pastured meat buyer. My price point is $8/lb, but I typically run a little less than that. I do love Trader Joe’s for their organic chicken and grass fed ground beef. I also live in Virginia right now, and I know for a fact that all food is more expensive here than it is back in Texas, meat especially.
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