I dread to think how that meat has been reared.
Let’s not forget that what he made was a taco dinner, which probably comes with 12 shells, and he should have enough ingredients to fill out all 12. So, he’d be paying about the average taco price, even though he’s not exactly hitting the bargain bin for ingredients.
I would assume that it is reared within the regulations set down by the USDA.
I think you’re right. I’m going to do it once more, and weigh out the finished product (I’ll just poach them or something) and do the same with the “expensive” ones and see what my comparison looks like then. See which one gives more final, edible meat.
Then I’ll freeze all that cooked meat for use in tacos, soup, stew…it’ll get used up, believe me!
Ah, well then there is no debate, and my concerns about the woeful nature of intensive farming can have no grounds.
No. His home-cooked meal cost him $16.50, or $8.25 per head (him and his wife). Apparently, this is about twice as expensive as a restaurant bought taco meal (~$4.13 each, unless he’s comparing eating for two at home with single dining at a restaurant).
Or Department of Family Services guidelines.
I didn’t say that, but you didn’t express those concerns or offer a question for debate.
Gotcha…I didn’t catch the “twice as expensive” part. Mea culpa.
I believe that ‘I dread to think how that meat has been reared’ expresses a concern.
Sort of a vague one, I guess. If you want to debate the issue, why don’t you start a thread about it?
Ennui.
Yes, but I think people are after you to provide more than a one-sentence soundbite. I share your concerns, but on the other hand, humanity is about the only species that even cares about the welfare of the species that it preys upon.
As to the guidelines, you can bet the price of one of the OP’s chicken dinners that there are plenty of places that make damn sure they don’t spend one red cent or provide more than one square inch of space than they have to. On the other hand, how to address the issue without taking food off the plates of the poor? And really this belongs in another thread. Even as a guest you’re able and permitted to start one.
I sympathize with your concern, but I doubt that more expensive chicken fillets or a chicken dish in a cheap restaurant were reared any better.
Where in Chicago are you? Head to a Mexican grocery store and you’ll get chicken for .69-.99/lb. a pack of tortillas will run you a quarter. The spices you get in the little cellophane baggies at the endcap, get some cumin, guajillo, and ancho chili powder. Avocados, cilantro a white onion, and a little container of Mexican (I prefer the Guatemalan) crema and you are ready to go.
Seriously, tell me where you live and I will hook you up. Thai food is even cheaper!
Even convenience groceries aren’t too bad if you get the right things. I finally put down the money for a crockpot (okay, holiday gift card), and although I’d like to make something from scratch in it, to test it I got one of those bags of food pre-prepped for the pot from the freezer aisle. Stew enough to fill two people for $5, so $2.50 per person. I suspect I can get the price of a meal down even further if I buy my own ingredients, though. Sure, there’s the cost of the crockpot to factor in, but that gets made up for in the number of meals you can make in it.
On the other other hand, we’re the only species that *controls *the welfare of the species that we prey upon before we kill them. Except maybe those aphid-raising ants.
How 'bout me? Will you help me find chicken for .99 a pound? I'll assume the .69 was either hyperbole or chicken feet.
I’m in Rogers Park. My two main grocers are the little Mexican mart over on Jarvis and Clark and the Marketplace on Oakton in Skokie.
Are you really offering up this emotive and specious question as an argument? That improvements to animal welfare in farming would result in poor people having less food?
In truth I would like to see all people eating less meat, but better quality meat, and also using as much of the animal as possible: white and dark meat, offal, bones for stock etc. The contemporary expectation to eat meat with every meal is damaging to health as well as the quality of produce.
Make up your mind. Either you can be bothered to argue or you can’t. If you want to, don’t hijack this thread: start your own - and you may find that I agree with a good deal of what you say.
It seems to me another relevant factor in this “debate” should involve assessment of factors such as the value of time spent, the enjoyment derived from each choice, and perhaps health considerations.
Depending on how you value your time and wish to spend it, you might come out significantly ahead if you are able to walk to a nearby restaurant and be served quickly, as opposed to driving to a market that is farther away. Further tipping the scales to eating out would be if you absolutely abhor cooking and/or cleaning up afterwards.
Also, I personally consider it not insignificant that I have a pretty good handle of what goes into the food I buy and prepare myself. But if that is not important to you, that factors into your personal equation differently.