dave524 Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 What is going on with meat prices?? In the past month or so I've bought a pork loin and an eye of the round beef roast, both were those vacuum packed whole ones, also a utility grade turkey whole frozen all for like 97 cents a pound. Then you walk down the fruits and vegetable aisle and locally grown apples and other produce are like $1.29 a pound. Slice the pork loins up into boneless pork chops or make pulled pork, turkey is for this weekend, beef goes in the slow cooker with a couple of cups of water and a packge of dry onion soup mix, hot meal and sandwiches or shep's pie with the leftovers. Point is, these prices are totally out of wack for us older guys who remember meatless suppers from a time when you couldn't afford it. I know the pork industry in Ontario is in big trouble. Chicken seems to hold up there very well for some reason, $2.99 for boneless skinless breasts is about the best I've seen usually 4-6 a pound and fish is through the roof. We live in Niagara, it is early Oct, the wine industry is crying excess grapes going to waste and the ones on sale here are product of Chile and California ??? I'm getting old and easily confused , any light on this ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 Don't expect any replies Dave ......so called canadians don't really care where the products are made . We trade with commie countries like China who use kids for cheap slave labour & Chile isn't much better . Some countries use toxic insectisides for their veggies & fruits etc.that are banned here . The huge corporate farms (the ones who buy up the bankrupt farms here) want the cheapest labour & use any method going to fatten up turkeys or cows with hormones & who knows what else.....It's all political/corporate greed . The food industry is now the richest in the world ....wonder why ? Don't look for things to get better , no politician has the guts to take them on .....they would be "roasted" over hot coals by their own party to speak out.......Part of the answer your looking for is in my post "global warming myth" which there is zero interest . Typically canadien . I hope the black market thrives very well ....I'd buy anything from that source......or grow your own veggies ....dig up that "green" grass !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave524 Posted October 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 Except for the grapes, I was questioning the low meat prices for pork, beef and turkey which all came from Canadian sources and at one time would be the most expensive item on your plate. Curiously too, the items I mentioned are all low fat content cuts, ie. healthy, eat up . Grain prices are up, bread and flour are substantially more than a year or so ago. We make our own bread and buy 20lb. bags of flour, for the longest time it was about $6 a bag then it spiked to over $12 in the past year, back down now, but you think it would be reflected in feed prices for livestock. Offshore products aside there just doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to food prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knightfisher Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 What Bill said I worked in NOTL most of the summer and it's true about the grapes. The lost of the canning factory out there also has affected many farmers. My cousin has a farm out there and the loss of $$ due to politics has hurt a number of farmers. Another customer of mine has a dairy farm. He is only allowed to supply the co op with so much milk. If his cows produce more, it's wasted, and he can not sell it. Just @#$%ing bull droppings. The younger generation has been dumbed down quite well by the powers that be. They have no clue what they are in for. As Bill says, the global warming myth, which shows how the EPA burried proof the world is not warming. You would think this information would flood all the networks and newspapers. But no, the powers can't afford to lose their $$ so the story got burried as fast as it arose. Watch ''Agenda 21'', part one and two. You will see the entire world food industry is being regulated. One world government here we come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Andrews Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 What I don't understand is why is meat so cheap when it takes more grain to feed it than it would be to just feed us the grain? I can't wait for the 7th of November to watch that food movie. Maybe it will shed a little light. Perhaps the big food corporations are just trying to kill the little beef farmers once and for all. Once they've killed the competition then watch the prices rise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave524 Posted October 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 Some of the low pork prices could be due to fallout of the Swine Flu/H1N1, but most people realize that you don't get it from eating the meat. There was a similar sale on beef during the Mad Cow scare, but in that case there were import bans on Canadian beef I believe in other countries creating a domestic surplus. The 97 cent turkeys were probably just a lost leader to get you in the store buying other Thanksgiving goodies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammercarp Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 This is even more frightening. The author of this, gets to vote, drives a car and is a perfect example of what ubanization does to people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazz Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 thats too funny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigugli Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 I've been involved in Agriculture for decades, and the answers are anything but pretty. Fuel costs over the past two years have pushed the costs of producing fruits, vegetables and grains through the roof here. 15 years back the price a farmer received, for tomatoes was $0.60 lb. It is, on the average, the same today. What was the price of fuel then and now? To meet the wholesale standards 15% of product is trashed, there are no more canneries to take #2's. Your local independant grocer is almost obsolete. Swallowed by the 2 giant chains Grocery stores only buy product that gives premium profit. They buy whatever is cheapest. Tomatoes from Mexico or Italy at 0.10 lb and still charge you 0.99lb The tomatoes are picked green and chemically ripened artificially Just one example. They receive government subsidies and assistance to export produce. Many of these countries produce and use pesticides that have long been proven harmful, and banned here in Canada. The residuals are in the fruit (ddt and temik come to mind) We close our canneries and buy pears and peaches from India at a $1 or more a can. If you want real produce, and quality, stop going to the supermarket. Visit the farmers and the markets. Look for the farmers and ask honest questions. Some sellers only pretend to farm. They are jobbers. you have to look carefully. I'm at market all summer flogging Niagara produce. Either from the farm, or neighbourhood farms. It's Ontario grown, plain and simple. You decide what you will buy. The chains decide for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Andrews Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 The Ridgeway farmers market only allows local product and organically grown produce and vendors. The market "organizer" is big on environment and does a little investigating before allowing vendors. The Fort Erie market I'm not so sure about but it's indoors so late season is good no matter the weather and there's good parking. Farmers markets don't help in the off season though unless your buying canned goods or the odd squash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigugli Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 The Ridgeway farmers market only allows local product and organically grown produce and vendors. The market "organizer" is big on environment and does a little investigating before allowing vendors. The Fort Erie market I'm not so sure about but it's indoors so late season is good no matter the weather and there's good parking. Farmers markets don't help in the off season though unless your buying canned goods or the odd squash. Greenhouses used to produce in winter. The doubling of fuel prices ended that. Even the giant greenhouses growing tender produce shut down for the coldest months. You pick the produce green and hold it in coolers for months. People have mostly forgotten how to preseve and hold foodstuffs over the winter months. They want convenience. You can do a lot just by blanching and freezing produce now, let alone canning. We spend 1/2 of what the average family spends on groceries, and ( in case you hadn't noticed ) we aren't suffering from lack of nourishment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 I don't use any chemicals at all on my grass or the garden & I enjoy some very tastey vegetables every year . I am still picking tomatoes & green peppers etc .& have a bunch of fresh herbs still growing as well . My lawn is green (with a few weeds) which doesn't bother me at all . A neighbour fertilizes ,waters & cuts 3 times as much as I & sends 2 or 3 bags out for the garbage trucks to pick up every week ....what a collosal waste of energy that is ! I guess we still have a very effuent society to buy just about everything from other countries, even food .Someday I see meat prices going through the roof as the developing nations will have the money to pay & the demand will be huge . But I can learn to go meatless ....no problem ....as long as I catch lots of fish ! Salmon burgers ....mmmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpie Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Canadians as a whole like the prefect shaped friuts and veggies. That's why the farmers have a tough time selling their product. My grand parents had a farm for years and had no problem selling their pruduce at the larger farmer markets. Perfect shaped fruit only comes when you use lots of chemicals also they lack the taste. We only buy local produce and can what we will need for the winter months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted October 14, 2009 Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 Sharpie.....that's one of the good things that comes from a reccession as they call it ......making your own dinner !! Even if things get a lot worse , MacDonalds & Timmies won't suffer at all . Maybe seeing the new housing market collapse is a good thing too , we are losing our outdoor spots too fast , as well animal habitat . We need to build UP not wide . If enough people starting buying local food more , our farmlands will take longer to be paved with ashphalt . Chilli made a point about how much land is needed to raise a cow or pig or chicken , verses using that land for growing food for humans . I can't argue with that & it's one good point the vegans are right about . Fish & veggie soup for dinner tomorrow ! Bacon & eggs for brekki ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik.T. Posted October 14, 2009 Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 Sharpie.....that's one of the good things that comes from a reccession as they call it ......making your own dinner !! Even if things get a lot worse , MacDonalds & Timmies won't suffer at all . Maybe seeing the new housing market collapse is a good thing too , we are losing our outdoor spots too fast , as well animal habitat . We need to build UP not wide . If enough people starting buying local food more , our farmlands will take longer to be paved with ashphalt . Chilli made a point about how much land is needed to raise a cow or pig or chicken , verses using that land for growing food for humans . I can't argue with that & it's one good point the vegans are right about . Fish & veggie soup for dinner tomorrow ! Bacon & eggs for brekki ! We can grow mushrooms in buildings on shelves. But meat is better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted October 14, 2009 Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 We can grow mushrooms in buildings on shelves. But meat is better. Eric....when I was your age , I went with my father to the country and picked wild field mushrooms . They are much tastier than the mass produced ones that are very chemicalized today . There were some real nice ones at Mel Swart Park this year because of the extra rain we had this summer I believe . "Meat is better? ........much better with onions & mushrooms ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishyWishy Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 Some of the supermarkets have a selection of "grown Local" produce. If you buy your produce in the supermarkets do your part to show the store management that you want Local grown food, by using your wallet and buying the ontario grown fruit. Leave the Washington apples, the Chilean Grapes, the mexican peppers etc on the shelf. If you can support the local farmers markets too. , Is there a good source to find locally raised meats? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpie Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 That's right buy Canadian first. Support our farmers. Keep them working the land we like standing to fish and hunt from. Other wise you will see new homes built on the land that once was farm land and all that will produce is grass and you can't eat that..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Andrews Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 That's right buy Canadian first. Support our farmers. Keep them working the land we like standing to fish and hunt from. Other wise you will see new homes built on the land that once was farm land and all that will produce is grass and you can't eat that..... Very well put. Never thought of it that way. Thanks for the insight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpie Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 Thank you, The farm where I grew up is still farmed today. It was my grand parents they got to old to farm the land so they sold it to a younger fellow. He had a younger family at that time and he is still there. His family has gotten very big. He has 9 kids and all work on the farm in 1 way or another. The farm has expanded too. I still get my sweet cherries from the farm..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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