[Dillbert]

inspection of beef for sanitary / wholesomeness is mandatory at done by USDA inspectors at no cost to the processing house. there is no requirement that every slaughterhouse have a 24x7 USDA inspector.

grading to USDA standards is not mandatory and costs the processing house - fees pay the inspectors/USDA. processors are not permitted to say "Well, he graded the last ten Choice, but the USDA grader went home for the day so we'll just call all these next 50 Choice as well."

that smeared bluish stamp you sometimes see on meat belongs to the USDA grading inspector, not the producer.

processors, wholesalers and retailers can put any "grade" they like in the window / on the label - but if they associate any of the USDA defined grade terms - prime, choice, etc. - with the letters "USDA" and the meat has not been graded by a USDA inspector to the standards indicated, they're fixing to go to jail.

the reasons such simple rules turn into tons of paper is because the less than honest types keep trying to find ways around the law. every time some knucklehead succeeds, the government puts out another 300 pages of "rules" to stop the practice.

your local supermarket cannot buy junk meat and label it "Our Grade meets USDA Choice" or any other such malarkey. a lot of companies have paid a lot of fines in their attempts to "wordsmith" the labels into "fooling" customers.

[ED BUCHANAN]

USDA BEEF GRADES
Beef Quality Grades. A quality grade is a composite evaluation of factors that affect palatability of meat (tenderness, juiciness, and flavor). ...
meat.tamu.edu/beefgrading.html - Cached - Similar -

SEE THIS SITE ON THE WEB

[PeteMcCracken]

Perhaps I've been misinformed, but I do not believe FDA has any authority for meat inspection until after it exits a U.S.D.A. inspected processing facility, see: CPG Sec. 565.100 FDA Jurisdiction Over Meat and Poultry Products (CPG 7111.01)

[ED BUCHANAN]

Originally Posted by phatch

i have no problem finding choice meats. But i have more store choices in a closer range.

I hope things look up for you soon.

Phil

phil, see usda beef grades on google

[Dillbert]

Originally Posted by PeteMcCracken

Perhaps I've been misinformed, but I do not believe FDA has any authority for meat inspection until after it exits a U.S.D.A. inspected processing facility, see: CPG Sec. 565.100 FDA Jurisdiction Over Meat and Poultry Products (CPG 7111.01)

oops. do believe you're right - I get them two mashed sometimes.... going to edit.

[teamfat]

My initial flippant response, of no value to anyone, is to say that those who shop at WalMart deserve what they get. Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest.

I'll agree, finding good quality meat is getting more and more difficult. Stuff that is suitable, not that bad, etc. is readily available. One thing I like is beef short ribs. The megamart a few blocks from my house (Smith's, a subsidiary of Kroger now) usually has some that are good enough for browning and then making broth, but fall short of being meaty enough to actually serve as beef short ribs. They don't always have the best cuts.

I did luck out the other day - they had some packages of pork 'shoulder butt' roasts for $1.29/lb in the case - it took me something like 2.73 seconds to realize they were actually bone-in loin roasts, one of my favorite cuts. I should have bought them all and made room in the freezer. Had I pointed out the error to the meat manager, I bet I would have gotten a blank stare and some useless babble. I kept quiet and got some good eats.

PHatch does mention a Utah grocery chain that carries dry aged beef, I imagine he's talking about the Bob and Randy place. I go to the one at the Brickyard from time to time and drool over the cooler of beef and the variety of fresh sausage. But the Salt Lake valley has a population on the order of a million people or so, enough to support some sort of places that try to provide higher quality stuff. I still can't find any white anchovies in town, though, drat.

The situation is not limited to food. It has been nearly four years since I had a real job, but I do work part time doing British car repair, what was once just a hobby of mine. When it comes to parts and service, quality, price, customer expectations and such issues they are not really much different than some of the ideas and opinions expressed in this thread.

I'd like to get a job working a meat counter at a major market so I could try and educate average consumers about what, exactly, it is they are consuming. Then again the frustration level would, no doubt, be pretty high.

mjb.

[MaryB]

For meat I have a choice of WalMart, Hyvee(midwest grocery chain), and County Fair(local grocery chain). County Fair gets 99% of my business because the meat manager will deal on whole cuts and on case buys. WalMart's pork and beef is "enhanced", at the Hyvee all the pork is enhanced. No local meat lockers anymore so I have very limited choices.

[elchivito]

I don't as a rule buy meat in stores as we raise our own. Once in a very great while there's something I want that I don't have in the freezer and I'll buy it in the store on a trip to town. I'm rarely impressed with quality when this happens. We never produced meat here on the ranch for profit officially. This is a rare breed sheep wool, show dairy goat and horse operation. We've always raised a few steers, goats, sheep and pigs for our own consumption and shared the excess essentially at cost with neighbors and friends. Somebody wants a quarter of a steer and they go find friends who'll take the other three quarters and it's a done deal. I usually charge live weight market price and processing is up to the buyer. No killing here beyond what we consume ourselves. Buy it and take it to the processor. Recently we've begun getting lots of calls from people we've never heard of wanting to buy beef, lamb and chevon and willing to pay top dollar for it so I am looking into developing a relationship with inspected processors who can handle the retail end of things. I am reclusive enough to not be interested in bright eyed foodies trooping out here to buy meat and pissing off my dogs, while at the same time smart enough to see the forest for the trees. The crappy meat at retail outlets that spent it's last eight weeks standing hock deep in it's own **** being stuffed full of corn (a plant that ruminants were NEVER intended to eat) packed full of antibiotics and bloat medications due to this unnatural feeding, and who died full of adrenaline on a killing floor is doing the local food movement a world of good. People are starting to realize that good meat can be had almost anywhere in this country if one is willing to develop relationships with farmers and small processors. You'll pay more. Big deal. Eat less. You eat too much meat anyhow. Local meat is better. It has to be. There may be a learning curve in cooking technique if you're switching to grass fed meat that isn't 40% fat, so experiment and learn. There is NO downside to buying your meat from local producers as long as price isn't your primary concern.
I've been accused of being opinionated too, but I don't necessarily agree with the idiots who say that stuff.

[ED BUCHANAN]

Originally Posted by elchivito

I don't as a rule buy meat in stores as we raise our own. Once in a very great while there's something I want that I don't have in the freezer and I'll buy it in the store on a trip to town. I'm rarely impressed with quality when this happens. We never produced meat here on the ranch for profit officially. This is a rare breed sheep wool, show dairy goat and horse operation. We've always raised a few steers, goats, sheep and pigs for our own consumption and shared the excess essentially at cost with neighbors and friends. Somebody wants a quarter of a steer and they go find friends who'll take the other three quarters and it's a done deal. I usually charge live weight market price and processing is up to the buyer. No killing here beyond what we consume ourselves. Buy it and take it to the processor. Recently we've begun getting lots of calls from people we've never heard of wanting to buy beef, lamb and chevon and willing to pay top dollar for it so I am looking into developing a relationship with inspected processors who can handle the retail end of things. I am reclusive enough to not be interested in bright eyed foodies trooping out here to buy meat and pissing off my dogs, while at the same time smart enough to see the forest for the trees. The crappy meat at retail outlets that spent it's last eight weeks standing hock deep in it's own **** being stuffed full of corn (a plant that ruminants were NEVER intended to eat) packed full of antibiotics and bloat medications due to this unnatural feeding, and who died full of adrenaline on a killing floor is doing the local food movement a world of good. People are starting to realize that good meat can be had almost anywhere in this country if one is willing to develop relationships with farmers and small processors. You'll pay more. Big deal. Eat less. You eat too much meat anyhow. Local meat is better. It has to be. There may be a learning curve in cooking technique if you're switching to grass fed meat that isn't 40% fat, so experiment and learn. There is NO downside to buying your meat from local producers as long as price isn't your primary concern.
I've been accused of being opinionated too, but I don't necessarily agree with the idiots who say that stuff.

Having worked with inspectors from the USDA and having a retired one as a best friend ,I can tell you there is no method to their grading. On a given morning after a good night with his wife or girlfriend the carcasses are graded high. On a morning where the night did not go so good they are graded low, they just splatter the grape juice on.

Grape juice is used to make the dye or ink that is used to mark the carcass.

[phatch]

Originally Posted by teamfat

PHatch does mention a Utah grocery chain that carries dry aged beef, I imagine he's talking about the Bob and Randy place. I go to the one at the Brickyard from time to time and drool over the cooler of beef and the variety of fresh sausage.

That would be the one.