[oldschool1982]

What have we come to. I mean our food situation. It's all wrong in my opinion. Not the first rant or comment on this subject here and probably not the last but........

First let me say........I understand I can be opinionated about things and mine is not the "end all" of opinions. I also understand that through communications with others (or lack there of with several that I have reached out to or been in contact with) I may be perceived as sort of a loose cannon (off the wall nut)....... Yet, we as a group can be very opinionated and very "off the wall". Not everyone can be another's "cup of tea" that is for certain and we all have baggage. I have mine as well as several influences, some with no control of at times. Yet..... I think in my case it has to do more with experiences as well as a great deal to do with having been a Chef. I believe that you pick up so much, often times conflicting views, when you are exposed to as many regional ways as we have been exposed to around the country as well as when running a kitchen or any restaurant/food operation, you have to have a strong opinion, direction and be a bit of a loose cannon to get things done to your liking. I certainly put on no "airs" and what you read here is exactly how I am in person. What you see is what you get. Basically I will say the same things but......I have to say this......typing things does give me the chance to fine tune my response. Sometimes it works and then again........

Anyway, it can be a double edge sword, especially when you no longer run a kitchen. I guess you have to express yourself and that opinion somewhere and this is as good a place as any.

So, I took my daughter shopping today for groceries. Not a big supply since we started storing things in the pantry, and both our refrigerators. Yet I wanted to get a couple meat items. Most of the meats were beef and of the 3 stores we went to......not one had a selection of Choice meats.....especially roasts! Everything was Select!

Wal-Mart was the worst violator since they have removed all Choice meat from the store we use. As a disclaimer.....I really hate to use Wal-Mart and the recent decision to remove Choice as an option only reinforces that but we have had a couple rough months here and....well......funds are tight.

Anyhow, I just don't get it and I had to try and explain to my daughter why I was tossing packages of meat aside....especially ones she thought looked perfectly fine. That was the tough part yet I did my best. Basically I told her that it's all greed. Suppliers can get more for the good foods by selling them to foreign buyers and that leaves us with the crap. I doesn't make sense right ow but it will some day.

Personally, at no time in my life or in the stories I was told and remember......have I have ever been so lost. Maybe it's a single perception....(I doubt it) but has there ever been such a bastardization of our food as what is being done now. We've experienced more than a dozen economic downturns in the last 90 years and never has there been a shift to replace quality food products with sh!t products. At the least not since we started inspecting foods and instituted policies to protect consumers.There's just no excuse in this day and age. Yet there are a thousand bogus ones out there.

We've all seen the documentaries, read the articles, watched the discussions......yet I still wonder where the truth is. Each side of the fight scores points but they are as extreme in hype and in division or words as our own leaders in Washertown. Between profits, conspiracies, marketing hype, world domination accusations, BS free-markets or whatever the bloody reason......... every time we go to the store I get more and more frustrated.

I'm willing the spend the money when we have it and I'll make the budgets to reflect that but where can or how far should I have to drive to shop? Whole Foods has it's issues, and even for all the "good" they sling........it's a 80 mile round-trip drive. Our local Ukrop's may become a Harris Teeter but for now they keep reducing available products, quality and services. Food Lion is outright the worst store I have even been in and in many ways is just as crappy as wal-mart or Kroger or ????????. Costco is a 45 mile drive round trip and some things they sell.....well we don't need that much of those things. Sam's Club? that's just a bulk style wal-mart. Nothing is any better.

We don't purchase much processed foods....and after all..... all food is processed in one fashion or another so by processed I mean the meals in a box, frozen meals, canned sauces and meals or even the meals that the store provides. We make our own sauces, most often grinding our own meats, cut our own steaks, bake bread when we have the ability but there are some things in the convenience group that just make life easier. To try and quote a line from a show, I don't mind things being hard, makes it worth something. But I would just like things to be a little easier. Unfortunately I don't have the physical ability to do everything that I personally feel I need to do to feed my family properly. Not whining......just a cold, hard truth.

We're in trouble and the beef is only the tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately we're probably in more trouble than anyone.....even me.......... knows.

Well,....I may be outspoken and a perceived a lunatic or bit condescending (something I really am not) but as long as I have an opinion and there are places like this to express it...........I will and passionately. Maybe I need to also find a way to get that expressed opinion to change things and start making a difference! That said this come to mind "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off"........"and to provide new Guards for their future security."** Most would say a thought that is bit extreme but............ is it really?

** Discreetly edited since the original statement portrays a different sentiment than what I think is needed for this discussion.(well??????) Plus I don't want any knocks on the door in the middle of the night.

[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

[Phaedrus]

I've experienced the same frustration re quality. Like most people, this economy has cut into my discretionary income a bit but I still don't want to buy crap. A few times this summer I've driven all over the city looking for a decent steak, to no avail. Nothing but Select. And I run into the same blank stares and "I dunno, the steaks look good to me" from my family.

Most of the time I shop sales, deciding what to make for dinner based on what the store has the best deal on. Luckily, having spent most of my adult life as a chef it's no great hardship to have to cook my own meals! But occasionally I want to fire up the grill and have a good steak. Sadly, in my area Sam's Club actually has about the best steaks, except for one local meat market. Sadly, the specialty place's prices are off the charts, considerably more for choice than I would consider even for prime.

And while I'm ranting, I've spent the entire summer searching for cold water lobster to no avail! And forget live ones. All I can find are warm water tails, and those are being sold at at-least cold water prices. And this is a town of 130,000. Ultimately I'm gonna just order them from a reputable vendor online.

Part of it does seem to be simple greed. If stores can pull the old switcheroo and swap out a cheaper grade but charge the same they can maintain the same margines as before (or close). And why not? Even in this recession, to drive around the city you'd think no one in town has a kitchen. Even the mid-level chains are on a wait on Monday nights.

At least restaurants don't seem to be trying this, at least not where I live. My joint wouldn't consider using anything less than choice. The only time I can recall doing that was when I did a lot of banquets at a hotel. There I did sometimes use no-rolls for buffets. But never for the restaurant menu.

[ED BUCHANAN]

Times have changed and so has greed and standards. The government specs on grading meat has changed over the years. Truth in labeling laws are to loose, and no standardazation. Examplle meat labeled London Broil (underneith it says Chuck) when true London Broil comes from the Flank. Most people dont know. Young split chicken (frosted) which is 1 0r 2 degrees over frozen'
Greed --= Pasta 12 ounce instead of 16 ice cream 1 1/2 qts instead of 1/2 gallon. Be ready for the 2 litre soda bottle to go down next(coke already changed shape of bottle ,content is next) and qt. of milk containing 30 ounces, like a 32 ounce jar of mayo now 30 ounces.
Quality== There are hardly any USDA inspectors in the field anymore inspecting meat packers or slaughterhouses The government has told them all that they are on self inspection(yea sure) Our meat and fish and veges arrive from every country. The fish imported to the Florida ports last year only about 20% was inspected.
Be aware as the economy worsens so will quality.
There are very few meat packers and producers left in the US. Look at your old neighborhoods, where are the fish stores and butcher shops ? They are all but gone. This is called progress!!

[KYHeirloomer]

Old School, I suspect this might be a localized problem by you.

I live in a rural area, where it's hard to find any quality foods. But the supermarkets here all offer choice beef. One chain even makes a point of advertising that that's all they sell.

On the other hand, there are meat counters I know of where they sell unrolled beef. Their schtick is lower costs, is why. And they know that the average consumer doesn't understand the grading system. "Meat is meat," is the way they think of it.

[even stephen]

In regard to meat....I rely more on what I see than how its labeled.....at home we almost never see filet mignon, NY strip, or Ribeyes......Chuck, Flat Iron, Skirt, etc......as far as seafood and produce? I've begun to notice you find the best in pricey upscale areas and, in contrast, very poor rural areas....
Having a Mexican wife....our meals teeter back and forth....tamales, taquitos,
carne al pastor, tinga, etc, to fried porkchops, white rice and gravy, pickled cucumbers, Roast beef, fried mullet, etc....we really have no prepared foods in the freezer or pantry...no pizzas, eggos, hot pockets, canned tomato sauce, salad dressings, etc. Most everything is made from scratch. My kids??? Most people ask why they are so skinny.....I am often in awe at the size of many children these days.....and sadly...its because of the processed foods and lack of exercise....guess I am rambling on.....take care old school....

[Pete]

Just another reason to find and support small, local butchers and meat shops. They usually have better quality product, IMHO.

[MaryB]

Another problem is the way they are cutting steaks and roasts. It is impossible to find a thick steak these days and most roasts are as thin as a steak.

[phatch]

There has been a move away from USDA to store standards for beef. At the switchover, they usually say their standards are guaranteed to meet or exceed Choice. But after a while when people are used to it, they've been dumbing down the standard into the select range and pocketing the difference.

Actually, my main local grocer added a prime dry aged display and has been doing quite well with it. They're just a local chain, not a national one.

[KYHeirloomer]

I'd like to understand the logistics of that, Phil.

As I recall, virtually all the unrolled beef (and that's what it would have to be if it's not inspected) that reaches the retail market is the equivalent of Select. So who, at the market, is upgrading it to Choice equivalency?

If it exceeds Choice that puts it into the Prime category. There's just not that much Prime produced, period, and virtually all of it is reserved for the trade. You never see Prime at retail.

Just seems to me that so-called store standards are a shuck.

[PeteMcCracken]

Take a look at http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getf...STELDEV3056687, which describes the "voluntary" grading program in some detail.

[phatch]

Within each USDA grade is a range of possible marbling and so on. While it isn't necessarily a wide range, the stores mean their beef meets that lowest level or higher.

The USDA doesn't grade all beef. It claims it inspects all beef for wholesomeness (but see Ed's comments).

It makes no sense to buy USDA graded choice or select beef and then regrade it for the store brand. They are buying ungraded beef. My understanding is that more and more beef is ungraded as the cost and time for USDA grading is becoming more and more prohibitive. Some numbers I've seen indicate that over 50% of the beef coming to market meet Choice standards. But how much is actually graded or ungraded I don't know. Most of the local Kroger affiliates are using a house brand.

Ungraded beef could meet any standard and as a consumer you'd have to rely on what the store says their standards are. When store standards are introduced, my experience is that they say they follow the USDA but save on the grading cost by doing it themselves. But after a time, those standards are often slipped.

[KYHeirloomer]

>Some numbers I've seen indicate that over 50% of the beef coming to market meet Choice standards.<

Sez who? If the beef isn't being inspected, than how does anyone know what grade it is?

The idea that the retailers can grade meat less expensively than USDA has to rank among the world's great bits of misinformation. Do you really believe that Kroger, say, can inspect meat for less than 40 cents per carcass by using it's own people? If they can, then their standards must be awfully loose.

From where I sit, it's rather a way for them to buy unrolled beef, apply a store brand that infers a set of standards that are either meaningless or so broad as to be the next best thing, and thereby convince the public that they're getting a better deal because they're saving the cost of government inspection.

I'm not necessarily in favor of government involvement in anything. But I want to see the private enterprise operation that can save me significant money over standards that cost them approximately 1/20th of a cent for a pound of meat.

[deltadoc]

While I've never encountered "Select" in the Twin Cities stores,
soon all we'll all have to remember is:

"Tuesday is Soylent Green Day".

doc

[KYHeirloomer]

Thanks for the link, Pete.

I already knew that USDA inspection was voluntary. That wasn't the issue. What's at stake is the quality of a steak if stores are allowed to use the same terms, when using their own "standards" as are used by USDA.

Let's say that a store---call it Smiths Market--develops its own standards, and calls what would be USDA select "Smiths Prime." That would be an obvious attemp to confuse the buying public into believing that it's purchasing Prime meat at unrolled prices.

The fact that it's all but impossible to buy a decent piece of beef at most supermarket chains seems to support my contention.

I have no problem with the concept of uninspected beef. All I'm saying is that we call a spade a spade, especially in an industry that has a long history of being unable to regulate itself.