Want to buy or sell something? Check the classifieds
  • The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.
Messages
19,001
Location
Central California
I used to buy 1/2 grass raised beef every year.... but we sold the house and live in an apartment now so don't have a big freezer.

To my taste, the grass fed Angus beef tastes an awful lot like the Bison I've had here. I was raised on grass fed beef; didn't know how good I had it until I moved out and bought my first grocery store beef. Wow, cardboard as a descriptor is not an exaggeration.


A young rancher friend talked me into trying some of his grass-fed beef that wasn’t finished in a feedlot with grain. It wasn’t bad, but I can’t say I prefer it to corn/grain finished beef. The marbling wasn’t the same and the flavor and texture wasn’t just different, to me it also wasn’t as good. I certainly don’t feel based on flavor that it’s worth the huge premium. He also talked me into trying one of his $25 organic chickens and he was disgusted with me when I told him it was only marginally better than what I was used to. Now several years ago I tried a “pasture pig” and it was a revelation as to what pork could taste like. Not at all gamey or strong like wild hogs, but very different from the commercial pork I was used to. As much as I liked it, I haven’t bought anymore due to price.

I usually go to the auction and buy a beef and split it with a friend every year. Beef prices have gone crazy lately.
 
Messages
10,852
Location
vancouver, canada
A young rancher friend talked me into trying some of his grass-fed beef that wasn’t finished in a feedlot with grain. It wasn’t bad, but I can’t say I prefer it to corn/grain finished beef. The marbling wasn’t the same and the flavor and texture wasn’t just different, to me it also wasn’t as good. I certainly don’t feel based on flavor that it’s worth the huge premium. He also talked me into trying one of his $25 organic chickens and he was disgusted with me when I told him it was only marginally better than what I was used to. Now several years ago I tried a “pasture pig” and it was a revelation as to what pork could taste like. Not at all gamey or strong like wild hogs, but very different from the commercial pork I was used to. As much as I liked it, I haven’t bought anymore due to price.

I usually go to the auction and buy a beef and split it with a friend every year. Beef prices have gone crazy lately.
For health reasons/marketing they have bred much of the natural fat out of the hogs. They are much leaner that heritage hogs. Healthier yes, but not nearly as tasty. I watched a show showing the Italians making sausage using heritage hogs....the layer of fat was immense. It doesn't do my arteries any good but it makes me happy!
 

carouselvic

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,984
Location
Kansas
Hi lefty, i see you have many posy here. Maybe you can help me. I recently bought a 1930s stetson gus in nutria fur. I can't find any reference for a hat box because it is so big. Would you have any idea. thanks. Will post pic when i figure it out.

a 30's box for cowboy hat


a 30's cowboy hat in the color Pearl

insides


these boxes came in different sizes
 
Messages
18,221
For health reasons/marketing they have bred much of the natural fat out of the hogs. They are much leaner that heritage hogs. Healthier yes, but not nearly as tasty. I watched a show showing the Italians making sausage using heritage hogs....the layer of fat was immense. It doesn't do my arteries any good but it makes me happy!
Hogs can & will eat anything. Ever watch Wu feed his hogs on Deadwood? You want to know what they have been fed & that they are harmone free. Feeding livestock other dead animals in any form, that you are going to consume or that is going to go to market, is where the spongiform brain diseases such as scrapie, chronic wasting disease, mad cow disease, Kuru in humans & Alzheimer's disease (I think) all starts. That's why freerange chickens cost $25; they're not fed chicken feed made from other dead chickens. It's not always about the taste.
 

james zeisel

New in Town
Messages
4
You’re looking for a vintage 1930s hat box? That might be a tall order.

Not sure what you mean by a “gus” Stetson. The Gus crease came from the hat the character Gus wore for the TV miniseries Lonesome Dove...a long time after the 1930s. Of course the “Gus” crease is very similar to creases common on old westerns; however, the crown height and the overall width and length measurements will determine the fit for a box and not the crease in the crown. Did you perhaps mean Tom Mix?

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/how-to-post-photos-here.60679/#post1360985
 
Messages
10,852
Location
vancouver, canada
Hogs can & will eat anything. Ever watch Wu feed his hogs on Deadwood? You want to know what they have been fed & that they are harmone free. Feeding livestock other dead animals in any form, that you are going to consume or that is going to go to market, is where the spongiform brain diseases such as scrapie, chronic wasting disease, mad cow disease, Kuru in humans & Alzheimer's disease (I think) all starts. That's why freerange chickens cost $25; they're not fed chicken feed made from other dead chickens. It's not always about the taste.
I am so old I am beginning to think it is the preservatives in the food that is keeping me alive.
 

Rmccamey

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,870
Location
Central Texas
We often buy show pigs and calves (sometimes a lamb) the 4H and FFA kids raise to show at the county livestock shows. We get great meat every time, usually at or near market prices, and the kids get a few bucks for their efforts.

A young rancher friend talked me into trying some of his grass-fed beef that wasn’t finished in a feedlot with grain. It wasn’t bad, but I can’t say I prefer it to corn/grain finished beef. The marbling wasn’t the same and the flavor and texture wasn’t just different, to me it also wasn’t as good. I certainly don’t feel based on flavor that it’s worth the huge premium. He also talked me into trying one of his $25 organic chickens and he was disgusted with me when I told him it was only marginally better than what I was used to. Now several years ago I tried a “pasture pig” and it was a revelation as to what pork could taste like. Not at all gamey or strong like wild hogs, but very different from the commercial pork I was used to. As much as I liked it, I haven’t bought anymore due to price.

I usually go to the auction and buy a beef and split it with a friend every year. Beef prices have gone crazy lately.

For health reasons/marketing they have bred much of the natural fat out of the hogs. They are much leaner that heritage hogs. Healthier yes, but not nearly as tasty. I watched a show showing the Italians making sausage using heritage hogs....the layer of fat was immense. It doesn't do my arteries any good but it makes me happy!
 
Messages
10,852
Location
vancouver, canada
We often buy show pigs and calves (sometimes a lamb) the 4H and FFA kids raise to show at the county livestock shows. We get great meat every time, usually at or near market prices, and the kids get a few bucks for their efforts.
difference between country kids and city kids.....If I raised a hog I would have a pet for life...no one be eating my buddy!
 
Messages
19,001
Location
Central California
We often buy show pigs and calves (sometimes a lamb) the 4H and FFA kids raise to show at the county livestock shows. We get great meat every time, usually at or near market prices, and the kids get a few bucks for their efforts.


When our kids sold animals at the county fair as part of 4-H the animals always sold for a lot more than market price. It was a way for folks to support the program. It was quite common that the buyer wouldn’t want the animal and allow us to sell it a second time. It was a lot of work, but it teaches kids lots of good lessons and helped them raise quite a bit of money too.
 
Messages
12,017
Location
East of Los Angeles
I am so old I am beginning to think it is the preservatives in the food that is keeping me alive.
From what I've read, some doctors around the world would agree with you. Even more so with some morticians, who claim the preservatives we've ingested during our lives have been absorbed by our bodies, resulting in those morticians using less of the embalming chemicals than they have in past years. That said, for every professional that claims something like this there's another who claims the opposite--obesity here in the U.S., for example, requiring morticians to use more embalming chemicals, not less.
 

Rmccamey

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,870
Location
Central Texas
For every animal they have in the county show, most kids in our area have two more culls back at the farm. We buy some of those, too, and we've never been disappointed in the quality of the meat.

When our kids sold animals at the county fair as part of 4-H the animals always sold for a lot more than market price. It was a way for folks to support the program. It was quite common that the buyer wouldn’t want the animal and allow us to sell it a second time. It was a lot of work, but it teaches kids lots of good lessons and helped them raise quite a bit of money too.
 
Messages
18,221
From what I've read, some doctors around the world would agree with you. Even more so with some morticians, who claim the preservatives we've ingested during our lives have been absorbed by our bodies, resulting in those morticians using less of the embalming chemicals than they have in past years. That said, for every professional that claims something like this there's another who claims the opposite--obesity here in the U.S., for example, requiring morticians to use more embalming chemicals, not less.
Don't know about preservatives but here are facts that are likely the cause & effect of growth harmones being given to livestock:

In 1900 the average height for a US male was 5 ft 7 in; in 2000 it was 5 ft 10 in; (5 ft 3 in & 5 ft 6 in respectively for women).

In 1880 the average weight for a US male was 129#. By 1929 that had increased to 138# according to the US military. It's hard to find comparison figures from today because records have gone to body mass index (BMI) because of the obesity problem. (Keep eating those cheeseburgers).

Since 1900 the average shoe size for both male & female has increased by 4 sizes.

I think we would all agree that the average US hat size has gone from 6-7/8 or 7 to 7-1/4, & now ranges up to 8.

All of this is in large part due to the growth hormones being given to animals for food consumption, especially those animals that are dry lotted & not turned out to pasture, in order to bring them to market quicker.

Turns out it really is true you are what you eat!
 
Last edited:
Messages
19,001
Location
Central California
We often see correlations conflated with causality. The average life expectancy in 1900 was 46 years and as hormones have been increasingly used in our foods life expectancy has gone up to almost 75 years; however, we can’t say that hormones are the cause of our longer lives.

Better prenatal and early childhood care and nutrition have also played their parts. In 1900 vitamin and mineral deficiencies as well as low caloric intake that was well into the unhealthy level were much more common than today. Many Americans lived on a starvation diet, or a very diet lacking the diversity needed for complete nutrition.

There are so many factors and so many unknowns that it’s often impossible to draw a line from cause to effect. How does size or health track with tobacco use? In 1900 tobacco in all forms was used much more than today, but did it effect a particular marker? How about alcohol consumption during pregnancy? How about vaccinations and the eradication or control of many childhood diseases?

I do believe that eating healthy and organically raised foods is important to our health, but coming up with causes and effects is often impossible with so many variables constantly in flux. It’s the worst kind of science when you have a great many variables and yet contribute an outcome to something specific.
 
Messages
10,852
Location
vancouver, canada
We often see correlations conflated with causality. The average life expectancy in 1900 was 46 years and as hormones have been increasingly used in our foods life expectancy has gone up to almost 75 years; however, we can’t say that hormones are the cause of our longer lives.

Better prenatal and early childhood care and nutrition have also played their parts. In 1900 vitamin and mineral deficiencies as well as low caloric intake that was well into the unhealthy level were much more common than today. Many Americans lived on a starvation diet, or a very diet lacking the diversity needed for complete nutrition.

There are so many factors and so many unknowns that it’s often impossible to draw a line from cause to effect. How does size or health track with tobacco use? In 1900 tobacco in all forms was used much more than today, but did it effect a particular marker? How about alcohol consumption during pregnancy? How about vaccinations and the eradication or control of many childhood diseases?

I do believe that eating healthy and organically raised foods is important to our health, but coming up with causes and effects is often impossible with so many variables constantly in flux. It’s the worst kind of science when you have a great many variables and yet contribute an outcome to something specific.
The whole study of diet/nutrition is so difficult as conducting double blind studies is near impossible as we are each unique in how our systems metabolize nutrients. Other than the big 5 that are life style affected cancers are still genetically caused. The luck of our genetic make up determines a big chunk of health and longevity. My mother, who lived to 95, was a life long proponent of "everything in moderation". I follow her example and hope like hell I have her genetic profile. I think we do more harm by having "food fear" or food shibboleths than by living our lives, enjoying our food and being grateful for our abundance. Hell, I even enjoy a Big Mac & fries once in a while. My wife and I are Orthodox Christian and follow the fasting regimen. Lent is fully vegan for 47 days. Friends ask me .....by being fully vegan did you notice a big difference? Didn't you feel so much better? My answer was no, felt great before, felt great during, felt great after.
 
Messages
19,001
Location
Central California
The whole study of diet/nutrition is so difficult as conducting double blind studies is near impossible as we are each unique in how our systems metabolize nutrients. Other than the big 5 that are life style affected cancers are still genetically caused. The luck of our genetic make up determines a big chunk of health and longevity. My mother, who lived to 95, was a life long proponent of "everything in moderation". I follow her example and hope like hell I have her genetic profile. I think we do more harm by having "food fear" or food shibboleths than by living our lives, enjoying our food and being grateful for our abundance. Hell, I even enjoy a Big Mac & fries once in a while. My wife and I are Orthodox Christian and follow the fasting regimen. Lent is fully vegan for 47 days. Friends ask me .....by being fully vegan did you notice a big difference? Didn't you feel so much better? My answer was no, felt great before, felt great during, felt great after.


I completely agree with you. I can tell when my system is out of whack from my diet, but moderation does indeed seem to be the key. The big decision today is do I get avocado on my double bacon burger...not to worry, I’ll balance the scales by drinking a Diet Pepsi. :)
 
Messages
18,221
Last edited:

Forum statistics

Threads
109,278
Messages
3,077,749
Members
54,221
Latest member
magyara
Top