Geoff,

Which farmers market do you go to?... 

You also mention local farmers raising grass-fed livestock who supply you with hearts and livers.

I'm particularly interested in the 'wild-meats' you've  mentioned.

Thanks,

Dedy
London UK

  From: Geoffrey Purcell To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2008 2:37 PM


  <<Due to my penchant for buying organ-meats, I've managed to do regular bulk-deals with local farmers whereby I can get a whole lot of things like ox liver/hearts, (which no one else wants even if grassfed) in one go(usually something like 50-60 UK pounds for c.3/4 of a fortnight's food-supply).

  One of my particular favourites is meats/wild-meats from wild animals. I get them from farmers' markets(NOT from expensive wild-game-butchers' shops), and they are incredibly cheap in the former. Here's an example of food-prices for wild meats  in English pounds sterling(1 english pound equals 2 US dollars, approximately)(bear in mind that all prices for food in the UK tend to be much higher than in the US, at all levels):-
   
  1 wild mallard duck (admittedly not much meat on it):- I get that for 4 UK pounds(8 US dollars). I would pay 15 to 20 pounds for a free-range duck fed on a 100% unhealthy(albeit organic) all-grain-based diet, which would have lots of unhealthy fat on it.
   
  1 whole, wild-hare carcass(costs me anywhere from 7 to 12 pounds sterling, depending on which farmers' market I visit, usually it's 10 pounds). By contrast, I can pay up to 28 pounds for a kilo of grassfed beef(ie fillet-steak) - and the wild-hare tastes SO much better, by comparison.
   
  Farmers' markets are also ideal re getting hold of wildcaught raw  seafood cheap fishmonger's. I can get things like whole, live  lobster at 17 pounds, wildcaught crabs for 3 pounds per crab, extra-large oysters at 7 UK pounds for 10 of them, a huge bag of (150?/200?) live mussels) for 4 UK pounds  etc.
   
  Geoff >>