Welcome to Country Life - we bought a half of a cow

I'm slowly but surely becoming more of a vegetarian.  I find myself ordering plant based dishes whenever possible when eating out.  I've packed myself plant based dishes for lunch.

If I'm on my own for dinner I've been known to have some veggie pizza or plant based seafood from time to time.  I don't mind tofu, lentils and chickpeas and even have some falafel and saitan in my freezer although I've no idea what to do with the latter.  I'm sure I'll figure it out.    

I've made paneer and used it as a meat substitute.  

My diet started to change for several reasons, but reducing my carbon footprint was certainly one of those reasons.  While I'm sure this is going to upset some people, animal welfare really didn't play that much of a role into my decision to go flexatarian.

So the question becomes; if I believe in plant based diets and it's ability to reduce my overall impact on this planet.  Why in the hell did I buy one half of a cow?  

Because frankly the rest of my family is not on the same journey I am and it's cheaper in the long run.  Plus I still eat meat, just not as often as I once did.

Buying in bulk is just the better choice.  Since we know the farmers personally we already know that the cow was raised on high quality grass feed and contained no antibiotics.  

Depending on the source you use, the average cow size across all brands is 1,390 pounds (roughly 631 Kg) and that animal will produce anywhere between 500 to 640 pounds of edible meat product (227 - 290 Kilo's).

So generally speaking a half of a cow is approximately 250 to 300 pounds of product at the end of the day.  The average American eats roughly 57 pounds (26 KG) of beef per year.  Which is frankly scary and way to much red meat to eat in my humble opinion.  However based on the natural averages, that cow should last Sue and myself roughly two years if not longer. **Please note that meat must be stored in vacuum packs and stored properly**

Plus I'm sure some of the meat will make it to friends and family as well.

Our half cow ended up costing us $1443 plus a $260 processing fee (depending on the weight of the animal).  The costs vary due to several factors but this is slightly below the national average for a 1/2 cow so I'm happy.  

How this saves the average American family money is simple.   You are paying a one time upfront cost.  That cow is going to provide stew meat, hamburger, various cuts of meat and even some bones (which dogs love).  Yes, you are paying more for the ground meat but less for the steaks.  It's the overall costs that matter here.

If you go to the store and buy organic grass feed beef without antibiotics, you are paying on average $7.83 a pound nationally.   When you do the math it quickly adds up:

• 250 pounds of meat X 7.83 a pound = $1957.50
• 275 pounds of meat X 7.83 a pound = $2153.25
• 300 pounds of meat X 7.83 a pound = $2349.00

Since the cow that we purchased was grass feed and antibiotic free, we have to compare the costs to a similar animal.   In the long run we saved over $450 dollars and received a better cut of beef than we would have bought from the store.  

Well the initial outlay is daunting, the average family of four is going to have enough high quality meat to last them throughout the year.  

The above video does provide a bit of information that I've not covered here.  For example they spend a bit of times talking about freezer sizes and the amount of freezer space you made need in order to store your beef.  I would recommend dedicating one freezer only to holding your selected beef.  I also recommend a stand up freezer as compared to a chest freezer.

Chest freezers basically bury the food and you run the chance of forgetting about the meat at the bottom as people tend to pick the food at the top of the freezer.

Buying a new freezer is certainly in the realm of possibility for our small family because frankly I'm not sure where we're going to store all this food at this time, although that's an expense I neither want or can afford at this time.  If I'm being honest, I didn't want the damn cow either...but sometimes life in the country moves quickly and you have to take advantage of a deal when you can.