Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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Costco (USA) sells a rack of Australian lamb chops. They're quite tasty and not too expensive. Anyone know if this source is pastured? Is pastured (weaned I suppose) lamb as omega-3 balanced as grassfed beef?

I love the latter, but I'm tiring of it. Pork and poultry appear to have unfavorable O3/O6 ratios so I don't eat much of them and lamb seems like a good alternative. Also, plenty of fat!

The argument of importing lamb from the other side of the planet will have to wait. I think it's absurd.

flag	asked Sep 6 2010 at 23:04 42 2,437●10●18

Belinda · Accepted Answer · 2010-09-06 23:19:46Z UTC

I am 99% sure they are grass-fed if they from here in Oz. In fact, I am not even sure they'd eat grain. There is nothing like a good lamb chop - if you are cooking them on the BBQ (which is undoubtedly the best way), right at the end of cooking, be sure to turn them on their side, with the strip of fat facing down, until it goes all crispy - yum. That's if they are cut up into single cutlets - if it's a full rack, it's fantastic roasted with garlic, salt and rosemary rubbed into the fat.

42 · Answer 2 · 2010-09-12 01:40:19Z UTC

I'm all for eating locally but it's impractical for me to spend hours driving all over New England to various farmers picking up this and that. The local farmers markets only sell vegetables and fruit and stupid shit like candles and soaps and dried flowers. I live in a small condo and there's no room for a chest freezer, otherwise I'd be all over buying a quarter beef and half a lamb.

I agree that it's absurd to ship halfway around the world, but Costco and ilk are going to do that whether I buy it or not. Besides, if you're unwilling to pay more for products made in USA (or your home country) e.g. clothing rather than made in China, you're part of the problem. I can't even find any clothing made in the US anymore. I would pay more for local food if it wasn't such a pain in the ass to obtain.

Alan · Answer 3 · 2010-09-08 02:43:50Z UTC

I live in a lovely sheep and beef raising area here in Western Australia and I can assure you the meat is grass fed. When talking to my local butcher about this recently he looked at me quizzically and said "of course it's pastured, why would you use grain feed"? There is just so much beautiful green pasture around that it would be foolish to feed anything else. I also have a local farmer who uses Demeter Bio-dynamic methods. link text

But I doubt they export.

mikewootini · Answer 4 · 2010-09-07 09:24:40Z UTC

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If you want to eat factory farm meat from untraceable sources, that's your perogative. Import far away meats should be the last choice, not the first. Try supporting your local farmers an what's in season. I'm sure there is a farmers market somewhere near you.

answered Sep 7 2010 at 9:24

mikewootini
292●7

Australian lamb is not factory farmed. It's generally free-range and grass-fed. The main thing I would worry about it antibiotic use and general low-quality. – Bread-Eating Beelzebub Sep 7 2010 at 13:08

grace · Answer 5 · 2010-09-07 02:20:30Z UTC

Mmmhh... sounds YUMMY this thread!

I love all the lamb at Costco but have yet to try the rack... the roast is excellent -- we shave it thinly and boil lightly in a sukiyaki style broth or Beijing style 'hot pot'.

Also you can cut up the roast into smaller bits for kebabs and season as above mentioned -- sea salt + cumin YUM! Broil the f*ck out of it on 500+degrees for only 10min. DINNER. The kids never complain.

(neither do the adults)

I believe NZ for sure is grassfed/pastured but I am not so certain about the Australian grades.

CaitlinS · Answer 6 · 2010-09-07 00:44:17Z UTC

I think you should look locally. Everyone gets so excited when they see oZ meat that is cheap... Well it's cheap for a reason! I grew up on a sheep and cattle farm, all our animals are pasture raised no feed! When my dad first started before I was born he could get 5-7 bucks per hanging weight and 5-20 dollars a pound for the wool, but ever since the USA decided to import lamb/ wool the prices have dropped 1 to 1.69 lbs and 1 a pound for wool... Plus there is transport and operational cost so now no profit for any US farmer.... You need to look at all the facts before you just see a shiny price tag.

mikewootini · Answer 7 · 2010-09-06 23:18:35Z UTC

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How about from an economics point of view? Shopping for meat at Costco is failure to embrace what it really means to be 'primal' or 'paleo'. I can't make any sense out of shopping at Costco or Sams club. You might as well order burgers from burger king without the bun.

answered Sep 6 2010 at 23:18

mikewootini
292●7

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Um, I don't see how it's a failure to embrace paleo. I personally buy lamb from local farmers, but other people have other approaches to paleo and other priorities. – Bread-Eating Beelzebub Sep 6 2010 at 23:20

Do enlighten us, holy Paleo priest mikewootini, on what it really means to be Paleo/Primal. – spencer Sep 6 2010 at 23:39

Well, I have two choices here: Costco or the egregiously overpriced Whole Foods. While the former has little in the way of paleo offerings, it's a nice surprise when they do. The latte often has grass-fed beef but oh what a price. I order that online most of the time. Not helpful, but if being smug makes you feel better, so be it... – 42 Sep 6 2010 at 23:48

42, I would venture to say that finding a good farmer might be worth it. Maybe you can start a cowpool? – Bread-Eating Beelzebub Sep 6 2010 at 23:58

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You could argue that the fact that if the lamb from cost-co is grass-fed / free range, buying it would be supporting grass-fed / free range buying by large retailers. The problem would be how do we let them know we are buying it for that reason? – Celton Sep 26 2011 at 21:02

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Costco lamb chops

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