primitives bashing Wal-Mart (again)

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x80021

Oh my.

lib2DaBone  (1000+ posts)      Sun Aug-15-10 07:49 PM
HAS NOT YET DONATED TO THE 3rd QUARTER FUND DRIVE FOR SKINS'S ISLAND!!!
Original message

Has anyone noticed a problem with meat purchased at Wal-Mart?

I dont like to shop Wal Mart if possible.. but being unemployed I have no choice but to try and save..

The last 2 weeks I bought a Beef Top Round Roast and a Pork Roast (1.5 lb). (I like to buy small roasts,,, that way what is left over I can grind up and and make Tacos or Chile during the week.

Both purchases at Wal-Mart had a terrible texture, salty flavor and a terrible taste.. my family refused to eat. I ended up putting them down the disposal... not good in these economic times..

I talked to my neighbors.. and they said they have also quit buying meat at Wal-Mart.. (except for ground beef)

Wal-Mart meat is just awful ... could it be horse meat or some other substitute that they are selling as beef? Just curious..

hippywife  (1000+ posts)        Sun Aug-15-10 08:26 PM
MRS. ALFRED PACKER
HAS NOT YET DONATED TO THE 3rd QUARTER FUND DRIVE FOR SKINS'S ISLAND!!!
Response to Original message

1. I don't know where you are or what your budget is like, but please find a local coop or CSA for your meats. It costs more but it is so worth it in so many ways. Our taxes already subsidize the crap in the store, so we're paying for quality already but not getting it and the lack of hormones, anti-biotics, and garbage feed is so important. I feel much better and more secure in what I'm eating. I've gotten to know the people raising my food very well and they've become friends. I can go to their farms any time I want and know what I'm going to encounter in terms of how the animals are raised.

You can start out slow if you need to and just kind of work it into the budget a little at a time. You won't ever be sorry.

Retrograde  (1000+ posts)      Sun Aug-15-10 09:06 PM
HAS NOT YET DONATED TO THE 3rd QUARTER FUND DRIVE FOR SKINS'S ISLAND!!!
Response to Original message

2. Horsemeat's expensive (where it's legal)

It's most likely beef, but cheaper cuts. Beef has a number of different grades, ranging from Grade 1 - Prime (the best, and I've never seen it in groceries) down through Grade 8 - Canner. Most stores sell Choice or Good (grades 2 and 3, respectively). The higher the number, the tougher the meat; most stores sell Choice, Walmart typically sells Good.

Did you save the label by any chance? Or do you remember what it said? My guess based on your description is older, lower grade meat: pork especially develops a particular smell when it starts to get old. It may also have had water or "broth" added; I've seen this with poultry but not with beef. I'm with your neighbors: don't buy meat at WalMart. One of the ways WalMart keeps its prices low it by allowing (or encouraging) suppliers to provide a lower-quality variety of their goods: I wouldn't be surprised if this applies to food as well.

BTW, the one time I've had horsemeat it was rather sweet.

[Chris_]

Wal Mart injects their beef with an "enhanced" solution of some kind.  They also use "modified atmosphere packaging" to preserve the ground beef.  Tastes pretty nasty if you ask me.

http://beefmagazine.com/mag/beef_walmart/
http://www.aircompressors.com/products/nitrogen/

[Chris_]

So, the only store you can shop at while unemployed is Walmart?  I find better deals at Smith's & Target most weeks.  Albertson's rarely has good deals for what we buy.  But we have bought some fairly inexpensive meat at Smith's (which is a Kroger's basically) for really really cheap.  

[Chris_]

I've never had problems with ground beef from WalMart.  Sometimes, I'll buy a pound at a time of those little rubber packages and keep them in the freezer, or I'll buy the 5-pound log o' meat and freeze it in separate portions.

Their steaks are awful, though.

[AllosaursRus]

Both purchases at Wal-Mart had a terrible texture, salty flavor and a terrible taste.. my family refused to eat. I ended up putting them down the disposal... not good in these economic times..

I call BS!

It's family refused to eat! I'm sure! Frikkin' moron! Does it really expect anyone to believe that if they are poor like it says?

Wal Mart beef is grass fed and pumped full of embalming fluid or somethin' close!

I'll stick to Bubba's kids!

This is Bubba! There's a coupla his offspring in the background.

[Ballygrl]

Frank, how do you know that those people haven't donated to the 3rd quarter fund drive?

[RobJohnson]

So, the only store you can shop at while unemployed is Walmart?  I find better deals at Smith's & Target most weeks.  Albertson's rarely has good deals for what we buy.  But we have bought some fairly inexpensive meat at Smith's (which is a Kroger's basically) for really really cheap.  

In Vegas don't forget Trader Joe's, Whole Foods & Fresh n Easy.... 

[franksolich]

Frank, how do you know that those people haven't donated to the 3rd quarter fund drive?

If a primitive donated, the primitive gets a miniature banner announcing that fact.

If a primitive hasn't donated yet, no banner.

There's a lot more unbannered primitives than there are bannered primitives.

Look for the I DONATED TO THE 3rd QUARTER FUND DRIVE banner (it's a tiny one, though) when reading primitive comments.

Some of the primitives are pretty damned slow about coughing up some cash for my fellow alum Skins; during the 1st quarter fund drive last spring, it took forever and day for Oscar Wilde, the large-proboscised primitive "Cyrano", to get bannered.  Oscar Wilde alleged there was a problem with his credit card, hence the delay.

Yeah, right.

And Pedro Picasso, as rich as Croesus, also takes his own good time.

Money means nothing, nothing at all, to Skins--trust me, as a fellow alum, I would know--but I do this as a public service, to remind lurking primitives they haven't donated yet.  The guy's giving them all this real estate on which the primitives can romp and play, and the primitives need to show some gratitude.

It's good manners to show gratitude.

[Ballygrl]

If a primitive donated, the primitive gets a miniature banner announcing that fact.

If a primitive hasn't donated yet, no banner.

There's a lot more unbannered primitives than there are bannered primitives.

Look for the I DONATED TO THE 3rd QUARTER FUND DRIVE banner (it's a tiny one, though) when reading primitive comments.

Some of the primitives are pretty damned slow about coughing up some cash for my fellow alum Skins; during the 1st quarter fund drive last spring, it took forever and day for Oscar Wilde, the large-proboscised primitive "Cyrano", to get bannered.  Oscar Wilde alleged there was a problem with his credit card, hence the delay.

Yeah, right.

And Pedro Picasso, as rich as Croesus, also takes his own good time.

Money means nothing, nothing at all, to Skins--trust me, as a fellow alum, I would know--but I do this as a public service, to remind lurking primitives they haven't donated yet.  The guy's giving them all this real estate on which the primitives can romp and play, and the primitives need to show some gratitude.

It's good manners to show gratitude.

Oh cool! I didn't know that people got a banner.

[Chris_]

In Vegas don't forget Trader Joe's, Whole Foods & Fresh n Easy.... 

To be honest, I have never shopped at any of the above stores.  I'm a total slacker and need to check out all three.

[Ptarmigan]

Everytime I go to Wal-Mart my IQ drops. I prefer Sam's Club.

[diesel driver]

I've had no problem with Walmart's meats, but here, I buy meat at Super Dollar if I'm on that end of town.  It's cheaper than WM usually, and tastes better to me, outside of what I get from my brother's farm.

[dandi]

Most of their beef seems to be USDA Select, so it's not as marbled as Choice, and as Chris mentioned the label on much of it says something about containing "up to 10% solution." Solution of what I have no idea. I know it dries out quickly when cooking and tastes funky. Sometimes they'll have some Choice Angus steaks which are okay but still not as good as regular grocery store's beef. The chicken and pork are good and unadulterated as far as I can tell.

[NHSparky]

I don't have a problem shopping at WallyWorld, but I won't buy their beef (steaks, roasts, etc.)

Hamburgers, chicken, and pork is another issue, as long as it's a brand that sold elsewhere (like the pre-formed HB patties).  Their produce is kind of meh, so unless it's obviously brand new or at an incredible price (like the bananas I picked up for 19 cents a pound last week), I'll try to avoid them as well.

But steaks?  Nope--like I said, I BBQ'd a sirloin on Saturday.  So much gristle and tasted so bad I barely got through half of it, and didn't bother to save it.  Thankfully that's the last of the WW beef I've got.

[Wineslob]

I'm gonna guess that WallyWorld uses "utility" grade beef. If ya don't like it DUmmies, don't buy it.
Me, I go to Winco, and look for marked down meats. Last time I was there, I got beef and pork that was marked down well over half-way.

[mamacags]

Walmart uses the same meat everyone other normal grocery chain does.  They don't generate their own grading system.  Read the damn label and see what you are buying.

[Randy]

Oh cool! I didn't know that people got a banner.

It looks like the one in my sig line 

[NHSparky]

Walmart uses the same meat everyone other normal grocery chain does.  They don't generate their own grading system.  Read the damn label and see what you are buying.

I beg to differ.  While the national stuff may be the same, the beef they use most DEFINITELY tastes different and simply isn't as good as a comparable quality beef at Hannaford's, Shaw's, or even Market Basket.

And IIRC, some of the steaks and stuff actually cost MORE than the local chains.

[mamacags]

I beg to differ.  While the national stuff may be the same, the beef they use most DEFINITELY tastes different and simply isn't as good as a comparable quality beef at Hannaford's, Shaw's, or even Market Basket.

And IIRC, some of the steaks and stuff actually cost MORE than the local chains.

I KNOW for a fact that they get their beef at the same places the other local chains do.

[USA4ME]

lib2DaBone

... that way what is left over I can grind up and and make Tacos or Chile during the week.

"Taco" is not a proper name and "Chile" is a country.  You probably meant "taco" and "chili," but you're a lib2DaBone, so that explains everything.

.

[NHSparky]

I KNOW for a fact that they get their beef at the same places the other local chains do.

I wish I could agree, but the taste and quality of a sirloin or ribeye that I buy at WallyWorld are NOT the same as ones that I buy at grocery stores elsewhere in this area.  They may buy them from the same sources where you live, but not here--there's simply no way.

[AprilRazz]

I call BS!

It's family refused to eat! I'm sure! Frikkin' moron! Does it really expect anyone to believe that if they are poor like it says?

Wal Mart beef is grass fed and pumped full of embalming fluid or somethin' close!

I'll stick to Bubba's kids!

This is Bubba! There's a coupla his offspring in the background.

Bubba looks like a happy boy with those ladies around. (I am assuming they are cows)
Used to be a Thanksgiving tradition in my family. Hunt in the morning, eat a great meal, pass out and butcher the steer the next morning.
We had a freezer full of grass fed beef and venison to last the year. Nothing like it.

Now my meat usually comes from the commissary as most of my shopping. But the wally world frozen steamer vegetables are a decent deal.

[Ballygrl]

It looks like the one in my sig line 

[Ballygrl]

It looks like the one in my sig line 

Oh, and thanks for the idea!

[diesel driver]

I call BS!

It's family refused to eat! I'm sure! Frikkin' moron! Does it really expect anyone to believe that if they are poor like it says?

Wal Mart beef is grass fed and pumped full of embalming fluid or somethin' close!

I'll stick to Bubba's kids!

This is Bubba! There's a coupla his offspring in the background.

You can call them "offspring" if you want.

I call them "future T-bone steaks".