Raw food sourcing tips (group recommendations)

[sam.i.am]

Since there is a small group here who feeds raw, I was just thinking it may be fun to hear each other's tips on sourcing inexpensive/interesting food items for our dogs.

I'll start:

We have a grocery store here that is a restaurant supply store, so I buy 30 or 40 pounds of beef or pork (really large pieces of meat) from them. Funny thing (to me) is that they will butcher it however you want it, so I am able to walk out with 40# of 1" cubes of beef tips or whatever else they have on sale in bulk for $2 or $3-something a pound. Pork picnics or loins or roasts are cheaper than that. Food in the state of NY is very expensive compared to other states I've lived in, so if those prices don't sound good, it's due to where I live.

I also use a local co-op found on the raw feed supplier lists to source affordable duck, venison, fish, etc. I am particular about sourcing, so I do pair more than the minimum possible.

I also went to our local Farmer's Market and found that many local meat suppliers now have booths. I got local, grass-fed organs for fairly reasonable prices. They offered tongue, too, but I did not 'bite' (gross humor).

I shop sales (there is a SundayCircular website that includes all chains and you can check all of your local store's sales and plan that way).

Oh, also ask your local grocery store butcher department if they will order cases for you (mine always have) for reduced prices compared to packaged. Also, ask if they'll save certain things for you if you agree to come get them at a good time for them.

[Truman's Mom]

I wish my two would eat a variety like that. The supplier I was getting a lot of my ground meat with bone from has started adding veggies and flaxseed to everything so I'm not buying from him any longer (Truman can't have flax) so I found this new Mexican market with really good prices (compared to the regular grocery store) and picked up about 80 lbs of meat today.

Chicken leg quarters, pork, beef, chicken feet and some beef liver for $84.

I did find a supplier of green tripe where I can get 5- 5lbs rolls every month.

I'll grab canned sardines when they're on sale. Other than that my picky two won't touch anything else.

[sam.i.am]

Too bad about the addition of flax. I'd avoid that, too.

It's really awesome that you have access to a good ethnic grocery!

[mezmerelda]

When we first started feeding raw (10 years ago, I think) we had a butcher by us that had been there forever. We were very, very lucky we had them, because they kept their leftover "parts" for the few raw feeders they had and we could pay between $5 and $10 for mass quantities of food. We also got chicken backs from Whole Foods at the time - they were very hard to find at the time. We got a case discount from them, so we probably spent $30/month at the time. More recently, we had a few ethnic markets open up near us, so we were able to get pretty much everything for cheap. If I go back to raw feeding, I will definitely go back there.