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In article >,
(Alex Rast) wrote:

> But this is what I was talking about. Is the number of people who'd be
> willing to pay more for fresh, organic meat, really so vanishingly small
> that producers can't direct even a small proportion of the meat they raise
> into fresh sales? In other words, aren't there some people out there who
> would still consider the increased price they'd have to pay for fresh meat
> affordable? I would think that, given that people who buy organic tend
> already to be pretty selective, and that they're also used to paying more
> for their selectivity, there'd be at least some set of those people that
> would be selective enough as to be willing to pay the extra amount for
> fresh. I agree that the markup could be quite steep, but most people who
> buy organic are very aware of how much the rock-bottom prices in the
> consumer market generate a false conception how how much things should
> cost. They know full well that the "real" price one might expect should be
> higher, in some cases a great deal higher (meat is one of those cases). It
> just seems pretty strange that when it comes to the issue of fresh vs.
> frozen an overwhelming majority of them would suddenly turn around and
> become price-sensitive.

Alex, I think you're right. I am a member of a food co-op and shop
there almost exclusively. Organic meat costs more to produce, and
these food producers and even the co-op itself do not command the low
prices or have anywhere near the economies of scale that the IBPs and
Tysons and Wal*Marts of the world do. At the price of organic meat, I
would not have much of a problem spending a little more for
never-been-frozen meat. Based on the turnover I see in the fresh meat
and frozen cases at my co-op, I'm not alone in this.

One thing I don't understand about the argument for frozen meat is
that it allows producers to "grow" (no pun intended) their businesses.
As you stated, there is a practical limit to how much a given farm can
produce. In addition, one of the strong connections my co-op tries to
maintain is the tie between producer and consumer. Most of the
producers I've talked with do not want to supply hundreds of stores
throughout several states because it breaks that link (as well as the
link between producer and product). That kind of growth also endangers
the "think local" aspect of the co-op community. I certainly can
understand wanting to have a successful business, but there are a few
forces at work that reign in the kind of growth Texas seems to be
encouraging.

sd