American Pork?

mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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I read on the news post that US pork is now coming in "whole hog" - is there any way to know if the pork in supermarkets is American? I don't want to eat American meat - pumped full of hormones--and really horrible conditions. So can we pursuade the local pork producers to label the meat?
 

globalmike295

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Jul 11, 2006
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I read on the news post that US pork is now coming in "whole hog" - is there any way to know if the pork in supermarkets is American? I don't want to eat American meat - pumped full of hormones--and really horrible conditions. So can we pursuade the local pork producers to label the meat?

The pork in the supermecados is Dominican if it does not come in a pckage that says its american

Just buy the meat with the saran wrap over it.......the american stuff comes in vacume sealed bags and is distinguishable
 

globalmike295

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I forgot to add , America calls it's pork the "other white meat" and in no way resembles the DR pork which is superior........as Emeril says, pork fat rules baby........and that's why the ribs are so much better here
 

LuvtheDR

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I've been having a hard time finding good porkchops here. From what I have read...you seem to be in "the know"! Where, oh where can I find a good porkchop? I'm about to get on a plane and leave!!:cheeky:




I forgot to add , America calls it's pork the "other white meat" and in no way resembles the DR pork which is superior........as Emeril says, pork fat rules baby........and that's why the ribs are so much better here
 

Rocky

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I've been having a hard time finding good porkchops here. From what I have read...you seem to be in "the know"! Where, oh where can I find a good porkchop? I'm about to get on a plane and leave!!:cheeky:
Are you kidding?
You came to the right place.
Porkchop's the porkchop expert.
Don't give up yet, he'll soon have the answer to your question.
 

LuvtheDR

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Are you kidding?
You came to the right place.
Porkchop's the porkchop expert.
Don't give up yet, he'll soon have the answer to your question.

Great! I was pretty sure it was him that was referred to as Porkchop....now I know for sure!

Oh where, or where can it be??:bunny:
 

globalmike295

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All right , all right.........I guess that was me , I thought I would answer , that to find the good Beef.......many moons ago

sorry I was watching CSI Miami, Adam Rodriguez is toast.....stay tuned

Same BAT time.......
 

aegap

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I read on the news post that US pork is now coming in "whole hog" - is there any way to know if the pork in supermarkets is American? I don't want to eat American meat - pumped full of hormones--and really horrible conditions. So can we pursuade the local pork producers to label the meat?

And you suppose Dominican pork isn't pumped with hormones too, which are actually less regulated and the regulations that are are less enforced? Didn't you hear they too use "state of the art techniques" in the island now a day?
 

mountainannie

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ayeeee ayooo ohnoo

And you suppose Dominican pork isn't pumped with hormones too, which are actually less regulated and the regulations that are are less enforced? Didn't you hear they too use "state of the art techniques" in the island now a day?

True? really? And the chickens, too? They seem so much smaller and tastier.... will have to move out to the campo and know my own butcher or become a vegitarian..... Does this account for all the pudgy young dominican boys with breasts? Say it ain't so... Say there are no estrogens in the chicken.... tell me where I can buy organic, or hormone free??

help
 

Chris

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I did some technical consulting for the biggest beef and pork meat producer in the DR. The anti-bacterial and growth hormone regimens are the same as anywhere else. This type of business is run on a par with similar high volume, high growth industries in other countries with unbelievable numbers of meat producing animals crowded into small 'growth camps'. I could never understand why expats in the DR somehow clung to the belief that meat in the DR is magically more free of hormones or drugs somehow. The slaughtering process, even in a so-called 'modern' facility, is primitive with hygiene standards sadly lacking. (Lucky I grew up on a meat farm .. my fellow consultant turned green and I had to rescue her to the outside before she fainted)

mountainannie, if you are sensitive to these things (and I sure am!) get your meat from the campo. The only things that you have to battle then, is that the beef/pork/chicken may not be disease free. Better yet, go into a co-operative agreement with a local farmer and raise your own.

I need to add something ... animal food is mostly imported. The difference in the quality of meat is that animals receive less of 'force-feeding', and they remain on grass (yerba or hierba) for a longer period of time than say in the US.
 

Conchman

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A friend of mine who calls himself a 'meatetarian' always asks 'have you ever seen a healthy vegetarian?'

Don't kill the messenger please, I have nothing against vegetarians.
 

Texas Bill

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In reading al of the postings, I have come to the conclusion that very few of you know what the heck you're talking about. Chris excepted.

To begin with, butchers in theDR do not dress their meats with the same care to quality as do American butchers. They cut the meat with and at an angle to the meat grain, making it very tough to cut and chew. The amount of fat on the meat isvery low compared to American cuts. This fact diminishes the flavor of the meat considerably. Meat shops here don't hang their meat to age it, contributing further to the natural toughness of grass fed beef. the aging process adds to theflavor and "ripens" the meat for better cooking and flavor.
In my estimation, the Dominican beef is overall tougher (due to the cutting and lack of fat content and aging), is not near as flavorfull as USDA Good. More along thelines of USDA Feeder and Canner qualties.
All beef, pork and chicken growers here use the same feed as do US Producers. The total lack of completely sanitary slaughter conditions here, if you have the stomache to observe them, will turn you into a veggie real fast.
Most of you who ballyhoo "organicly grown" beef, pork and chicken have probably never studied, observed any of those conditions of which you speak.
You're merely mouthing what that movement has propagandized in Europe and other places. The meat isn't harmed by the addition of growth hormones in the least and such is very probably beneficial to the consumer who partakes of the product. Go out into the Campos and observe, firsthand, just how these meat products are raised and compare those procedures with the standard in the same areas of US production. There is very little difference and those differences are not really all that significant. Then go to the slaughter houses and observe the same conditions of cutting up and preparation of the products.
Then come back and make your comments. Bear in mind that it's the finished product on the table that makes the difference.

I'm not denegrating anyone for their beliefs, to the contrary, that's your rght, but don't try to spoof an old hand at raising, cooking and eating good quality meats.

Texas Bill
 

globalmike295

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In reading al of the postings, I have come to the conclusion that very few of you know what the heck you're talking about. Chris excepted.

To begin with, butchers in theDR do not dress their meats with the same care to quality as do American butchers. They cut the meat with and at an angle to the meat grain, making it very tough to cut and chew. The amount of fat on the meat isvery low compared to American cuts. This fact diminishes the flavor of the meat considerably. Meat shops here don't hang their meat to age it, contributing further to the natural toughness of grass fed beef. the aging process adds to theflavor and "ripens" the meat for better cooking and flavor.
In my estimation, the Dominican beef is overall tougher (due to the cutting and lack of fat content and aging), is not near as flavorfull as USDA Good. More along thelines of USDA Feeder and Canner qualties.
All beef, pork and chicken growers here use the same feed as do US Producers. The total lack of completely sanitary slaughter conditions here, if you have the stomache to observe them, will turn you into a veggie real fast.
Most of you who ballyhoo "organicly grown" beef, pork and chicken have probably never studied, observed any of those conditions of which you speak.
You're merely mouthing what that movement has propagandized in Europe and other places. The meat isn't harmed by the addition of growth hormones in the least and such is very probably beneficial to the consumer who partakes of the product. Go out into the Campos and observe, firsthand, just how these meat products are raised and compare those procedures with the standard in the same areas of US production. There is very little difference and those differences are not really all that significant. Then go to the slaughter houses and observe the same conditions of cutting up and preparation of the products.
Then come back and make your comments. Bear in mind that it's the finished product on the table that makes the difference.

I'm not denegrating anyone for their beliefs, to the contrary, that's your rght, but don't try to spoof an old hand at raising, cooking and eating good quality meats.

Texas Bill


I agree with everything you said . Dry aged Beef is something these countries need to learn.....as far as the other comments were concerned, I guess you could say "you're busting my Chops"
 

DavidZ

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Im sorry, but anyone who thinks the meat (beef, pork or chicken) here is "safer", cleaner, more hygenic or natural... or for that matter is better in any way than in the USA is nuts!!! Im not saying the USDA products are the best in the world, and Ive had some really tasty porkchops and ribs, and a decent steak or two, as well as some great chicken, but it was entirely due to the preparation, not the quality of the meat...but, c'mon... most meat here is substandard (by US standards)...at best, and in some cases, horrible.
 

Chris

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TexasBill, thanks for that exception. :classic: You'll know that aging the meat is a simple thing to do .. but what I've seen in the depths of the meat industry in the DR, is that there simply is not the cold room infrastructure to hang and age properly.

In terms of being grass fed, on asking the meat producer that I consulted for, why they don't bring the animals in off the grass earlier, it is simply a question of cost of feed. All supplement feeds are imported and mixed in the DR to a mix that promotes the best and fastest growth.

You're right in terms of cutting. The cuts are wasteful and totally strange to my eyes. It is more like hacking!

In terms of growth hormones though, we're on different sides. There is a groundswell of action against this. Reason is simple, kids are getting sick, girls develop earlier (from my own family, cousins, sisters etc., and lots of info in the press). For myself, if I eat meat treated with growth hormones or even injected for all kinds of infections, I get sick. So, perhaps some people can tolerate this better than others.

You know that I come from the meat industry and my family have been in meat and farming all their lives. I grew up visiting at least two auctions a month and can estimate the weight and slaughtered weight of an animal with the best of them. But, the meat industry that I grew up in, did not use hormones and additional feeding was restricted to corn and corn products for fat and eventual marbeling of slaughtered meat. Animals were 'free-range' and not confined to cattle pens for force feeding.

So, nowadays we have hormones to make the animals grow faster. It is affecting the health of ourselves and our kids - and no, for me it is not a movement, it is a physical reality. I feel it in my bones man! ;)