GeoffM

Again, that's going to vary. You can buy a cheap pot roast but I wouldn't roast it - more for a stew where a long, slow cook can make it less chewy. But you can also buy top notch steak - and pay through the nose for it. I don't think I've ever seen a supermarket advertise hung meat / "matured for X days" though.

I wish we could find bigger chickens here. Everywhere just seems to sell the medium 4-5lb ones, good for a family of 4 I suppose but no good for parties unless you buy more than one - which is more time and effort.

Something I'm doing more now is portioning a whole chicken myself. The above chickens are around $5-6 around here and you can easily pay nearly that much just for two small breasts. So I portion a chicken into dark meats for BBQ/casserole and save the breasts for curry or whatever.

WJS

Tess4, there are a lot of pre made ready meals in the UK as well but not necessarily frozen most are in the chilled section but there are many.

I am American but moved to the UK in 97 with my English husband but we now live permanently in our French home. We are now considering moving to the US so very surprised to hear how much the price, quality and choice has changed since I left. To be honest in my opinion there was absolutely no comparison with all of the above between the US and UK when I arrived in the UK in 97.

Pulaski

If you're saying you're surprised at the higher cost and poor choice and quality in the US, then I believe that you have changed (a lot) more than the US has in the past 18 years.

WJS

I think that is just what is done and no need to advertise. They handle beef totally different here and in fact the supermarkets will sell old dairy cattle as beef as well.

WJS

Maybe you're right Pulaski perhaps it's like a bad relationship where you only remember the good times. Maybe I only remember the wonderful choices in the US.

But having said that you can ask my husband, I did moan quite a bit to him about the lack of choice and very high prices in the UK when I arrived back then.

Pulaski

Beef in the US and UK is "hung" for I believe a couple of weeks before sale, unlike French beef which is sold without being hung, and has a chewy texture.

Tess4

not at all WJS, beef is priced very well here, and you know, you never pay full price for anything here, there is always a coupon, a two for one, or some kind of deal. We shop around, and i use my instincts to find the good beef, but especially chicken which i dont like here. But beef, yup, thats great! I hate to say it, or do i? Winn Dixie in Florida have excellent beef at fantastic prices, I'm not a snob but i do care where my meat comes from, and i could go on and on about which shop sells this or that, but we just have to figure out all that ourselves, but its doable here. Just dont buy chicken from W...m...rt, there is a big thing about that, and its readily available on the internet. Fear not WJS, the beef is still superior

robin1234

I think these things constantly evolve in all countries. US has definitely got more cosmopolitan. When I first went to America in the mid 1970s, one thing I noticed was the complete lack of mushrooms. Apparently Americans didn't eat them then. Cheese was very limited, no Brie or blue cheese or anything beyond cheddar, Colby, muenster etc. At that time, I felt standard US supermarket coffee (maxwell house, chock full o' nuts, whatever) was better quality than the British equivalent. Now, quite the opposite.

hoffage123

I have found like the others, decent bread, milk and cheese, to be quite a bit more expensive than in the UK ... my weekly shop in the UK used to be around 90 pounds ($133) a week, here in the US it is more like 130 pounds a week (or $190 a week). I do buy healthy, organic stuff though and we pay for a home delivery service, as I don't have a car (can't afford one at the moment).

Hoffage

WJS

Thanks Tess4, that is VERY good to know, thank you. I am like you and want to know where my meat comes from and buy free range chicken so will definitely not be buying chicken at W...m...rt.

Tess4

WJS, i lived in Paris, and Vienna....I'm doing fine here food-wise, and everything else wise, so you'll be fine if you decide to move back. I thought it would be more of a difficult transition as far as cooking goes (i cook for my life!) but it wasnt, once i did my research and explored, i found most things and if not, like i say, trusty amazon is here! But i seriously love the beef here LOL Porthouse steaks on sale for something like 8.99 instead of 12 bucks, thats just crazy, and they were so good. Having said that, we cant buy the european life-style, thats just not possible, but flights are fairly cheap at certain times so i guess its possible to get our European "fix".

Bob

One thing that is odd, is how much they gas up the meat to make it look healthier here. I'm sure they do that in the UK, but I don't remember it being to the same extent.

Anyway, so cheap meat, it's nasty, but you can get great quality cuts too and pay for it.

What is crazy expensive, at least where I am, is anything that's a little bit different. A duck can be $40 a leg of lamb about $15 a pound...no chance of finding a goose, pigeon, rabbit or anything like that.

Also don't see so much game meat in stores, so you're really got to know someone who hunts if you want anything like deer.

MMcD

Whatever the discrepancy in food prices may currently be - given the 4 year extreme drought in California (with no end in sight), plus the fact that 50% of of the country's vegetables, fruits and nuts are grown there - it's hard to imagine that food prices in the US won't eventually be negatively impacted.

In an attempt to adjust to this calamitous situation, California farmers have been re-balancing their agricultural portfolios and increasing the fallowing of their land.

Those farmers are sometimes paying 10% more for water than before this drought. They are also drilling into and depleting the groundwater at an alarming rate.

None of this augers well.

Pulaski

A colleague who hunts told me it is illegal to sell wild-caught meat in the US. So a farmer can't bag a deer or a few rabbits or ducks and sell them to the local butcher because it is forbidden.

Bob

Which doesn't explain that once in a blue moon you do see it and it's eye wateringly expensive.

Stuff like buffalo is farmed and sold. I'm just surprised that you don't see as much of the other stuff being farmed, well you do duck, but that's silly money.