Reply #2: Get to know your local farmer,

[MadHound]

If you get to know a local farmer who raises beef or pork, you can get a great prize on meat. The thing is, you have to have a freezer big enough to hold a quarter or half cow.

I have a neighbor who raises organic, grass fed, no hormone beef. Once a year I purchase a quarter cow from him. Cow is taken down to the local butcher where it is custom cut into whatever meat cuts and thicknesses you want. Price, including processing, is 2.60/lb, and it is some great meat.

Made a similar arrangement with an organic hog and chicken producer in the neighborhood.

These people exist everywhere, but can be hard to find. Consider haunting your local farmer's market, or putting an ad in the paper, even in small town papers in the area that surrounds you.