Safe ground beef?

[Margot Harrison]

I just read this scary NYT article about why there could be E. coli in your hamburger: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html

Anyway, say I want some ground meat (beef, pork are fine) for a meat loaf, and I only need a little, so cost is no object, but I don't want to go to Costco or anywhere out of the way, and I want to know it's from a reliable, well-tested source and not a whole bunch of fatty trimmings from slaughterhouses as far away as Uruguay.

Is that even possible to find? Or should I give up and rely on a meat thermometer and my strong constitution?

[Morganna]

Uhm, I haven't read the article, so maybe they've touched on this but, uhm... I got my beef from a local Vermont farm.  I just bought a whole side for $3 a pound from North Hollow Farms back in, I think it was July (I posted about it here somewhere).

Is that not safe enough now?

[dtp123]

Do it yourself. It's cheaper and easy. You can get a stand mixer attachment or a good old fashion countertop hand crank model. You can get just about any cut you want from your local farm or butcher, chuck is great for burger, I even like a little brisket mixed in. Buying pre-ground, even from your local farm can run the risk of contamination. The farmers don't butcher or grind it themselves so the contamination could come from a number of places. Even local beef can be suspect. Woodcreek Farm had a recall last year do to processor contamination, so you should always cook pre-ground meat to a proper temperature. Applications like meatballs or meatloaf are ideal for pre-ground meat.