i asked the butcher at Whole Foods today if any of the grass-fed beef was pre-frozen. he said no, and that if something is pre-frozen that it has to state it on the label.

Aajonus mentions that one of the reasons why freezing meat is bad, is because it allows the E.Coli bacteria to overproduce. i assume that means that E.coli is more resilient to the cold than other bacteria, and multiplies while other bacteria dies or lay dormant in the freezer. this is probably why meat taken out of the freezer tend to get brown and smell quick.

Yes, freezing at 0 degrees F for 7 days will kill parasites.  But it will not kill bacteria.  I freeze mainly because I buy in bulk once a month from a farm that is a good 100 miles from me.  They deliver at a certain place, so that is most convenient.

I would suggest that everyone try to search out local, small-scale farms where bacteria will not be breeding as they are in the large-scale industrial farms that Whole Foods supports.  Whole Foods has gotten some bad press lately, btw, for some shady practices.  And usually, you can get a better deal buying direct from the farm, especially with fuel costs rising.  Just because something may say "organic" or "grassfed" does not mean it is the best you can buy.  Many organics come from China and Chile.  What does that mean exactly? 

http://www.slate.com/id/2138176/  - an older article, I remember reading more recent stuff, but can't find it

That's why local is best.  You can visit the farms and see how they do things.  The local WAPF chapters can help you find well-raised, pastured animal products.

http://www.westonaprice.org/localchapters/index.html#locallist

And here's our rawpaleo.com links for both US and UK suppliers.

http://www.rawpaleodiet.com/links/  - the top 4 listings

Without a doubt.

I don't take enzymes with food, I only take a systemic enzyme called Neprinol. I started with Vitalzym but found out Neprinol is similar, perhaps even a little better, as well as not containing the excipients in Vitalzym. The cd that came with Vitalzym had a lecture that taught me a lot about systemic enzymes, maybe I could upload it somehow. One of the things I learned was that systemic enzymes are sometimes the same as digestive ones, your bodies enzymes can perform multiple functions. For example protein digesting enzymes break down fibrin in the body (which is the most important function of enzyme supplementation imo) aka scar tissue, and then slowly move to your digestive system and out your bowels, where they digest your dietary protein "on the way out."

So when you take a "digestive enzyme supplement" you are taking the same enzymes that are in a "systemic enzyme supplement," but the difference is that the pill is made in a way to deliver the enzymes into the body rather than leaving them in the digestive system.

The problem is that you have to air the sealed container regularly(I find once a day airing to speed up the process). By airing, you dislodge some of the tiny eggs laid by flies around the lid, which then fall into the high-meat mess below, and you then get maggots crawling all over sooner or later. I've managed, by being ultra-careful, to avoid such a thing happening, over a 3-week period, but one always forgets sooner or later.