I feel weird about buying discount meat at Target

In the last few weeks I have found myself shopping at Target as part of my errands routine. And every single time, I cringe about doing it, but I find myself buying discount meat anyway.

Target's new "thing" is to compete with Walmart by offering groceries. Good luck with that. First of all, anyone trying to compete with Walmart is a fool. Second of all, the grocery selection at Target is small (Walmart stores are at least four times the size of Targets) and not that much cheaper than your regular grocery store (Walmart groceries are much cheaper, albeit much lower quality).

It's an entirely psychological problem, this squeamishness with buying raw meat at Target. You have to assume that a national chain has its act together when it comes to food safety. But still, I hesitate.

For all that, apparently I am the only one buying meat at Target, because that stuff is on sale like whoa. They carry whole Foster Farms broiler chickens (the only ones I buy, because they haven't been injected with flavored saline) for about 50 cents less a pound than Safeway. And every time I go there, they have at least one chicken marked down by $3 because it's close to its sell-by date.

And I have to say, strange as it is to go through Target check-out with a raw chicken, they cook up just fine. I probably shouldn't be telling you this, because if people start buying meat at Target, the price will go up. But if you're looking for a great deal, and you maybe need some flip-flops for summer or a new DVD for the kids, check out the Target grocery section, and try not to think about it.

Image courtesy Flickr/Fan of Retail