Of Eating Meat and a Butchery Class

It’s time to discuss a difficult topic for most of us. The ethics of eating meat. *Bam!* *Pow!*

Note: Vegan and vegetarian discretion is advised; graphic images are presented here. Also, I am all in favor of everyone choosing a diet that is right for him/herself. Opinions here are expressly my own.

GF Oatmeal Muffins - good but needed a different flour base I should have listened to Shawna!

This one is a douzy. Last week I took a spring butchery class. I’m of the opinion that if I’m going to eat meat, I should probably know how to break it down. Talk to me 3 years ago and I would run shrieking from the kitchen. I remember a photo I have from us living in NYC and my parents came for Turkey Day with my little nephew (not so little anymore). I was horrified with the practices of roasting a turkey. Ugh! Disgusting!!

Taking a step back. I eat meat. I don’t eat a lot of it as previously stated in many blog posts. I think there are moral, ethical and environmental implications for eating meat that comes from factory farms (or CAFO’s - concentrated animal feeding operations). I’ll leave that discussion for a different time. I choose not to eat any meat that I do not know where it comes from. This basically means that I source any meat that I purchase directly from the farm or I purchase at Bi-Rite Grocery or Avedano’s Meats - both stores are committed to purchasing meat from the most ethical, humane and environmentally friendly farms. I don’t eat meat when I travel.

A tasty breakfast with almond butter and tea

Becoming more in tune with the meat you eat means understanding where it comes from, respecting the animal that you’re consuming, giving thanks to the animal for the nutrition that the meal will give you and understanding that meat doesn’t come prepared on a styrofoam, shrink wrapped package that you can find at your local big box grocery store. It usually means you have to work a little harder to make it into a delicious meal: roasting a full chicken, removing excess fat, etc. I think it’s important to understand the sacrifice that was made to bring a meal that has meat to the table. The environmental impact, the welfare of the animal, the feed the animal consumed and *shudder* any additional growth hormones/antibiotics/toxic substances that were used. Take the domestic debate on pink slime and insert arguments here. This is probably one of the most horrific examples of why we should not consume meat and shows exactly what is wrong with eating meat in this country. I’ll say it here: buy organic, buy local, buy humanely raised meat, know your butcher, know your farmer.

My butchery skiz-ills

I felt that in order to be a responsible meat eater, I should know how to properly break down a chicken. I attended this class at 18 Reasons (affiliated with Bi-Rite) and it was amazing! The instructor was a butcher at Bi-Rite and he did a fantastic job of explaining everything. I really enjoyed the class. I honestly think there is something a bit primal about butchery. That, and I love wielding a knife (I mean that in a good way... usually it’s aimed at vegetables!). Also, you see your work right away. Sort of like making a meal - you see the results at the end. And its what would be in that nasty styrofoam package - only better!

Breaking down a whole leg of lamb (demonstration)

I ran across a challenge this week from the NY Times that set my Twitter feed a twittering (what does that say about my twitter feed?): a challenge for carnivores to explain why it’s ethical to eat meat. Here’s my stab that I want to submit:



I’ve never been much of a meat eater. When I was a child, I told everyone that I was a vegetarian – except I loved hot dogs and pepperoni. As I grew older, I still didn’t eat a lot of meat and hamburgers certainly disgusted me. Then in college I had a medium rare steak, and I was a goner.

Meat from the corner Gristede’s market in New York City where I lived for 3 years is disgusting and nutritionally detrimental at best. One step up from pink slime. Meat from my local, organic and pasture raised CSA in San Francisco is nutritious, healthy and contributes to health – when eaten in moderation (i.e. 2-3 meals per week). Eating meat from organic, pasture raised/fed and humanely treated animals gives the body nutrients that are found no where else in nature. Where else do you find vitamins B12 and D? Bio available iron? I would also argue for omega-3 fatty acids, however these fats can certainly be found in vegetarian dishes.

My personal philosophy is that food is medicine. I don’t want to live a life tied to supplements (which one has to be careful about due to heavy metal contamination) and want to live a life that uses foods to support my body’s nutritive needs. Eating meat a few times a week sustains me.

It is not ethical, in my opinion, to eat meat from a Styrofoam, shrink wrapped package, which contains a product that has been questionably treated. It is ethical to eat meat that you know came from a local farmer who humanely treated their animals, fed them a proper organic diet and raised them on pasture land without harmful antibiotics and growth hormones.

Lastly, we have cultivated these animals to give us nutrition over thousands of years. We have relied on them to sustain us and they have relied on us to propagate their species. Is it ethical to allow these animals to roam only to not survive as they rely on us humans? I argue that no, it is not.

Now, as I am an adult, I still sometimes indulge in that hot dog, only now it’s from my local farm, with grass-fed organic beef and it doesn’t contain nitrates. This is the future me and this is the future of ethically consuming meat.


Again, this is simply my opinion. Everyone is entitled to decide what works best for your body. But I challenge everyone who consumes meat to think about the moral, ethical and environmental implications of eating meat. Maybe you change how you consume meat, maybe you don’t, but at least I think our health and our environment deserve a few minute consideration of our actions.

Do you agree or disagree with me? How does meat play a role in your life? In thinking about the NY Times challenge, what would you say?

Be happy. Be healthy!