To eat in modern America is to participate in not-knowing

April 15, 2025 11:23 AM

As both farmers and processors—all of Bear Creek Farm’s cattle and pigs are processed, or “harvested,” at Cherry Meat Co.—the Cherry family manages the entire conception-to-carcass journey. “From birth and conception until it goes to somebody’s hands to cook,” said Bill. Within an industry often vast, cruel, and secretive, they have built the opposite: an intimate form of vertical integration, from conception to harvest, loving stewards over it all. from Know Your Burger [Oxford American]
posted by chavenet (11 comments total)

Why does Europe doesn't take their chicken? Their beef? lol
posted by jeffburdges at 11:52 AM on April 15 [2 favorites]

I'm a vegetarian, former vegan, and I've read all the stuff, Peter Singer and the rest, and I'm very convinced of my ethical position when it comes to meat.

So reading this, I'm like, yes, if you are going to eat meat, this is a good way to do it. There's a nearby farm we get vegetables and soap from, and if you like, you can meet the pigs and cows that will eventually be the meat that is sold. The animals are very happy. I don't know that they go as far as the system described in the article, I don't know that they have the resources for it, but every bit of care counts, it's a stand for kindness and humanity; they don't have to be thrown aside just because people need to eat.

It is a little heartbreaking; ethics aside, I'm a softy when it comes to animals, and I hate the idea of an animal ever being hurt. So I really felt this line from the article: Even after all these years, when folks aren't looking, LeeAnn still tears up thinking about these cows and pigs. “My eyes still water,” she said. “It's a sacrifice we appreciate.”

It's a good mindset. Appreciation, transparency, care. It's the opposite of the dehumanizing tendency in industrial slaughter.
posted by mittens at 1:05 PM on April 15 [27 favorites]

It is heartbreaking.
Because some of us still eat meat.
I try to only eat "better" meet, not sure any is quite at this level though. Good for them.

But I think if more farmers/processers were able to do this pretty solid integration, they would have a pretty great product to sell.
posted by Windopaene at 1:24 PM on April 15 [3 favorites]

I eat the best meat I can afford, which is generally not very good. My cousin has a farm to table, grassfed farm: cows, pigs, goats, rabbits, and chickens. If he didn’t live 1,000 miles from me, I’d never eat anything else.
posted by toodleydoodley at 2:20 PM on April 15 [3 favorites]

A college friend advocated the use-everything approach as another way to eat meat ethically. So many of us eat only the white meat from poultry, or turn up our noses at offal or such; her argument was that if you ate the whole animal, then a) you got more meals out of a single animal, so fewer animals overall would need to be killed, and b) you haven't disrespected the animal you did kill by wasting anything.

I eat less meat than I used to, largely because of expense; but whatever I do get, I use everything. I've had offal, blood sausage, other sausage, pig's feet, gizzards, you name it; and the bones go into stock later.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:19 PM on April 15 [4 favorites]

I'm not a vegetarian but I can't buy local meat in winter.

Travelling between Toronto and Montreal, I was walking my dog behind a freeway rest stop and came across a livestock truck full of screaming hogs. It was -20C. I thought about the windchill pain of being naked in an open truck at 100+ km/hour. I wondered how long the journey was. With every moment of these animal's lives being at best very uncomfortable, the torture of those final few hours was too much for me.
posted by brachiopod at 4:04 PM on April 15 [9 favorites]

Living in Portland, Ore. makes it a lot easier to be an omnivore. There are a number of local farms where you can visit the chickens, pigs, and cows that are eventually butchered, and observe their welfare. If you are a Portlander you might be interested in checking out and patronizing these places:

https://www.schochdairy.com/

https://www.marionacres.com/chickenopen

https://www.tricountyfarm.org/listing/all-natural-meats-soggy-feet-enterprises-2/

https://grasspoweredpoultry.com/

https://meatingplacepdx.com/
posted by peter.j.torelli at 6:45 PM on April 15 [3 favorites]

For most of human existence, meat has been a treat, something you eat sometimes. All the guys who think we lived off of meat alone in ancient times are wrong. It's only less than 100 years ago that we got industrial farming and cheap meat.
All this to say: paying a fair price for sustainably raised meat is not weird or unusual and we have thousands of years of experience doing just that. We can eat well without indulging in meat. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but maybe think of it when you are discussing with your family and friends. Or when you are cooking for them. 30 years ago I invited my colleagues over for dinner, and they were completely astonished at how delicious a meal with less animal products could be. I mean it wasn't even vegan, just more balanced. And I just used the recipes of grannies I knew (TBH Italian and Greek grans had better ideas than Danish, so I reached out to some of my friends).
posted by mumimor at 1:44 AM on April 16 [2 favorites]

We use almost every bit of a chicken. We eat the roasted chicken, keep the bones in the freezer for bone broth, which is made in a pressure cooker for 2 to 3 hours. Once the broth is strained off, I take the leftover bones and scraps and use a food processor to grind them all up into a paste. I mix this paste 50-50 with rice and some carrots to make dog food, which is approved by a veterinarian. I use the gizzards and liver to make pate. I guess I don’t use the feet in the beak or the other organs.
posted by waving at 5:52 AM on April 16 [2 favorites]

Ooh, add chicken feet to bone broth! Not only does it use up even more of the chicken it makes the broth especially rich.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:39 AM on April 16 [3 favorites]

I am a ovo-lacto-vegetarian. Tried going vegan, but my health condition prevents that. But like this article states, I try to get my dairy and eggs from a local food coop that tries to source everything locally. As I am only one person, the cost differential is not too prohibitive.

But it is hard even for a vegetarian like me. I can easily see why people who are omnivores look for the least expensive way to feed their families, especially when the ethically sourced stuff is so much more expensive when the number of people to feed adds up.

I read somewhere that 95+% of the total mammalian mass on earth is humans and the animals used by humans as food, pets, products or for work. This seems unsustainable in the long run. Leave alone the ethics of it; just the ecological impact is too much.
posted by indianbadger1 at 10:21 AM on April 16