I found this interesting, it's from the book, Bridgestone Guides, John McKenna is the author
Factory farming of animals is an obscenity, and we should not eat the meat that comes out of them. Such food is unhealthy for us, as eaters and as human beings, as well as being deeply unhealthy for the planet. As Foer points out, though, avoiding this food is easier said than done: virtually all of the meat eaten in America is produced in factories.
But Foer’s book didn’t make me despair, nor did it make me change my eating habits. What it taught me was that we are lucky in Ireland, for a simple reason: we are still close to animals. It is easy in Ireland to buy food that has been produced by people who care deeply about the welfare of the animals they rear and the quality of the produce that they grow, and who also care deeply about the health and wellbeing of the people who will consume that food.
The next time you are in your local butcher’s shop, for instance, just think how lucky you are. The local butcher’s shop is one of the most unremarked upon aspects of life, yet it is actually one of the most remarkable aspects of how we live, and how we eat.
Because the shops are small, individually owned and modest, we underestimate their significance. And yet, your local butcher operates one of the portals to food citizenship, selling food that is good for your health, and good for your head. And the butcher is only one player among many who toil to bring us ethical, honest, decent food. Let’s thank our good fortune, while resolving to change what we can, for the sake of our health, and the health of our planet.
Wish I worked in an old-time mom-and-pop butcher shop. I think I would learn so much more in one than at a big supermarket like Kroger. And the bigger the city the better. (You know, with a good music scene)
Jetplane, kroger is a huge company, they have systems in place- working for a chain store is good training-if someday , you do work for an independent, than you know firsthand what you are competing against- also because of huge volume, pay scales are usually decent, and health insurance may be offered (at a cost, of course)
Meat markets are making a comeback-, opening up more and more meatcutter jobs If you do have an interest in independents, then discreetly submit resume's to them- the Independents, are a whole different ball-game- the pay/benefits can be soooooo much different depending on the individual store (store owner)
Kroger and most chain stores focus on one shopper and thats the female, 80% of a chain store customer base can be female- they still hold the purse-strings. The mistake of the almighty corporate stores is they have diminished the importance of their meatcutters in the past 30 yrs- always want to lower payroll percents, higher sales per man hours, etc, The female shopper-Really loves interacting with meatcutters, listens to them and feels better about the product (safety and security) if they personally know the meatcutters- every time a woman/mother hears about a recall, e-coli, in ANY store-even a thousand miles away-it hits home-and they would much rather be buying from a place-or meatcutters, they know and trust- and that defines a meat market
Jetplane, you can get some decent training from kroger-learn all you can- visit meat markets or independents in your area, look around, strike up a conversation with the meatcutters/meat managers/owner-give them a compliment-tell them who you are-never hurts to get your name out there
There have been movements thru the years- that beef will kill you-whether its pesticides on the feed, mad cow, or e-coli some folks have an agenda to do whatever they can to shut down the meat industry. I think thru time- most folks hear anything and everything can kill you or cause cancer- so they are going to just enjoy what they like in moderation.
