At the very least, factory farms are unappealing. Most people would cringe at the conditions animals endure at most of the farms. Contrast that to an old-fashioned farm with cows, pigs, chickens, crops, red barns full of cats, hay bales, and apple trees—that sounds like a more enticing place than a giant building jammed with stationary livestock and mechanized systems.
The way we get our meat in America has drastically changed in the last generation. Much of it now comes from less-than-healthy animals in sad and unsanitary conditions on giant factory farms.
The livestock on family farms no doubt lead happier and healthier lives, and for those of us who partake in the eating of meat, they taste much better too. Happy pigs make delicious bacon. Sadly, many people don’t know how to get the good meat or think they can’t afford it. A new movement here in Portland is aiming to change all of that.
Is it not surprising that a city with a high percentage of vegans also has omnivores looking to be more conscious with their choice of meat. According to The Oregonian, starting in February Portlanders will be able to sign up for classes on how to butcher their own meat at one of two new local specialized businesses. Further proving the point that ethical omnivores are emerging, The Oregonian also pointed out that last November’s Art Institute culinary butchering event, called Livestock, was completely sold out.
According to the new business Web site, www.pdxmeat.com, Camas Davis, former vegetarian and former food editor for Portland Monthly, is in the midst of launching the Portland Meat Collective, a network for bringing local meat to local people and a traveling butchering school.
Davis was scheduled to appear along with Kathy Hessler from the Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark College, and Ramona Ilea, professor of philosophy at Pacific University, on Feb. 11 at PSU. The Portland Center for Public Humanities is sponsoring the event called “Eating Animals: A Panel Discussion.” It has been rescheduled to an undetermined date.
Another Portlander, calling himself “The Ethical Butcher,” is gearing up to offer similar classes. If the sold-out spot last November at a culinary school is any indication, these two are going to be pretty busy butchers. According to his BlogSpot, you will be able to find The Ethical Butcher selling his bacon at the Portland Farmers Market on the Park Blocks starting in March.
It does seem a little extreme to go from stopping at Safeway to pick up a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken to actually killing and plucking one, but shouldn’t we be OK with killing it if we are choosing to eat it? We seem to have evolved past what is natural. Our ancestors would probably be ashamed at our lack of ability to sustain the protein in our diets.
We are too far removed from our meat sources, so this is a step in the right direction. Ask your grandma if she has ever killed and plucked a chicken. The answer will probably surprise you. There seems to be a squeamish factor today that didn’t exist 50 years ago among meat eaters. They want to partake in the benefits, but they don’t want to know exactly the where, who or if the animal may have had a name.
If you eat meat, you should at least be able to stomach the sight of where your food came from. And for those who want to take it a step further, now you can. After all, if someone has to slaughter and prepare that animal before it ends up on your plate with gravy, it might as well be you.
The do-it-yourself butchering movement may not be for everyone, but it sends a good message to giant food corporations and factory farms. Be proud of that, Portland.