Meat

Dark Rye's Whole Animal Butchery

December 12, 2013

We are excited to bring you videos from Dark Rye, an online magazine created by our friends at Whole Foods Market. The magazine explores food, health, sustainability, design, tech and social enterprise.

Today: Understanding our meat, from pasture to plate.

There's an intense focus on the American diet, whether it's our proclivity for meat eating or choosing a vegan diet. Former food writer and editor Camas Davis wanted to make a conscious decision about which end of the spectrum she fell on. After interacting with countless farmers and butchers as a writer, she noticed many of the traditional whole animal butchers were retiring, and the farmers lacked an understanding of how whole animal butchery even worked. When she lost her job, Davis went to study butchery in a place where people are intimately involved with the entire process: France. She now focuses on sharing her knowledge of humane animal rearing and sustainable eating through her organization, The Portland Meat Collective.

Shop the Story

Watch the video below to learn about Camas' journey.

Read more about Camas Davis and The Portland Meat Collective on Dark Rye.

Producer: Angus Cann
Editor: Jason De La Rosa

Check our other featured videos from Dark Rye:

The Unseen Bean
Butter + Love
Itty Bitty Farm 
Garden Pool

 

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

Lactose intolerant cheese lover, who will walk blocks for a good cup of coffee. Recently escaped the corporate world, after discovering her favorite part of the job was ordering catering.

1 Comment

ChefJune December 12, 2013
Interesting that farmers don't know about butchering these days. Back around the turn of the last century, my maternal grandfather raised beef and pork for market. He was also well known in his region as a master of butchery. Knowing butchery is certainly important for a chef, and I'd think for the farmer as well.