Meat comes from animals. Animals are living creatures that had families and may or may not have been cute. When they were killed they were not at all happy about it and they bled a lot.
These are the facts.
If you are a person who eats meat, then this is a reality you must face. Meat does not come from shrink-wrapped, styrofoam-lined packages, but from actual living things. The way in which these creatures lived affects the character of the meat they produce. What they ate affects how it tastes. How little or how much exercise they got when alive dictates whether the meat is dark or light, tender or tough.
As a responsible carnivore/omnivore you should strive to get comfortable with the mortal aspects of meat consumption. This will not only help you get the most from your meat, but also to take a responsible stand against the overproduced and overprocessed commercial meat industry.
An easy way to increase your comfort level with all the gross bits is buying your chicken whole. Buying a whole bird is cheaper, keeps the chicken fresh longer and gives you a myriad of culinary possibilities. It also gives you the opportunity to dig in with your boning knife, crack thigh joints, cut through tendons, scoop out organs and come to terms with the animal that you’re eating.
This article appears in Oct 28 – Nov 3, 2010.