Some people could care less where their meat comes from; they believe that people are far superior to animals, thank you very much, and should be able to feast upon them without guilt and with gusto. Others are quite the opposite, believing that, as people are animals, they shouldn’t eat their fellow sentient beings—that their food shouldn’t “have a face”—as well as that eating meat harms the environment.

Read more >

I have been an off and on vegetarian for the past 8 years.  At one point, I was strictly vegetarian for 5.  This was an odd time in my life, people would constantly ask me why I chose not to eat meat?  Is it because you strongly believe in animal rights?  Is it for health reasons?  Is it part of your religion?  My answer was always none of the above.  I simply liked the idea of being vegetarian, so I stuck with it.  The strange truth was I never had a good reason to live that lifestyle, I was simply being myself.  I honestly don't think this is a big deal.  I don't think people should have to be able to clearly explain every life decision they make.  I've seen people do far worse things than choose vegetarianism, without a reason in the world to back up their actions.  

Read more >

The New York Times is carrying an op-ed piece by James E. McWilliams about the higher rate of salmonella, toxoplasma, and trichina in free range pork compared to factory farmed pork. Unfortunately, McWilliams seems to miss part of the point about free range farming. He focuses almost solely on the taste of the meat in free ranged versus factory farmed animals.

Read more >

A pair of Seattle entrepreneurs have developed two new bacon products which are setting the internet afire: Bacon Salt and Baconnaise. The Seattle Times has a marvelous article profiling creators Justin Esch and Dave Lefkow here.

 

Read more >

Like a lot of other people in the United States, I grew up in a family where "meat" was usually a synonym for beef. I remember my folks being quite concerned with the amount of fat marbling, and the quality of the cut, as well. Of course, we raised and butchered our own beef, chicken, and pork, so the quality of the meat we produced was quite legitimately something of an obsession with the family.

Read more >

It's corned beef season, which is either a blessing or a curse, depending on where you fall on the line. Personally, I have a childhood horror of corned beef, thanks to some very bad experiences early in my life.

Read more >

There are things you just shouldn't do. You shouldn't make fun of crazy people. You shouldn't be deliberately mean. You shouldn't rob liquor stores or mini-marts. And you definitely shouldn't order chicken-fried steak in the average restaurant or diner. Some things are just always a bad idea, definitely won't agree with your gall-bladder, and might even harm your immortal soul.

Read more >

Fame is funny. Just before last Christmas, two barbecue bloggers, in response to a challenge from one of their Twitter subscribers, invented a mindbending new meal: The Bacon Explosion.

The Bacon Explosion consists of a lattice of bacon, wrapped around a bunch of sausage, which is rolled up into a fat tube of deliciousness. It is then grilled, or - ideally - smoked in a smoker. The roll as a whole clocks in with at least 5,000 calories and 500 grams of fat. Delicious, delicious fat and calories.

Once the internet got wind of the Bacon Explosion, it, well, exploded.

Read more >

The popular New York Times article on the rise of squirrel meat consumption in Britain has brought out the best in many local reporters. Now reporter Lee Hill Kavanaugh of The Kansas City Star brings us an article with the unbeatable title, Raccoon: It's what's for dinner.

Raccoon meat is another delicacy for which I believe the polite term is "rural." Raccoon hunting has a long and storied tradition in rural America. An entire sub-section of the AKC's Working class of dogs has been bred specifically to hunt raccoons.

Read more >

The New York Times has a wonderful article about the rise of the squirrel meat market in England. Squirrel meat is a "win win" solution, since gray squirrels are an invasive species, which has been gradually displacing the native English red squirrel.

The gray squirrel was introduced to England in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Read more >