The ethical butcher [electronic resource] : how thoughtful eating can change your world / Berlin Reed.

ISBN:

9781593765569

Title:

Author:

Reed, Berlin, 1982-

Personal Author:

Reed, Berlin, 1982-

Publication Information:

Berkeley : Soft Skull Press, 2013.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (321 p.)

General Note:

Description based upon print version of record.

Contents:

Table of Contents; Foreword; Introduction: Begin with Billy; Part One; 1: How It All Vegan; 2: Gnawing Questions and Biting Answers; 3: Isn't That an Oxymoron?; 4: From Farm to Table and Back Again; Part Two; 5: The Abolitionist, the Pescatarian, and the Welfarist; 6: The Green Fog; 7: The Good Butcher; Conclusion: We've Only Just Begun; Acknowledgments

Personal Subject:

Reed, Berlin, 1982-

Subject Term:

Butchers -- Biography.

Meat -- Moral and ethical aspects.

Meat industry and trade -- Moral and ethical aspects.

Slaughtering and slaughter-houses -- Moral and ethical aspects.

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

Click here to view book

Publication Date:

2013

Publication Information:

Berkeley : Soft Skull Press, 2013.

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
664.9029 REE	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ONLINE	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

A memoir in cuts that illustrates for readers and foodies alike how they can improve the meat industry by participating in it.

America is in the midst of a meat zeitgeist. Butchers have emerged as the rock stars of the culinary world, and cozy gastropubs serving up pork belly, lamb burgers, and sweetbreads rule the restaurant scene. In New York, the humble meatball enjoys entree status from upscale Gramercy Tavern to The Meatball Shop. Across the country in San Francisco, savvy chefs flock to hip meat markets like The Fatted Calf. If butchers are our new rock stars, then Berlin Reed is their front man.

Reed is "The Ethical Butcher," a former self-described militant vegan punk who grudgingly took a job as a butcher's apprentice in Brooklyn when he could find no other work. Shockingly, he fell in love with the art of butchering, and a food revolution was born. Along the way he saw how corporate greed, unsustainable food practices, and outright misinformation gave birth to such falsities as the USDA label "organic" and the conglomerate of eco-friendly supermarkets. Most people, even those that try to be healthy and green, are not really eating what they think they are eating. The Ethical Butcher will shine a light on these untruths and show a better way towards food justice and the sustainable living of a mindful omnivore.

Author Notes

Berlin Reed launched The Ethical Butcher blog in 2009 and now travels the country hosting informative farm-to-table dinners that seek to educate the public about how to be sure their choices as consumers match their intentions. He was profiled as one of the country's top 50 butchers in the book Primal Cuts , and is a charter member, and the voice of, the newly formed Butcher's Guild. He's been featured in O Magazine , on Today.com, and has appeared several times on NPR. He is currently at work on a pilot episode for a TV series that documents his farm to table dinners across the country.

Reviews (1)

Library Journal Review

The current preference for local, artisanal foods has elevated many butchers to celebrity status. This may earn Reed's title some interest, but it is less a story about butchery than a guide to ethical eating. A former vegan, Reed abstained from animal products to avoid supporting the "greedy and harmful corporations" that were abusing animals and polluting the environment. After taking a job as a butcher, he realized that his abstaining from meat would not improve the industry and decided to focus on educating consumers on how to make more responsible choices. The first half of the book is part memoir, part personal philosophy on eating ethically. But it's a disjointed tale, jumping from issue to issue without fully exploring any of them. Readers looking for specifics will be more satisfied with the second half of the book, which explains the practices of industrialized meat production and fishing and what consumers should look for. VERDICT When Reed finally lays out his argument in a cohesive way and offers concrete suggestions, he makes a strong case. However, his extremist views can feel preachy and high-handed and may be off-putting to some readers. An optional purchase.--Melissa Stoeger, Deerfield P.L., IL (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.