PrintStone Barns Wonders if You'd Like to See Where Your Meat Comes From
Could you still eat me if you saw where I came from?
I had no problem cooking and eating the chops I got from a lamb butchering demonstration at the Brooklyn Kitchen recently, but that is probably nothing compared to what Stone Barns is thinking of doing. According to an article in today's New York Times, Dan Barber is considering adding the farm's slaughterhouse to the tours they take diners on before eating at the Stone Barns location of Blue Hill in Sleepy Hollow, NY. Barber admits that seeing the slaughterhouse before dining at the restaurant "might be too much," but goes on to say that they are "still considering how it might (safely) open up the slaughterhouse to interested individuals or groups (for now, slaughter day happens on Tuesdays, when the farm is closed to the public)."
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7 Comments:
I could do this. When I was younger I helped kill and butcher dear, partridge, fish (though I still don't like it!) and then eat it. In fact, I think it's important that people who do eat meat try this once. Meat doesn't come from a supermarket. It comes from a once living thinking animal, and those of us who eat meat shouldn't mince around that fact. We should have an understanding of what that animal went through before it got to our plate as a nice juicy steak, roast, ribs, chop, burger, whatever.
thepirateking at 6:41PM on 06/06/08
i've recently become a meat avoider {i refuse to call myself a vegetarian} because i started thinking a little too hard about what meat actually is before it winds up in those neat little packages. it all started when i read about thomas keller butchering his own rabbits. no, it all started much earlier than that, when i used to go visit my friends on their farm outside of san francisco. when they pulled a chicken out of the freezer, i was happy to eat it, but if they offered to kill a chicken in my honor, i would counter with a suggestion of pasta al pesto.
cybercita at 11:29PM on 06/06/08
I would totally do it. Now if only there was a way to get a reservation... Maybe he should work on that too.
simon at 9:22AM on 06/07/08
I would totally do it too. I don't think I'd like it, but I totally agree with thepirateking. If you make the decision to eat meat, you should be willing to see what goes into putting that meat on your plate.
Zach Brooks at 10:55AM on 06/07/08
One of the big problems, alluded to in the article, is that there are fewer and fewer places where local farms can have their animals butchered. We need local abattoirs to aid farmers who raise animals and Dan Barber is simply doing something that is very important if a diverse and dynamic local farm economy is to succeed. Overregulation has concentrated the slaughtering of farm animals with huge meat processors, often hundreds of miles away. Local and state agricultural organizations should support small-scale slaughterhouses. That would help the farmers and also the animals.
In most parts of the world, the killing of animals for meat is much more in the open. I respect people who become vegetarians because they are against killing animals and I think that carnivores (and that includes me) should not think of meat as a supermarket packet but as an animal killed for our eating pleasure (or needs).
epices6 at 10:56PM on 06/07/08
My grandparents both grew up on farms in Minnesota during the Depression and I have never seen either one return a plate to the sink with a single morsel of food left on it. When I asked my grandfather about their penchant for consuming every single crumb, he told me that growing up so poor and having to grow his own food taught him to appreciate the hard work it took someone to deliver what was on his plate and that not consuming what he made the choice in the beginning to eat was a sign of disrespect. He went on to say that he wished every meat eater would be able to experience an animal slaughter at least once in their lives because it would teach them to respect and make a connection to the sacrifice the animal they are eating made for them. While I have never been to a slaughterhouse, my grandfather did invite me to watch him butcher the deer he brought home from the fields each season and while I initially bore reluctant witness, I still remember the epiphany I had as a young girl as I ate our venison sausage and connected it to the deer in my grandfather's garage. It was in gratitude and respect then that I ate my venison and I would have never understood and appreciated the sacrifice this animal made for me had I not witnessed this deer's journey from the field to my plate.
eddybles at 12:20PM on 06/08/08
I can't even see roadkill so I would not be able to see an animal butchered for food or any other reason.
chiff0nade at 6:59PM on 06/08/08