The Ethical Meat Handbook-Complete Home Butchery, Charcuterie and Cooking for the Conscious Omnivore by Meredith Leigh.epub

The Ethical Meat Handbook: Complete Home Butchery, Charcuterie and Cooking for the Conscious Omnivore

Nutrition, environmental impact, ethics, sustainability-it seems like there's no end to the factors we must consider when we think about our food. At the center of the dietary storm is animal-based agriculture. Was your beef factory-farmed or pasture-raised? Did your chicken free range, or was it raised in a battery cage? Have you, in short, met your meat? Most efforts to unravel the complexities of the production and consumption of animal protein tend to pit meat eaters and vegetarians against each other. The Ethical Meat Handbook seeks a middle ground, arguing that by assuming full responsibility for the food on our fork, and more importantly, the route by which it gets there, animals can be an optimal source of food, fiber, and environmental management. This hands-on, practical guide covers: Integrating animals into your garden or homestead Basic butchery: whole animal, primals, subprimals, and end-cuts, including safety and knife skills Charcuterie: history, general science and math principles, tooling up Culinary highlights: getting creative, preparing sauces, ferments, difficult cuts, and extras Eating diversely may be the most revolutionary and proactive action we can take to ensure the sustainability of our food system. The Ethical Meat Handbook challenges us to take a hard look at our individual dietary choices, increase our self-reliance and at the same time enjoy delicious food that benefits our health and our planet. Meredith Leigh is a food and farming specialist who has worked as a butcher, chef, teacher, and homesteader, all in search of realistic solutions for sustainable food.



Review
This book is practical, yes, but it's also deeply personal. Meredith Leigh will teach you how to raise animals, butcher them, and cook and cure their meat. Even better, she explains what it means and why it matters, and her passion is infectious. After reading this book, I longed to smell the deep funk of the barn, to feel the squish of mud beneath my chore boots, to heft a butcher knife in my hand. ---Mark Essig, author of Lesser Beasts: A Snout-to-Tail History of the Humble Pig This is a powerful, positive book about a powerful, positive alternative, engaging us in shaping a new food and agriculture narrative. It leaves us with an overwhelmingly clear picture of just how important ethical meat is to the future of the entire food system. It is exactly what our movement needs, a call for people to take action, educate themselves, and participate. This book is a gem, a gift to everyone looking to be the alternative to a passive recipient of the status quo. This book -- its philosophy, honesty, artistry, and practice, represents a way forward -- the only way to go. ---Jean-Martin Fortier, author of The Market Gardener

About the Author
Meredith Leigh is a food and farming specialist who has been involved with many commercial and homestead herds of cattle, poultry, swine, sheep, and goats over the last 12 years. She has worked as a butcher, chef, teacher, nonprofit executive director and homesteader, all in search of realistic solutions for sustainable food. She writes, works, cooks, and eats with the goal of helping others to understand that food is the most fundamental common denominator to our collective and individual quality of life.