MEAT - BUY FROM THE BUTCHER OR FROM SUPERMARKET?
Production of meat is a huge global effort, and with it comes the natural tendency to keep down the production costs. Unfortunately, this often means that animals are bred in very unnatural environments, and they are fed very bad food. Of course, everything varies for each producer, and we would like to encourage you to find the meat that has been produced in the best way of nature. Why? Simply because such meat is better, top quality, and richer in flavor. Sure it costs more money because the production costs are higher, but the indulgance is great. The problem with today's meat production is that in order to provide cheap meat, mainly for the supermarkets, the animals are deprived of many of their natural desires. Their living space is too small (sometimes so they can barely move), their food is cheap and industrial (not really the wild grass that animals would like to eat), and when it comes to slaughter it is full of stress and pain. Such meat is not good. It is cheaper but not good. Usually, the better meat can be found among local farmers and butchers, although you would need to do some research on that to find out which meat is the best. As a rule, the supermarkets are bad, and I think anyone with at least a slightly decent palate can tell supermarket meat from "wild-grown" meat when blindfolded. I remember the first time I noticed the difference as a young boy. My grandparents had their own animals, which they bred for food that they later sold to the local villagers. These animals were walking freely on the meadows during the entire day (sometimes with me watching over them!) and they were only brought indoors for the night. Fresh water was abundant there. The slaughter may not have been humane, I have to say, but the meat was superb. It was so good that when I got home to the big city and ate some supermarket meat, I couldn't believe that the same cut of meat could taste so differently. I didn't knew why. First, I thought that my grandparents have put some secret spices in their meat and sausages. It turned out that they've used salt and pepper - nothing more! When I later learned that supermarkets get their meat from big corporations that keep the animals indoors, feed them with some industrial garbage, and brace them with antibiotics and hormones - well, the conclusion was obvious. Wild-grown animals are better. Obviously, they are happier as well, even if their lives end in a slaughter. I think the point is made here. So, if you want to know where to find good quality and ethical meat, start researching. It shouldn't be too difficult. Look for certified breeders and butchers. One way to start is to go to http://www.certifiedhumane.org and find a certified producer or even a restaurant near you. Even if it's more expensive, you'll gratify not only your health and taste buds, but also promote the better meat production. Maybe the supermarkets will eventually change their ways too? If not, let them go with losses - it's for the good cause!
What makes a good meat? First of all, the animals should have a free access to the natural food (grass, hay), and any extra food should be of good quality. The animals should be roaming freely in the open air, when they wish to. The newborn animals should be with their mothers and have access to her own milk. Any transport and slaughter should be stress-free and humane.
Besides the points stated above there are two other important issues to discuss, as they affect you as a consumer: antiobiotics and hormones. Antibiotics are often necessary for the production of meat where a large number of animals are squeezed inside small compartments. If one animal gets sick, others are easily infected, and that's why they have to be given antibiotics. (That's what would happen with humans as well, if you would gather 20 persons in one room, with one of the persons carrying virus.) Why are antibiotics bad? These substances are too precious for us to use them whenever we want. Some bacterial strains may develop antibiotic resistance (which is already happening!) and then we will not be able to kill them in the future, when we really need this medicine.
Then is the issue of hormones. In these unhumane farms, farmers may castrate their animals to prevent their aggressivity and to get more fatty tissue in the animal. However, since people want leaner meat nowadays, these producers give their animals extra hormones (mainly anabolic steroids) to boost the muscle tissue growth. Even uncastrated animals could be fed such hormones. Everything to promote meat production to a lower price (since the muscles grow faster, the animals don't have to eat that much "costly" food, which is garbage-y nevertheless). Excessive steroid hormones are not only bad for the animals, they can be bad for the consumers as well. Research has shown that they decrease the age of menopause in women. In addition, there is one famous case when young kids that were fed with hormone-packed meat were afflicted with sexual organ damage.
In other words, choose your meat carefully! Find the top quality meat and pay the price it deserves. If you worry about the money, you can cut down a little on your meat consumption (if you eat a lot of meat already). Even top quality meat in excess is not good, e.g. for your blood cholesterol.