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My guest this week is Meredith Leigh author of “The Ethical Meat Handbook.” Meredith 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.
A holistic food manifesto, the The Ethical Meat Handbook describes how we might endeavor to get good meat on our plates, and empower ourselves to own more of the process. Part philosophy, part technical instruction, and part memoir, this book gives eating more substance and soul. Included are discussions of economy, environment, agriculture, and social synergy, as well as complete instruction on whole animal butchery of beef, pork, lamb, and poultry. All this, plus a complete chapter on charcuterie, and over 100 delicious recipes make this a must-have for everyone’s culinary collection.
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.
Meredith Leigh
“Over the past 13 years, I’ve worked as a farmer, butcher, chef, teacher, non-profit executive director, and writer, all in pursuit of sustainable food. I’ve developed a farmer co-op, founded and catalyzed non-profit ventures, grown vegetables, flowers, and meats, owned and managed a retail butcher shop, and more. I’m a single mom, and, I’m the author of The Ethical Meat Handbook: A Complete Guide to Home Butchery, Charcuterie, and Cooking for the Conscious Omnivore. Above all, I am committed to real, good food, as a means to connect with people, animals, and plants, learn new skills, create intentionally, stay inspired, and experience deliciousness.”
Learn more about Meredith and the book here.
Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
2013 Chakana Estate Selection Red Blend
60% Malbec, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Shiraz aged in 100% new French oak for 10 months. Deep red color with violet hints. Dark fruits and exotic spices with tobacco and mocha hints. Elegant, well balanced, harmonious, long persistence with chocolate flavors. Uplifting, vibrant notes of raspberry, cherry, blackberry and violet. Peppery, clean and fresh – so pure! Seamless structure and an electric, refreshing finish. Mouthwatering and persistent.
You can purchase this wine at Jacob Liquor Store on North Rock Road here in Wichita.