Butcher

Food is a basic necessity and for me that includes animal protein.
recipes from the butcher

.      Governments need to have both shepherds and butchers.   
~Voltaire
.     Two of the noblest professions in my mind will always be the farmer and the butcher. Based on continuing research I am doing, the future of farming is a really sad thing. I will post more on that later. Today is about the butcher.
.     Through today's mechanized butchering processes approximately 750 lbs of food can be yielded from the butchering of a single cow. But it is important to note that the breed of cow has an impact on the quality and quantity yield. Historically, cattle were bred and kept for three purposes: meat, milk and labor. This would be your shorthorn breed which originally showed up in the US in Virginia in 1783. From industrialization and mechanized farming methods, cattle have been mostly removed from the labor end of the deal. When the butchering process is done by hand as grandpaw and great grandpaw did, there is less waste being sold as beef by-products for dog chow.
.     Today the best breed of cattle to raise for beef depends on the climate they are raised in and the season they are to be butchered in. The Hereford is known to mature sooner therefore can be slaughtered in a more conducive season, as opposed to being kept and fed throughout the winter. However the longhorn angus mix is known for being hardy through the winter and emerging in spring at a more favorable weight. The angus is the most common breed in the US for meat production.
.     At this point I want to emphasize something. Butchering is a skill and a trade that are crucial to the survival of the human species. Sorry vegans, I don't count you as a natural part of the breed, take that to mean you are some sort of next evolution, or whatever. For those like me, carnetarians, we survive because there are still those who know the safe and proper ways of using every part of an animal to enhance our own quality of life.
.     I for one, fear the day that all our mechanical processes fail or can't run due to lack of energy supply or some other thing. In that time, I want to be one of the few who still recalls how to survive pioneer style. This includes basic knowledge of farming and butchering, tanning and tools. I am using my time to learn what I can about as much in the realm of survivalism as I can. I found a farmer butcher who posted a detailed account of butcher basic knowledge and it struck me as the kind of thing I personally would be begging my grandfather to talk to me about. Please with an open mind and a strong stomach, read and enjoy the find of the day: back woods home