After watching Steak (R)evolution, I’m never buying my beef from a grocery store ever again. Sorry Thrifty Foods but I’m going to a butcher instead! I’ve often gone to them for bacon and burger patties, but for steak, I never thought about the differences in what gets sent to market or to what I like to call a meat broker. Yes, prime sides of prized bovine do go to auction, and the education does not end there about humanity’s relationship with the cow.

This movie not only provides a look in what makes for a perfect cut of beef but also shows how regional bovine can impart a special taste upon the product that gets eaten by humans. I’m not talking about Kobe Beef, to which I’ve sampled once in my life (I do want more, but the prices were the primary deterrent). At the same time, just how I want to cuddle my favourite cow (one species, the highland cattle with their winter coats are too adorable to consider slaughtering) might lead me to giving up the meat altogether. Some subspecies are just that darned cute (alpaca like if I had to draw comparisons) and they should not be considered for slaughter. To realize that they are bred to feed connoisseurs is difficult to fathom, but yet, to understand the intricacies of how these beasts are raised to being brazed on the grill or pan needs people to have more than an iron clad understanding of why we, as humans, have gone from a hunter-gatherer species to an agriculture-based society.

Continue reading →