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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3872 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for November 20, 2022

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Meat. How do you know you're getting the good stuff and not some ultra-processed slop filled with cheap, rotting bits o' this and that?

It seems like this choice is a spectrum.

On one hand, you have the raw stuff: steak cuts, chicken thighs, pork chops, etc. Things that look like meat. Here, you can discern quality by figuring out the origin.

On the other hand, you have spam and spam-like products. It's probably sat in that can for months. It's probably a mix of all sorts of meats and meat-things, along with a bunch of chemicals that aren't too good for your body.

But what's in between? Like, if I buy ham at the store, how can I discern whether it falls more into the ultra-processed category or rather into the raw stuff category?

(I'm trying to be more systemic about my diet and part of the equation seems to be minimizing ultra-processed foods. This is easy with stuff like chips, sweets, soda, etc. but not so much with meat.)

Edit: My thanks for the excellent advice!

Find a butcher you trust, get meat from them. How do you find a butcher you trust? That's a harder answer. I would look the quality of their meats, you should be able to tell visually to some extent (e.g. by looking at steaks for good marbling). Buy some and taste it, determine for yourself how good the product is. Get to know the butcher and talk to them about how they source meat. A good butcher will care about the quality of their product, and you should be able to pick up on that when talking to them.

All that said, I have a local butcher I trust and I don't always go to her shop to get meat. Sometimes I just get meat at the supermarket because I'm already there, and it's easier. But if you're concerned about the quality, finding a butcher you trust is the best way.

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