The Gourmet Butcher's 2012 Manifesto

Reader Contribution by Cole Ward

It wasn’t so long ago (well, maybe a few decades), when there was a butcher shop on every corner. Now you really have to search for one. You’d almost think that we’re a thing of the past.

So I’ve been thinking about the way things progress — or, in this case, don’t progress. And I believe we’ve lost a great deal.

Training a person to cut meat doesn’t turn them into a butcher. There is so much more to it that that. Some butchers cut very well, but it often ends there.Merchandizing, creating value-added items, setting up and decorating an artful display, and most of all — customer service.

A real butcher believes that his or her customer is King or Queen. No matter how bad your day was, or no matter your personal troubles, the customer should be greeted as a long lost best friend, and every effort made to satisfy their needs.

So many butchers I know have an “Oh, that’s good enough” attitude. Most simply don’t understand or appreciate the finer aspects of the trade, like how to display their products, that different colors go with different meats, such as lamb, beef and pork or veal. Customers buy with their eyes, so appearance is everything.

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