Meat the Butcher

I found this program interesting but deeply troubling. The biggest problem with supermarket meat is that it has a sell by date and that it is packed in cling film. How can a piece of meat breath properly? How can a butcher smell and feel the meat to check the condition.

I can tell how good the meat is and how fresh it is just by the touch and smell. In my opinion the sell by date is just a guide and if I worked in a supermarket(God forbid) and I opened a meat pack and it still seemed fresh I would redate and rerap it no problem.

Just because it has gone out of date doesn't mean it is no longer fit for human consumption.

In the butchering world the most annoying thing is customers who think they know more that you. Today, I displayed a whole piece of rump fillet which had been hanging in my fridge for two weeks. It was beautiful, to then have a women come in and ask for a nice piece of fillet and then turn her nose up at it because in her words 'I don't like that it looks dark' makes my blood boil.

The lady in question was in her 70s so I can't believe she didn't understand you need to hang meat to get the best out of it.

I tried to convince her but to no avail, she probably disappeared to her local supermarket to some tasteless South American fillet.

Her Loss!!

I have to ask myself, why do I need to go on a fire training course for a butcher shop? and pay £299 for the privilage. I have 2 rooms, both about 12 ft square and both have outside doors. I don't need to go on some stupid course costing money, time just on the million to one shot that there is a fire in a butcher shop. Its all just common sense isn't it.....

Well, I heard some news today that just brings home what a farce Butchers and other shop keepers have to put up with. A few years back some bright spark from Brussels decided that we no longer had the right to sell goods in Pounds and Ounces. As a result we had to basicly spend thousands of pounds buying new equipment and trying to make sense of it all for our confused customers.

Now in a change around they says that we can now sell in pounds and ounces. I remember some poor bugger who spent all his money, lost is wife and kids fighting the case.

What happenned?

He killed him self!!!

All because of some people in suits in some foreign country who have nothing better to do than meddle in peoples lifes.....