Eat the whole enchilada: Give organ meat a chance

By Don “Doc” Sanders

Warning: The following description of families harvesting their food may be shocking to some. If this includes you, skip this column and continue your belief that food comes from the grocery store.

When I was growing up in the 1950s, my father and his brothers-in-law (he had no brothers), annually selected a beef steer to butcher. My maternal grandpa farmed as well, but he also taught school, so didn’t get involved with my father and uncles in harvesting meat. He had two children, a daughter (my mother) and a son who had an important government job in Columbus.

On other occasions my Dad and uncles harvested pork from three or four fat hogs to augment their beef supply.

Regardless of the species they were butchering, it was always an all-day event. They did it in the winter, which enabled them to hang the meat from a barn beam overnight, where it could thoroughly chill before being divided into quarters for each family.… Continue reading