Giving Compass' Take:

• Lynne Curry explores the dilemma faced by meat eaters who oppose the moral and environmental consequences of factory farming but struggle to find ethical and affordable meat sources. 

• How can philanthropy help to support farmers that utilize environmentally-friendly methods? 

• Learn about clean meat. 

Did the organic chicken from the supermarket really live a better life? Is the bacon in my breakfast burrito causing antibiotic resistance in humans? Will the grass-fed burger I grilled for dinner contribute to global warming?

I live in a farming community in eastern Oregon, where the slogan “know your farmer, know your food” is a fact of rural living-as is a chest freezer containing a quarter steer, a half hog, a whole lamb, and assorted whole chickens. Our year’s supply of animal protein is all raised on pasture and killed on-farm. Seasonal vegetables are the center of my plate, and I swear off all factory-farmed meats.

As a whole, conscious carnivores believe that buying directly from farms and farmers’ markets is not only good for local economies but is also better for the environment. These twin convictions are also the foundation of the societal push toward better food for more people that’s evolved over the past 20 years—what some would call “the food movement.”

Living in an agricultural area for nearly 20 years, I’ve witnessed the benefits of rural development investments in farming and mainstream interest in humanely- and pasture-raised meats. Millennials have returned to their parents’ ranches in this land- and water-rich mountain valley with marketing educations, grazing plans, and fresh ambitions. A cattle ranching area since the 1850s, it’s only recently that you can get a locally raised grass-fed burger at the R&R Drive-in, a bison burger at the brewpub, and buy pastured goat and chicken at the farmers’ market.

Read the full article about meat by Lynne Curry at The New Food Economy.