Though I’ve tested the waters of vegetarianism, I really like steak, love a juicy cheeseburger, fawn over pork tamales…so this is a topic that’s near and dear to my heart.  Where does all this meat come from?  Now, I grew up on a farm.  I’ve eaten home-grown chicken, and I can accept that the food I eat comes at the cost of a life.  (Though I agree entirely with traveling taster Anthony Bourdain’s recent take on the subject: “I think it's both useful and appropriate to experience the shame, guilt and discomfort of seeing what the real cost of dinner is.”  And that guy has eaten fermented shark.)

But that’s not what I’m referring to here.  Recently, it seems there’s been a spate of negative news about meat.  Did you know that much of that nice, bright pink meat we buy in the grocery store has been treated with carbon monoxide to hold its fresh-looking color?  (I didn’t know until Good Morning America told me.)  Then there are the ground beef recalls for E. coli—I heard about those on Foodservice.com’s message boards.  It’s all making me just a little nervous.  And I’m not the only one; cartoon character Hank Hill takes action on his concerns in a King of the Hill episode titled “Raise the Steaks.”  (Thanks to the Sustainable Table’s blog for the tip.)

I know about best practices when storing and cooking my food (see Serv-U’s food safety resource page).  But I’d like to know where that food (especially the meat) is coming from.  I’d like to have a little more confidence in the processes that bring it to my supermarket.  That’s why I was delighted when my mom announced that this year’s Thanksgiving turkey was going to be fresh from a local 4-H-er's organic farm.  And it was delicious.  But how can I get that kind of quality in my everyday eating?  I am willing to pay a little more for humanely-raised meat, but what can a restaurateur do with a 5% profit margin?

The Chefs Collaborative’s most recent blog post advocates the purchase of locally-grown and humanely-raised meats.  The blogger, LeighB, offers many links to articles that demonstrate the need for change, though they stop short of offering a clear and profitable solution.  However, I like the site’s “Local Food Search.”  A search in my area came up with two operations—and I plan to follow up.  If you’re interested in reading a little more on the topic of sustainable food, I suggest another blog, Edible Nation.

Energy efficiency pays off.  It’s measurably profitable to use efficient restaurant equipment and it's fairly easy to make the change.  Sustainable food might not be there yet, but I think it’s headed that way.  Remember yesterday's post about restaurant consumer trends?  One of those trends is social responsibility.  In that Cornell study, 58% of respondents list animal welfare as a top priority and 52% said the environment.  That means that labeling your restaurant's meals as "organic" or "local" will appeal to more than half of consumers.  And like me, they are probably willing to pay more for it.  No need to lose the profit margin; in fact, it might just increase.