“I want to know I am living my values.”

I recently had the opportunity to talk with Scott, one of the founders and owners of Slate Belt Butchery, a small, independently owned butcher shop where we send all the animals we buy from our local farmers to be processed. It was an excellent conversation, where a recurring theme emerged…

We continuously returned to the implications for people when everything we do, create, or consume is focused solely on the end product, rather than the process itself. This perspective applies both to businesses, where profit is the primary motivation, and to consumers, where price often drives decisions. On the personal level, this fixation on the end result impacts our well-being and sense of self. It raises a philosophical question: Are you creating or consuming?

When we buy something simply because it's cheap and convenient, I would argue that this is consumption. In contrast, when we take our time to learn about what we are eating, honor the animal that sacrificed its life, and approach meal preparation with intention, I believe this is creation.

Scott embodies the spirit of a creator. His story is fascinating and begins in a very different place than where it has led him today. I hope that Scott's passion for creation inspires all of us to reflect on how we consume and create in our daily lives. Like Scott, I want to ensure that I am living my values.

Enjoy!
-Dylan

Becoming a butcher was part of a larger life change for you. Can you tell me more about how you became a butcher and what led to that life transition:

Yeah, this was not part of my background at all. We lived in the city. My mom was a stay-at-home mom, and my dad worked for Kraft Foods. I went to college, and I majored in business. I had a lot of ideas to start my own business. I was into music. I played shows in bands. That's where my mind was. At the time, I was unable to put a business idea together.

I spent about 10 years working in corporate marketing. I bought my first house. I bought a grill and I fell in love with BBQ. I mean, I got really into it. Started doing some competitions. I wanted to pursue it as a passion and maybe a business. Then it dawned on me that PA has a culture of butchery. I grew up in the coal region. Kielbasa, scrapple, etc. We have a history in this. Over time, what I found was that there were not a whole lot of whole animal butchers out there.

A whole animal butcher is someone who butchers an animal in its entirety. This is very different than the large-scale industrial butchers who use massive assembly lines in which one person only butchers one part of the animal, and often the less desirable parts are not used.

While working my corporate job, I was able to get a part-time job butchering. This eventually led me to a crossroads. I was working the corporate gig, traveling into NYC, and working long hours, and I realized that my passion (butchering) was overtaking my career. I started to check out, which forced a serious conversation with my wife. I was 26/27 years old at the time. It wasn’t a complete burnout, but I needed to make a shift.

I took a leave of absence from my corporate job and gave up my salary to make $12/hour. I was working at the ground level, in the freezer. Went from the freezer to the kitchen, making sausage, and started curing meat. I was talking to everyone. I was buying pigs for myself to break down after hours. I realized there was a way to support local farmers and make customers happy. It wasn’t my initial goal to start my own butchery, but I was willing to be a sponge and let God show me the way.

It was tough. My wife and I… sacrificed. Really, my wife is the hero in this whole story. If it weren’t for her, none of this would be possible. She wanted me to be happy and not depressed.

So what happened next?

I needed to make a change here. I went back to the office. I was calmer. I was working a lot better. It was good for me. I had a career and I was able to do a good job there. But then I had the butchering in the back pocket. I was pretty content with that. I had my career and my passion. Working part-time and doing the BBQ on the side. I was sitting pretty.

Then the pandemic happened. My butcher job was shut down for two weeks, and two weeks turned into two months. I talked to Nolan from Stryker Farms. I knew he was losing his processor. He had tried to vertically integrate. He had all the equipment. He had the freezer. I talked to him. What would it take for me to process for you? We started to talk over the summer of 2020. I wasn’t going to do it if I had to work for him, because the economics wouldn’t work out. It was a requirement for me to run the operation myself. He agreed. It worked for both of us.

Then I called my friend and chef, Mike Schnalzer. He was off work. He had just had a baby, and the restaurants were down, and he was like, I’m in. Three months later, we found a couple of different customers, and then by December, we were working with you guys, and we were off and running.

How is your process different from that of large-scale meat processors?

Well, let's start with how they are similar. Both systems are under the USDA jurisdiction and must follow the same parameters. We have to do the same testing on our meats. We have to take temperatures every two hours. We all have a HAACCP (Hazard Analysis And Critical Control Points) plan. There is a lot of regulation.

Every plant has to have safety control points, allergen plans, and pest control. It can be hard sometimes for smaller butchers because large meat processors have the budget for all of that, whereas it's a lot of overhead for us to afford. Even though our processes are much smaller, and we might be processing 50 animals a week vs. 5,000 animals a day, the small plants are not given a pass.

The volume in processing is where it gets very different.

In the industrial system, thousands of animals are killed a day in some of these plants. It's a speed rail. In our system, we have a manual rail. There is a pulley. We put the animal on the rail. The same people who put the animal on the rail are cutting every little bit off it. It was a real living, breathing thing, and you have to honor that animal and care for it the whole way through the process.

In the large systems, from a handling point, because they are killing so many animals, they don’t have the opportunity to be patient with an animal. When I say patient, I mean… sometimes an animal can get stubborn. If an animal is spooked or scared, they stun them and keep the line moving. In a smaller shop, we are not forcing the animals through. There is no huge line. There is no bug rush in the same way. They’ll try to coax the animal in with food—more gentle handling.

In a smaller plant, there is inherently more humanity. There just isn’t time for it in a big plant when you have quotas to meet and a manager threatening to fire you because you took too long. I don’t want to say every big industrial plant does this, but there is less room for patience. With how their system and economics are set up, they have to push these animals through the system.

Even the people on the floor are cutting. They only do one thing. They are not breaking the whole animals down. By the time they get the animal, they are just looking at one piece, and their entire job might be cutting one cut of meat all day.

How is the quality of the meat different?

Well, in the big plants, the animal gets hot cut. That means they kill it and break it down in one day. That's not good for the meat, but one of the reasons big plants use this method is for higher yields. We let our beef hang 4 - 7 days. You can’t do that in a big plant if you are going to meet your quotas.

Can you tell me more about why hanging the meat is better for the quality? What happens when you handle the meat?

Well, first, you get moisture loss, meaning extra water evaporates, so that creates a better tasting flavor. Then there are enzymes in the meat that slowly break the meat down while it hangs. As that meat breaks down, it softens the tissue. It makes for a more enjoyable bite. Of course, all of this is done in a controlled environment under correct humidity and temperature. Hanging the meat also lets the muscles relax. Also, when the animal is not as stressed when it is killed, the meat is more tender. When you properly hang your meat (dry age), myoglobin helps break down the meat, developing a richer, deeper flavor.

Why do you think whole animal purchasing and butchery are important for the world?

It helps create the connection with what you are buying. I struggle with this a lot. I even have family members and close friends who don’t want to touch meat with their hands. They don’t want to see it.. don’t want to see the animals. But the way I feel is… I mean, say you are buying a nice steak at a steak house. Or for me, I was buying a brisket, and I had no idea where it came from... Knowing where it comes from. You appreciate the meat. It connects you with the food you are eating.

Sometimes, people want to be ignorant about what they eat. By offering the whole animal, your customers get acquainted with the different cuts. I feel like we lose respect for food and animals when we look at a plate and don’t even think about how an animal gave its life. You are more inclined to waste it. We waste so much food, and big ag wastes so much food. If people make that connection, they won’t waste so much.

We have a tendency to disassociate the final product from the process. Another analogy might be Jewelry. People might only focus on how it looks, but are they thinking about all of the violence that went into acquiring this diamond for the necklace they are wearing?

When we waste less, it's a lot better for the Earth. For us, it's painful when we lose 50lbs off an animal because there were cysts or something. I have to call the farmer and let them know. But you can be sure I am going to do everything I can to retain the part of the animal that is still great quality meat. That's going to take me more time, and I’m not going to make as much money on those animals, but it's the right thing to do. In an industrial operation, they don’t have the time for this. Sure, at the end of the day, I’m running a business, you are running a business, but there is a mission. We aren’t just trying to grow, grow, grow. Profit is not the reason we exist. I want to wake up and know that I am living my values. Everything we do has to align with our values. Our size is what makes this possible.

Changing subjects a little bit, you guys started working with Dave Rodgers, the farmer who raises all of our beef. Can you tell me a little bit about how that started?

Well, yeah, you guys introduced me to Dave. When we opened our retail shop, we were selling our own meat, and I needed to start buying in animals. I had been processing with you guys for two years. I love the quality of his animals. The marbling is nice. The meat is beautiful. I was talking with Dave. He’s the farmer; he knows his animals. That is what I want. When we started to buy animals, I wanted to work with Dave. It was a testament to the quality and consistency. Dave was number 1 on our list to buy from.

How is it going at your retail shop?

Well, when we moved in, the community up here was used to box meat. (Box meat is when a butcher gets primal cuts of meat that a larger processor has already broken down, and they are not breaking down the whole animal.) Box meat is going to be a lower price point. We hear it from our customers. “Oh well, they are cheaper down the street.” I mean, there is so much education that needs to be done. In our society, we see food as a commodity. We want cheap. Of course, the temptation is there to buy the box meat and break it down. It’s a lot easier, but, well, we aren’t going to do that.

Might sound silly after this whole conversation, but why aren’t you going to do that?

Supporting our local farmers keeps them in business. When our customers support and buy from us, they support our employees and farmers. Someone walks in, I can tell them what farm the animal came from. I feel really good about that. It's not without work, and it can be frustrating because all of the education pieces take time. I mean, these are two very different products from two very different systems.

Where do you see our food system in 50 years?

In 50 years…

I hate to say it, but it's getting harder and harder for the small guy. I think there will always be people doing what we are doing, but it is getting tougher. All of the prices are rising. That said, I know there are always people fighting the fight. I love what you guys are doing. People in the city are inherently the most removed from their food. I think what you guys are doing is so important—taking agriculture and sharing it with people in the city.