An insightful and engaging insider's look at the history and business
of the meat industry, from master butcher Pat LaFrieda
"A full-throated celebration of red meat from one of the nation's
major purveyors. . . . The true meat of his book is a study of how beef
is brought from farm to table as well as an account of commercial
success that deserves a place on any business school syllabus." --
Kirkus Reviews
It all began when Pat LaFrieda's great-grandfather Anthony LaFrieda
decided to pack up and move his family from Italy to New York in search
of a better life, setting up the family's first retail butcher shop in
1922 in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Almost one hundred years later, Pat
LaFrieda, a fourth-generation butcher and third-generation meat
purveyor, is at the helm of a family-run business that has been
providing meat to customers for decades, through wars, the Great
Depression, the tumultuous years when New York City was dubbed "Fear
City," the fall of the Twin Towers, unprecedented hurricanes, and even a
pandemic.
Most people don't know the amount of time, commitment, and extenuating
work that goes into bringing them the piece of meat on their plate. What
are the real implications of grass-fed beef on climate change? What is
involved in humanely processing animals at harvesting facilities? Why is
grading, labeling, and traceability essential for the consumer? And
what's the beef with eating meat?
There are two sides to every story; however, in the beef industry's
case, only one side seems to get most of the airtime. In Glorious
Beef, LaFrieda shares his family's legacy and pulls back the curtain to
reveal a behind-the-scenes view of each stage of the process involved in
bringing beef from pasture to plate and the truths behind the industry's
story of survival and constant evolution.
