The Food Chain

Carving up carcasses and slicing up flesh. Day in, day out. Doling out blood for pet leeches, and helpings of animals brains. What drives people to do it? And why do they see themselves as animal lovers, and therapists? Emily Thomas meets three butchers from Limerick, Lagos and Brooklyn to find out what it’s really like to be a butcher. Why is the trade disparaged in some parts of the world? And why in others has it become ‘trendy’ to leave an office job to join the trade? We hear how business might be affected by changing patterns of meat consumption, the popularity of veganism and the dominance of the supermarkets. And are they worried that robots might take their jobs? (Photo: Brent Young carving up meat. Credit: BBC)