e ss ential food & beverage
The Conscious Carnivore by Jeanne Engle The Shorewood Shopping Center on University Avenue has become a destination for foodies in the Madison area. Some refer to it as the Gourmet Ghetto, with The Conscious Carnivore being the whole-animal butcher shop with some of the best meats in the region. According to Business Manager Bartlett Durand, “People call us the grass-fed guys or organic butcher. We most match the idyllic view that a person might have of a farm with the red barn, white house, and garden in the back. It’s the agriculture that one’s grandfather (or great-grandfather) would recognize.” Why The Conscious Carnivore? Bartlett explains that it’s not “conscientious” as some would believe, even though animals butchered at the shop have 14 | m a d i s o n e s s e n t i a l s
been slaughtered humanely and are antibiotic free. Rather, he wants people to be mindful or conscious about their food choices. Bartlett is countering passive consumerism. “There’s so much more to food than just price. I want to make the chain from the farmer to the customer as short as possible and the connection as strong as possible,” he emphasizes. Bartlett goes on to say, “Everything in society is designed to make us mindless consumers. Where you spend your money can be more important than casting your vote. If you go only for lowest price, you are supporting food as a commodity and buying into big agriculture and standardized quality. If instead you focus on buying local, you