I remember went I was a child that my mother would send me to the local butcher store to buy the meat for that day as we only had an ice box so we did not my a lot of meat ahead of time. She would buy some beef, pork, or even a chicken breast and then ask for chicken wings which the butcher gave away free. How time changes now butcher are hard to find in cities only in the supermarkets which is far different that the olden days. The supermarket is full of processed meats which have additives that in medical labs they use the same chemical to give rats cancer but I guess it is OK for people. The local butcher just killed a cow so we bought 20 lbs and got out the meat grinder to make some hamburger for later and cooked the other up for supper. Some of the draw backs of living in a third world country side no supermarkets Ha Ha Looking forward to non processed meat. Grinding up the beef. https://rumble.com/veobzd-hamburger-helper.html
I don't ever recall a local butcher from my childhood. My mother did buy our bread at the local bakery. I recall the woman hovering over the slicer with a cigarette dangling between her lips, the 3" ash threatening to fall on our crust...it never did. I've ground my own beef on a small scale every once in a while. I'll buy a chuck steak, add some fat, and run it through the grinder attachment on my stand mixer. It sure tastes fresh! People don't realize that the burger they buy in stores contains meat from up to 1,000 cows. This was raised when BSE (mad cow disease) hit the news. One thing driving the loss of butchers in America is childish sensibilities. I'm not referring to those who have a genuine concern over critter welfare. I'm referring to meat eaters who demand to remain in denial and want to believe that meat comes from a factory, and who will impose the lunacy on the rest of us. There is a chain of burger places called Fuddrucker's that butchers its own meat (and bakes their own buns) right in each location. The original one where I lived had a big window in the wall where you could watch the butchering process as you stood in line to order. Sides of beef were hanging in the refrigerated room as the men in white coats and helmets wielded their knives. It was fascinating to watch. It stayed like that for years. Then one day a sheet of plywood covered the window. Aggressive Stupid wins again.