Jacob Grier raises some concerns regarding the rise in popularity in offal. What are the economic effects of people eating animals that suddenly have more to offer than traditional cuts? To answer that, one must look at the two points of consumption for any meat product at the retail level: the grocery store and the restaurant.
Portland is an exception, but in most cities, you still have to go the Asian or Latin supermarket to get something simple like caul fat and pig trotters, items that are used prominently in peasant Western cuisines, but are hard to find in our more affluent, modern era. And while the article that Grier cites predicts that testicles will be the next big offal thing, I'm more inclined to believe that, if anything, it'll be grilled chicken feet. (As Anthony Bourdain says, "It's America's favorite flavor," even if it isn't quite America's favorite texture.)
While immigrants in America no longer have to turn to offal out of stark necessity, ethnic markets still provide offal for its intended use in peasant dishes, not high end dinner parties for adventurous foodies. Premium offal cuts like foie and sweetbreads don't reside here, as their value exceed the customer base of the market, but you'll still find plenty of tongue, heart, liver, etc. How soon before the these cuts go from your local carnicería to Dean and Deluca?
Perhaps it's all in the packaging and marketing. The amorphous nature, both in shape and in name, of high end items like foie and sweetbreads provides a layer of insulation between the consumer and the animal. But when you go to buy tongue at the market, and when you prep tongue on your cutting board, there's never any denying or mistaking it: it's a fucking tongue.
And as popular as foie and sweetbreads are, when was the last time you saw anyone with them at the checkout line next to their Fruit Loops and D-Batteries? Okay, that's a bit of a straw man argument, sure, my point is that a luxury item in a restaurant remains a luxury item only when it's in the restaurant.
It's not isolated to just luxurious cuts of offal. Calamari is ubiquitous on the coasts and strangely available inland too thanks to TGIFridays and Outback and what not. Squid represent one of the earth's largest biomasses, and commercial fishermen would love for there to be an increase in demand for it. Calamari is far more popular than any offal. And yet it's not flying off the shelves. The supply is there; the demand is there. Just not at the grocery store.
In regards to the mega meat processors, they're going to be just fine as Grier mentions, since no one doubts the efficiency of the modern abattoir. But Sysco isn't providing offal to Olive Garden, nor are the corporate restaurants leading the charge. The usage of offal (and the hipness that may result) is being driven by artisanal kitchens working with artisanal farmers and ranchers. These farms and ranches don't possess the same economies of scale or distribution channels of larger operations, and would much rather sell a whole hog to a restaurant or chef.
This, then, returns the usage of offal to that magic word: necessity. Faced with a whole animal, a restaurant kitchen works to maximize every scrap. And so, the rise in popularity of offal has a higher effect on artisanal producers and the people that work with those producers.
My butcher's name is Eric. Granted, I have a habit of asking for everyone's name, but the fact that I have a regular butcher makes me a rare species, even in today's glorified foodie culture.* Someone like Eric represents the link between the grocery store and the restaurant, since he still possesses the passion and knowledge of someone working in the back of the house breaking down whole animals, including all the nasty bits, and producing patés, sausages, and stock. Eric will be able to spot the real effect of the popularity of offal, as he knows if I'm buying something out of sport or experimentation, or if I'm buying the same off cuts again and again and making something delicious from them.
* I actually go to multiple butchers. Don't tell Eric.
** Top to bottom: veal sweetbreads, oxtail soup, beef tongue sandwich, monkfish liver and blood sausage. All really effing delicious.
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