What Being a Butcher Taught Me About the Value of Craft

In 2018, I managed a small butcher shop in Palo Alto, Calif. Thanksgiving was easily our busiest time of the year, but the day before the holiday I was working the shop alone. We’d received a literal truckload of frozen turkeys from our farm, and my team and I spent the previous week sorting them by size and preparing special orders (spatchcock, brined, bone-in breast, etc.). With more than 50 orders scheduled for pick-up that day...