A guy at the farmers market in Asheville asked me a question about pork shoulder that made me stop and think.

He was holding a 12 pound shoulder and asked if I could explain the difference between a Boston butt and a picnic cut, not just point them out. I gave my usual spiel about bone structure and fat cap, but he kept asking 'why' until I had to really break down the muscle groups and cooking times. How do you guys handle customers who want the deep cut science, not just the basic info?

3 comments

3 Comments

wendy_carr7d ago

Ever notice people want to know how everything works now?

roberts.aaron6d ago

Love those deep dive questions. Had a guy ask me to explain soil pH for his tomatoes like I was teaching a class.

amymason5d ago

Last summer a customer asked me to trace the whole life of a chicken from hatch to harvest. I pulled out a notepad and drew a simple timeline with feed changes at key weeks. Breaking it down step by step with visuals helped a ton, way more than just talking. Now I keep a few of those old drawings behind the counter for when folks really want to understand the process. It turns a confusing question into a simple story they can follow.