General availibility of veal in the U.S.?

[AlexR]

Just musing here... I grew up in the US, in upstate New York.
At that time, veal was pretty exotic and hard to find.
I almost never had it outisde of Italian restaurants, and don't ever recall seeing it in the supermarket.

Since then, there has been a movement (especially in the UK) to boycott veal because of the conditions under which the calves are said to be kept.
Personally, I couldn't tell you if veal is produced in any more - or less - "humane" a way than other meats...

Anyway, I was just wondering: is veal readily available in America today?

While on the subject, is it hard to find a butcher near where you live, or do you buy most of your meat at the supermarket?

Best regards,
Alex R.

[Candocook]

It is very available here in the South now, but not when we first moved here. NOr was lamb particularly available. But EVERYthing has basically changed--seafood, etc. Distribution methods have made anything possible, which I think is more to the point.
Now I notice the post is a question from France--my favorite place for shopping. As my daughter described it, "I love France. When you want a scarf you go to the scarf shop. When you want paper you go to the stationery store." SO true. I LOVE the food markets of France!!! We never miss a market!
Butchers here are few and far between--not totally unavailable, but not always convenient. I shop at the supermarkets.

[lulu]

LOL, but french hypermarkets are amazing too, with everything under a roof! As you describe France, so is Italy, but I think even more so. There are fewer chain stores and although the supermarkets are bigger and better than when DH was a youngster in Italy, the true hypermarket is very rare!

Pink veal is more available in UK. As you say, the Britsh are prepared tp scarifice a little tenderness for what we consider, pretty much nationally, to be an inhumane rearing method, so white veal is not often found. The big veal debates put a lot of people off veal entirely, and it is eaten less, I think, than other meats.

An interesting question, Alex.

[buckytom]

alex, veal has always been available near me (nyc tri-state area) as long as i can remember.

i have the fortune to be able to shop in literally a dozen or more markets within a few miles of my house or on the way home from work. everything from run of the mill supermarkets, to farmer's markets with butchers, to gourmet shops specializing in fresh/local/organic foods, to international markets, especially asian, eastern european, and south/central american influenced.

in almost all of these places, there is the availabilty in differing combinations of whole legs or shanks, breasts, neck, chops - shoulder, loin, or rib, and either cubes of various cuts or the same ground.

i often buy round bone shoulder chops to cube myself and make veal and sweet peppers in sugo. it was the first meat my son was able to eat because it becomes so tender.

i've heard of the controversy over eating veal, but i agree that eating an animal is tough on the beast no matter how it's done.

[Constance]

I live in an area where unemployment is high and many incomes are below poverty level. I haven't seen any veal in a grocery store around here for years. We can't get lamb, either, except around Easter time, when Sam's usually has some.
There is a small market in a town near here that still has a butcher, but most of the grocery stores, even Krogers, have done away with theirs.

[auntdot]

Can usually find veal in the supermarket, but always in our warehouse markets.

Independent butcher shops are not common, but one can use the supermarkets if you give them a bit of notice.

Lamb, just got wome lamb tenderloin from a local (45 miles away) farm. It was freshly killed but frozen. Gotta think about a recipe for it.

[Katie E]

When we lived in the Washington, DC area, veal of all manner was easy to find. Not necessarily inexpensive, but very available. As was just about any cut of lamb.

That's quite a contrast to the area in which we now live. Veal is essentially nonexistent. In 13 years I might've seen it twice. Lamb is also as scarce as hen's teeth. Although, Sam's Club, year 'round, regularly carries nice lamb chops more often than they used to and an occasional leg of lamb.

[jennyema]

Veal is readily available here in Boston, too.

[buckytom]

veal prices vary here depending on the cut.
the shoulder chops i buy are around $4 to $5 a pound. cubed veal is a little higher. you can always do a dollar or more per pound better during sales.

loin and rib chops are more expensive, upwards of $9 per pound. breast is cheap but there's not much meat on them.

[CharlieD]

Yeap, veal, is hard to come by here. I am in twincity area.