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Barnard Bourgois and Pieter Vervaecke butcher a cow at the Slagerij Vande Walle in Kluisbergen, Belgium. This family of butchers has been doing things much the same way for seven generations since the first Vande Walle started the business in 1777. Ruben Vande Walle, the current owner, told Steinmetz he is the only butcher in Flanders permitted to slaughter the meat he sells, and, like the commercial abattoirs, he is required to have a government inspector on-site on slaughter days. He says the cattle, pigs, and sheep are all brought into the slaughter room calmly and killed instantly with a bolt gun or electrical shock to the head. Vande Walle sells his meats for about 20 percent more than the supermarket chains and requires that the animals he buys are raised to his specifications. Even the pigs are free-range. “If you are going to eat meat, this is the best way to do it,” says Vande Walle.

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Barnard Bourgois and Pieter Vervaecke butcher a cow at the Slagerij Vande Walle in Kluisbergen, Belgium. This family of butchers has been doing things much the same way for seven generations since the first Vande Walle started the business in 1777. Ruben Vande Walle, the current owner, told Steinmetz he is the only butcher in Flanders permitted to slaughter the meat he sells, and, like the commercial abattoirs, he is required to have a government inspector on-site on slaughter days. He says the cattle, pigs, and sheep are all brought into the slaughter room calmly and killed instantly with a bolt gun or electrical shock to the head. Vande Walle sells his meats for about 20 percent more than the supermarket chains and requires that the animals he buys are raised to his specifications. Even the pigs are free-range. “If you are going to eat meat, this is the best way to do it,” says Vande Walle.

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