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When you order a steak at a restaurant, do you know where the beef came from, what it was fed, and under what conditions it was slaughtered? Should that even matter? If you are among those who are lured into Sizzler because they advertise a $9.99 steak dinner deal, have you ever thought: Isn't that too cheap for good meat? (It is, by the way.)

Many consumers, often at the urging of food professionals or after seeing influential documentaries like Food Inc, or hearing Michael Pollan speak, are not only cutting down on their meat consumption, but also paying careful attention to where their meat comes from. And now a NY-based meat wholesaler has begun to reach out to chefs via a letter published today by Mark Bittman to urge them to serve only "clean" meat, as in meat that is hormone and antibiotic free.

As Bittman explains, the note's author, George Faison, "doesn’t only sell naturally-raised meats - he sells industrially-produced stuff as well. But he’s on a campaign to persuade the chefs who insist that’s what they want to change their minds, and I know he’d like to supply only the right stuff."

The bottom line, points out Faison, is that the American "food supply system is broken," and obesity is a serious issue. "People have gotten used to eating cheap food and it is killing them," he says. Plus, that cheap food is often tasteless, or less robust in color or texture, because it has been chemically engineered to be mass produced and shipped out-of-season to grocery chains for year-round sale (think of a tomato you bought at a bix box grocery store in March, how hard, pale, and watery it was—now go read "Tomatoland", you little budding activist, you).

Eating locally and thoughtfully is a bit of a "trend" these days (we spotted "Local Sourcing In Los Angeles: Which Restaurants Do It Best?" via HuffPost today) but there is sincerity and gravity at the movement's core. And yet, here we are, America, chasing the elusive McRib. Ahem.

Faison goes into great detail in his letter. Will chefs listen? And will all of us, as eaters, be the change in our food system? Check out the full letter below: