Meat (for good or ill) is intricately connected to urban demography; as seen in the distribution of London's butchers.
“If I go into a butcher’s shop I always think it’s surprising that I wasn’t there instead of the animal.” (Francis Bacon)
There are nearly 350 independent butchers in London; and the map of their geographic locations is a palimpsest of the city's social history.​
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You can use the map above to examine the geographical distribution of London's butchers. Use the filter to choose a borough and the map will automatically zoom into that part of town. Then, hover your cursor over any of the dots and a lightbox will appear, displaying the name of the butcher's shop, its street location and its postcode.
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Whatever your views on the ethics of meat consumption, the fact remains that it still plays a major part in the gastronomic life of millions of Londoners. And the distribution of the city's butchers shops tells a fascinating story about shifting patterns of immigration and gentrification (the two forces that have kept the independent butchery trade alive despite the depredations of the high street supermarkets with their shrink-wrapped meat counters). By way of example, consider the concentration of butchers in Brixton, Peckham and Dalston. All three of these areas have high concentrations of minority ethnic groups whose culinary needs are often poorly served by the supermarket chains. Processes of gentrification have also led to a burgeoning "hipster" population with a quasi-religious commitment to all things "artisanal" (a category that includes expensive, "quality", butchers shops).
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The result of these two processes? At one point on a two hundred metre radius, you can find low cost stalls selling cow foot and "shaki" (tripe); whilst at the other end you'll find glass fronted shops staffed by millennial butchers clad in moleskine trousers and woolen neckties.
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