As Catherine Friend puts it in her new book, The Compassionate Carnivore (Perseus Books), "By admitting we are eating animals, we allow ourselves to feel more compassion for them . . . . Once we open our eyes and connect the dots between a farmer's barn and the burger on our plate, we know we have a responsibility to improve the lives, and deaths, of livestock animals." This makes sense to me.

So I've committed to becoming a consumer of animal protein that, prior to becoming meat, lived a happy enough existence doing what cows, pigs and chickens do - eating grass and living outside in natural conditions, not stacked on top of each other in a hellish, feces-laden setting.

And I'm not alone. Farmer Mark Faille of Simply Grazin' farm in Skillman, N.J., has seen a dramatic increase not only in his sales, but in the questions he's asked by customers and restaurant owners.

"People are demanding local and humanely raised product," he said. "We see people from all economic levels . . . . The change I've seen in just the increase of awareness is overwhelming."

Likewise, Trent Hendricks of Hendricks Farm in Telford said he had seen a steady, regular increase in customers interested in humanely raised beef and poultry.

"It's the health-conscious that are hard-core, that show up every couple of weeks with coolers in hand," Hendricks said. "The gourmands are more hit-and-miss."

My decision fits in with the general direction my food consumption has been going, buying fresh, local and seasonal, and keeping prepared and synthetic food (mostly) out of my kitchen.

OK, so I had a stand: I wanted to buy meat and poultry that is humanely and sustainably raised first, and if possible, locally raised, so my dollars support family farms. Now I needed a plan. What exactly are my shopping options?

Supermarkets. For the most part, I found I couldn't buy meat or chicken at the typical supermarket. While a few brands promise organic chicken or beef without antibiotics, that doesn't necessarily address the humane factor. The chickens might get organic feed, but that doesn't guarantee they're truly free-range. And since supermarkets buy in bulk, local products are not high on the list of priorities. Two exceptions: Whole Foods and Wegman's. At Whole Foods, high prices deliver, if not necessarily a local product, at least one that meets my overall conscious carnivore criteria. Wegman's also carries beef and chicken from humane certified suppliers; the beef is from Montana, the chickens from Eberly Poultry farm in Stevens, Pa.

Farmers markets. Now we're talking. Our area has plenty of farmer's markets from which to choose. But I find it's still up to me to ask the questions - has the meat been humanely raised? Do they know the producers, and have they seen the conditions first hand? At Reading Terminal, for instance, Nick Ochs works with local Lancaster farms to sell pasture-raised, corn-finished prime beef and free-range chickens. "That's our niche - we know where all of our meat comes from," he said. Although he doesn't carry 100 percent grass-fed (it's not fatty enough to qualify as prime, which is what Ochs' sells), he can order it.

Clark Park Farmers' Market and the Headhouse Farmers' Market specialize in keeping it local, offering organic produce, artisinal cheeses, grass-fed beef and poultry, and more.

Farms. This is another option, actually driving the hour it takes to get to Hendricks Farms - the only one I've visited personally - to pick up grass-fed beef, poultry, organic eggs, and milk and the cheese that Hendricks makes himself. Hendricks specializes in dairy, but after life as dairy cows, his herd is processed for ground beef, and he cooperates with a few other local farms to sell humanely raised meats as well. It's an easy ride, and I spent about $270 on meats and poultry - which is lasting a long time. Another option is Simply Grazin' in Skillman, near Princeton. I haven't been there yet, but it's on my radar. (See the accompanying list for other farms.)

What it costs

This conscious-carnivore thing isn't cheap. "Happy" chicken can run as high as $7.99 a pound. A pound of organically raised grass-fed stew beef sells for $8 a pound and the cuts of meat go up from there, with sirloin steaks at $14.25 a pound. And pork chops from pigs that are allowed to roll around in the mud, chomp on acorns, and generally live a good piggy life cost in the neighborhood of $10 a pound.

"Our ground beef is $9.99 a pound," Faille of Simply Grazin' said. "But I can tell you that the beef you purchase comes from one animal, and I know that animal's name, date of birth, sex, and where he was processed. You can't get that for 99 cents a pound."

Faille raises cattle on 220 acres in Skillman and on 200 acres in Hunterdon. He and his fiancee also operate a small retail store that carries organic veal, beef, pork and chicken raised in a chemical-free environment, free-range, pasture-grown, with no growth hormones, antibiotics or steroids. His beef is processed at Bringhurst Meats in Berlin, the only federally inspected, certified organic processor in New Jersey. (His meat products are available at the Collingswood Farmers' Market.)

One way to pare the price is to commit in advance to a share of an animal, an arrangement you can make directly with the farmer.

But generally, it costs more to eat this way - I'd say I'm spending about 25 to 35 percent more a month, but I feel so much better about what I'm buying and serving to my family that it's worth it.

Taste test