The sole exception was sheep, the critter that makes the best metabolic use of grass and so can be fattened up on the graze. But even here, the sheep (and shepherd) would have to walk to town. Railways and steamships and trucks sped things up, but the real shift didn’t occur until the twentieth century, with the rise of inexpensive refrigerated shipping. Animals could now be butchered and chilled before being shipped, and carcasses don’t have to be fed.
