Lee Hanson is a real cut up.

A standup comedian he’s not. But as the owner of Hanson’s Meats in Sharon, his job as butcher and meat cutter requires a sharp edge.

To put a fine point on word meanings, a butcher is someone who slaughters animals for consumption while a meat cutter carves up the edible portions into choice cuts.

Hanson keeps close tabs on consumer buying habits. He’s found shoppers have steered away from buying beef products with bones.

"We’ve changed with the times to some extent,’’ he said. "We seldom get a request for a roast with a bone anymore.’’

Besides selling meats by the piece, Hanson’s was known for selling quarters and sides of beef, along with sides of pork to bulk shoppers. The store began using a different approach a few years ago at the suggestion of Hanson’s wife, Sharon. The store now markets a selection of meats -- beef, chicken and poultry -- in bulk orders that have attracted a wider audience. Special orders are invited anytime.

Hanson is carrying on the family business started by his father, Herbert, in 1935.

"For six years he peddled meat from the back of his truck,’’ Hanson recalled. "He sold his meat door-to-door in the Shenango Valley.’’

When World War II hit, tire rationing flattened sales, forcing his father to park the truck and buy a shop along what is now the Shenango Freeway. He sold meat, produce and other grocery items until the war ended in 1945. He then built a new store across the street where it continues operating.

Abandoning produce and groceries, his father again concentrated on meat as the store’s bread and butter.

"When the war ended home freezers began to get real popular,’’ Hanson said. "He was the first in the area to supply meat for the freezer.’’

Two years later his father built the slaughter plant the business continues to use on Maple Drive in Hermitage.

Hanson joined his dad in 1965 after high school, became a full-fledged partner in 1972 and became sole owner in 1983 after his father’s death.

These days Hanson oversees a store which primarily sells beef, pork and poultry along with the occasional lamb. His operation still butchers a good portion of the meats except for chickens.

Over the years Hanson has seen dramatic changes within the meat industry.

Until the early ‘70s he and his father butchered nearly all of the meat sold at the store. But the meat packing industry began offering a deal whereby they would butcher the livestock and offer specific parts in boxes by the bulk.

For small meat and grocery stores that meant a savings in labor intensive butchering. It also cut down on waste.

"I can buy what I need rather than a whole side of beef,’’ Hanson said. "If I had gotten an order for 100 T-bone steaks I would have to do something with the rest of the side. Now I can order just what I need and do more volume with less labor.’’

A misconception is beef is butchered, cut and served on store shelves in days if not hours. If such were the case meat would be tougher than a singed steak at the bottom of a barbecue pit. For the true carnivore the meat is aged between two to three weeks in a cooler.

"By naturally aging it, bacteria gradually breaks down the connective muscle tissue in the meat making it more tender,’’ Hanson said.

The same doesn’t hold true for pork or chickens because they’re slaughtered at an early age when there’s little connective tissue.

He’s found getting supplied by local farmers has gotten harder over the years. Instead, corporate farms are steadily taking over the business.

"There’s simply fewer individual farmers growing livestock,’’ Hanson said. "Your older farmers are quitting and selling out and the younger generation says it’s not profitable.’’

As the baby-boomer generation ages Hanson’s has developed its own creations for those wanting to spice up their meals. The store produces its own sausage patties that include such flavors as hot, sweet, maple and sweet Italian.

Steaks offered by the store include pepper, pizza and mushroom. A "bacon burger’’ is a ground meat crafted by the store offering a mixture of beef, bacon and liquid smoke.

With fears of foot-and-mouth disease hitting Europe, Hanson believes there will be an economic fallout for American consumers. Harmless to humans, the disease spreads quickly and requires entire herds to be destroyed to halt its spreading.

As thousands of cattle are being killed in Britain and other parts of Europe, Hanson believes that will ultimately mean American shoppers will see higher beef prices by summer.

There are alternatives. Every summer Hanson sees spare ribs and chickens prepared to be cooked on the spit fly out the door. Cooking in the great outdoors is becoming a seasonal American pastime.

"Spit cooking has become extremely popular,’’ he said.