It's not that hard...  I knew nothing about it a few years ago, but it's easy to learn.  there are charts online of what cuts come from which area of a side of beef.  And a good local butcher will help you.
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And if it's that overwhelming, get the cuts you use.  It's all $3 per lb in the end.  
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Beef is beef.  Unless you are a beef connoisseur you will not be able to tell the difference between the breeds.
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The only thing to be cautious of is age of the animal.  I learned the hard way.  Beef over 2.5 years old has pretty tough steaks.  Over 4 years old and even the roasts are tough.  You can get ground out of even a 25 year old cow, which is fine, as long as you are aware.
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As for the meat by-products, I used to not take them.  Little by little I learned what to do with them so I now I have very little waste.
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I also recommend:
- the first time you use a butcher, tour his facility to make sure it is clean
- the first time you buy from a rancher, go to the farm/ranch and see how his animals live
- DO NOT BUY A BULL.  It will taste terrible.  A neutered bull (steer) is fine.
- a chest or upright freezer
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Any questions, I would be happy to answer.
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Yes, it takes time in the beginning, but it is very worth it both for your body and for your pocketbook.

I would expect this sort of poll from a Seventh Day Adventist forum, not a Traditional Catholic forum.  

I'm curious which foods you are referring to.  Any examples?  Not that we eat much pre-packaged food, but still...

Really good practical suggestions, Fanny.  Especially about visiting the farm and seeing how the animals are raised.  Unfortunately, "free range" "cage free", or  "grass fed" animals aren't raised (or treated) much better than their sweat-shop counterparts.

We live in an ag area where many animals are raised industrially for meat.  The free-range, cage-free chickens?  Raised in the same enclosure regular hens are.  No windows.  There is a gate about 12 x 20 ft surrounding a grassy area, with a ramp leading down from a point high in the wall that no hen could access unless they're great jumpers!  It doesn't matter, because the door is always shut.  They are cage-free, though.  If that makes you feel any better.

And then, once egg production is reached, and they're starting in their molt, they're gassed just like the regular hens and tossed out the door into the waiting semis, where they haul them all--whether dead or still partially alive--to a dog food plant.

Please don't even get me started on hogs, beef, and dairy!!!

So Fanny, good for you!  Great job for encouraging others, too.  I would add that it would be a great idea to be able to keep a few chickens for eggs.  There's lots of mini houses out there that would fit into someone's backyard, even if they live in town.  

 

God does not give humans the right to eat unclean animals.

God makes it very clear in the Bible that we are not supposed to eat unclean animals.

Argument using a king James bible?
I'm out.  TiE, you have no business on a traditional Catholic board.

Nowhere in the Holy Bible does God give any person the right to eat unclean animals.  Do you want a list of animals in the Bible which are considered by God to be unclean?