For us, when smoking it's all about marbling for less that "prime" cuts. Being food snobs we're very particular about meat cuts & quality. We buy from a few small in house processing places, where they know the history of animal being cut. We drive across the denver & NoCo area buying pork & beef here, poultry there etc. So i understand what you're saying
BUT..........................................
When it comes to the smoker, less that perfect (to us) makes no difference for pork & briskets. . Considering a good BBQ place isn't smoking tier 1 cuts, we don't either. It also puts the emphasis on how one prepares said cuts and the final results. I'd prefer to screw up a $1.19 lb pork shoulder or brisket, than a $5-10 lb one.