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Title:
Meat makes people powerful : a global history of the modern era / Wilson J. Warren.
Author:
Warren, Wilson J., 1960- author.
Publication Information:
Iowa City : University of Iowa Press, [2018]

©2018
Call Number:
GT2868.5 .W37 2018
Abstract:
From large-scale cattle farming to water pollution, meat--more than any other food--has had an enormous impact on our environment. Historically, Americans have been among the most avid meat-eaters in the world, but long before that meat was not even considered a key ingredient in most civilizations' diets. Labor historian Wilson Warren, who has studied the meat industry for more than a decade, provides this global history of meat to help us understand how it entered the daily diet, and at what costs and benefits to society. Spanning from the nineteenth century to current and future trends, Warren walks us through the economic theory of food, the discovery of protein, the Japanese eugenics debate around meat, and the environmental impact of livestock, among other topics. Through his comprehensive, multifaceted research, he provides readers with the political, economic, social, and cultural factors behind meat consumption over the last two centuries. With a special focus on East Asia, Meat Makes People Powerful reveals how national governments regulated and oversaw meat production, helping transform virtually vegetarian cultures into major meat consumers at record speed. As more and more Americans pay attention to the sources of the meat they consume, Warren's compelling study will help them not only better understand the industry, but also make more informed personal choices. Providing an international perspective that will appeal to scholars and nutritionists alike, this timely examination will forever change the way you see the food on your plate.
ISBN:
9781609385552
Physical Description:
xi, 252 pages ; 23 cm.
Contents:
Nineteenth-century meat cultures -- Nineteenth-century limited meat cultures -- Debating meat's dietary role -- The state and meat -- Meat cultures transformations and new animal products -- The political economy of meat after World War II -- Meat workers as outcastes -- A plague of pigs and other environmental dilemmas -- Your safest course is to let meat alone -- Meat in the twenty-first century.
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