In Meat We Trust: An Unexpected History of Carnivore America Author: Visit Amazon's Maureen Ogle Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0151013403 | Format: PDF
In Meat We Trust: An Unexpected History of Carnivore America Description
From Publishers Weekly
Ogle (Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer) lucidly demonstrates how the American meat-making machine came to span the entire continent, from the grass-rich range of the Far West to slaughterhouses and wholesale markets at the other , with farmers squeezed throughout the middle. Ogle tracks the rise of factory farming, the introduction of subsidies for farmers, and the use of chemicals in animal husbandry, each in light of the consumer-advocacy backlash that spawned the organic and alt-agriculture movements. Ogle's quick wit helps her corral such a large topic, keeping the involved history to an easily digestible format. Given the recent onslaught of publications picking sides on the issues of food production, Ogle's bipartisan approach is a breath of fresh air. In fact, if Ogle has issue with anyone in the food chain, it is the American people and our sense of entitlement and the way it contributes to the high cost of cheap living. This type of straightforwardness might make the book hard to stomach for some, but it can't be denied that Ogle has served up a lot of truth. Agent: Jay Mandel, William Morris Endeavor (Nov.)
From Booklist
Buy local! Eat organic! Grass-fed beef is best! These declarations are no longer the cries of sustainable farming activists on the fringe. Rather, the middle class has begun to champion a return to small-scale meat production, with cattle, pigs, and chickens that aren’t hopped up on antibiotics or growth hormones happily roaming the family farm. The problem with this utopian dream, according to Ogle, is that mom-and-pop farms never actually dominated the landscape at any point in American history, since they could never meet the country’s insatiable appetite for bountiful, low-cost meat. Instead, the agribusiness behemoths that have become villains in contemporary consciousness are actually examples of innovators and entrepreneurs who have kept our fickle nation fed. Ogle traces the stories of meat-industry movers and shakers, from colonial times to the present, and lambasts those she sees as reactionary, self-serving whistle-blowers, including Upton Sinclair and Ralph Nader. A well-researched history of the American meat industry that will appeal to readers looking for a counterpoint to Fast Food Nation (2001) and The Omnivore’s Dilemma (2006). --Amye Day Ong
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- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (November 12, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0151013403
- ISBN-13: 978-0151013401
- Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Does this statement found in the introduction of In Meat We Trust: An Unexpected History of Carnivore America give you pause?
"Confinement livestock systems were born on the family farm and only subsequently adopted by corporate producers in the 1970s."
Have you ever wondered how we became a carnivore nation? Or wanted to know the stories of meat titans such as Gustavus Swift, Don Tyson, and Bill Niman? How do you feel about the rising cost of meat and what are you willing to pay in dollars and environmental costs to eat...or not...eat meat?
Maureen Ogle's In Meat We Trust puts meat on the bones of issues food lovers, environmentalists, locavores, chefs, home cooks, farmers, ranchers, food companies, agribusiness and health scientists battle over today. In Meat We Trust provides the too often missing pieces in the debate about the future of meat in America. If you're part of the debate, if only as a conscientious eater, this book's for you.
Full disclosure: History books can be daunting. Right? So when I was given an advance copy of In Meat We Trust, I braced myself. What followed, as the title promises, was indeed "unexpected" -- not only the history of American meat, but also the pleasure in reading this easy to understand and well organized book.
Though it's a complex and wide-ranging story from Colonial America to the 21st century, Ogle delivers an affable history lesson with her engaging writing style, wit, and clarity. In fewer than 300 pages of enlightening narrative, Ogle cuts to the chase. For the casually curious to the seriously savvy reader, beliefs will be challenged and discoveries of a fascinating history will be made thanks to Ogle's painstakingly researched, intelligent tour.
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