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Slaughterhouse Blues: Book Review

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Slaughterhouse Blues: Book Review
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Slaughterhouse Blues: Book Review
Michael Farhoud
Slaughterhouse Blues: Book Review
Michael Farhoud

In Slaughterhouse Blues, anthropologist Donald Stull and social geographer Michael Broadway explore the advent, history, and implications of modern food production. The industrialized system behind what we eat is one of the most controversial points of political interest in our society today. Progressions in productive, logistical, retail, and even biological technologies have made mass produced foods more available and more affordable than ever before. This being said, the vague mass production of ever-available cheap “food” carries with it several hidden costs that the consumer is left to be blatantly unaware of. These costs, namely stress and abuse of the environment, diminished regard for animal welfare, the glorification and prevalence of diets full of sugar and fat, and an increased susceptibility to the spread and contraction of food-borne and nutritional illnesses. Food is a necessity, on both the level of its physical value to our bodies and the level of its monetary value as a commodity. With this in mind, the question then comes to mind as whether or not “cheaper and quicker” is really better for us if the reduction in time and effort also comes with a reduction in quality.
The first chapter in the book discusses the processes behind the birth of industrialized agriculture in North America after the Second World War, with a notable focus on the changing structure and location of beef, pork, and poultry processing. The authors point out that agriculture is currently in the middle of its third revolution. The first revolution was associated with the development of seed agriculture and animal domestication in the form of subsistence farming. The second revolution occurred in Western Europe in the late 1900’s when thriving urban populations created a commercial demand for


Cited: Stull, Donald D., and Michael J. Broadway. Slaughterhouse Blues: The Meat and Poultry Industry in North America. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2004. Print. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1731&context=greatplainsresearch
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