This book was published by Harper Collins/William Morrow in 2008, and written by Andrew Rimas and Evan Fraser. Below Evan Fraser explains how the book came about:
"BEEF is a collaboration between myself and US journalist Andrew Rimas. While on trip to his native Lithuania, Andrew was struck by how the landscape of his ancestors was shaped by cattle. This led to a number of discussions during which it occurred to us that the cow provided an ideal lens to engage in a popular discussion on rural economies, land use systems, and the way that industrialization has changed our relationship with the planet. Using the cow as an anchor, our narrative is wide ranging and in part I of the book, we discuss theories on the origins of agriculture, monetary economies, warfare and organized religion (all of which are quite probably linked) and how the emergence of human civilization shaped landscapes.
In part two of the book, we examine the modern period. We show how cattle (along with guns, germs and steel) were part of the strategy that colonized the New World and shaped the landscape of the Americas. We also discuss how the long-distance movement of food results in opportunities for diseases to spread by exploring the history of Europe and Africa's 19th century rinderpest outbreak. Finally, we show how selective breeding and intensive feeding, along with government subsidies (in the US), have given rise to the massive (and in our opinion unsustainable) feedlots and dairy parlours found in America today.
In all the aspects of these discussions, we have kept the tone light and accessible and so while we draw on social science theories like ecological colonialism, resilience theory, evolutionary economics, and world systems theory, we rarely mention these by name. The purpose of this book was to embark on an extended discussion on the food we eat and how this has changed over time but package this content into a book that (hopefully) anyone will enjoy reading. As such, we've included travelogue passages based on a trip to visit the Maasai as well as scattering short 'culinary interludes' that present recipes and 'foodie' anecdotes."
See here for ordering.
Post a new comment »