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Setting the Table

Setting the Table. Ch. 1, Slaughterhouse Blues Donald Stull & Michael Broadway. Transition from a vibrant rural landscape of small farms & ranches. 100 years ago, a typical woman in the US spent 44 hours per week preparing meals

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Setting the Table

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  1. Setting the Table Ch. 1, Slaughterhouse Blues Donald Stull & Michael Broadway

  2. Transition from a vibrant rural landscape of small farms & ranches • 100 years ago, a typical woman in the US spent 44 hours per week preparing meals • By the 1950s, they spent less than 20 hours • By 2000, even less • Food companies responded by processing foods into ready-to-eat meals ConAgra

  3. 3 Agricultural Revolutions • 1. Southwest Asia 10,000 YA • Development of domesticated plants & animals • Fed more people on less land • Permitted formation of permanent settlements & urban centers

  4. 2. Industrialization in Western Europe in late 18th C. • 2nd agricultural revolution replaced subsistence production • Creation of surplus & profit • Agriculture became tied to industry

  5. 3. Agricultural industrialization in the US at the beginning of the 20th C • Creation of economies of scale • Acquisition of inputs (chemicals, machinery) from non-agricultural sectors • Substitution of capital for labor (via mechanization) • Adding economic value to agricultural products through processing & packaging

  6. 1980 farmers received 31% of the money Americans spent on food • 1999 farmers received 19% • Processors, wholesalers, distributors, retailers absorb the rest • Vertical Integration: Is most evident in the poultry industry • Tyson controls each step of the production process, from egg to boneless chicken breast • Supplies Chicken McNuggets to McDonalds

  7. Eat In or Out? • Americans eat fewer meals at home & spend less time preparing them • 1965 30% of food dollars were spent eating out • 1999 48% were spent eating out The microwave – in 90% of homes – provided a technological fix for those without time or inclination to cook

  8. Armour Perfectly Seasoned Pork • “Several different cuts that are perfectly seasoned in a variety of succulent flavors. They are sealed in convenient packages that can be used for future use. When you are ready for a perfect meal just empty the contents into a baking pan place in the oven and your meal is ready in minutes…and you don’t even have to get your hands dirty!”

  9. ConAgra’s Healthy Choice • 20 different ready-to-eat meals… “that are convenient & flavorful, leaving you time to do the things you want to do…in only 8-12 minutes you’re sitting down to a full spread of fulfilling entrees” • Supplies french fries to McDonalds

  10. Agricultural Industrialization 1. Intensification: Farmers increase purchase of nonfarm inputs • Production costs increase faster than prices received so farmers increase output • Government subsidies guarantee prices • Subsidies disrupt agriculture in poor countries

  11. 2. Concentration: Fewer but larger units produce a larger share of commodities • Producing calves on a ranch with 500 cows costs 50% less than one worth 50 cows • Or a farm with 3000 hogs costs 1/3 less than one with 500 hogs • This favors factory farms

  12. 3. Specialization: Farmers focus on a narrower range of commodities • Concentration in certain regions: • Cattle in the high plains grain belt • Pork production in the corn belt • Poultry production in the South (mild climate)

  13. Consequences for the Meat & Poultry Industry • US poultry industry pioneered vertical integration & became a model for the beef & pork industry • Integrators(processors) own the animals & contract growers to raise • Custom-built feedlots, hog barns, chicken houses • Tyson contracts 7600 farms in 16 states • “Feed-conversion ratio” = birds grow to slaughter weight with the least feed possible

  14. IBP, ConAgra, Excel, Farmland own 81% of US beef slaughter • Hogs & cattle used to be shipped to urban centers (Chicago, etc.) • 1960 IBP (now owned by Tyson) moved to Denison, Iowa near feed supplies & created disassembly lines • 1967 IBP in Nebraska introduced boxed beef, rather than ship whole carcasses • Fabricated into smaller cuts, vacuum packed

  15. ConAgra bought Armour • Cargill bought Excel • Beef production shifted to High Plains, but lacked labor • Recruited immigrant labor • Hog production moved from Midwest to North Carolina & Oklahoma in 1980s • Poultry plants began to replace African-American labor with Latinos in Southern states

  16. CAFOs • Concentrated animal feeding operations produce massive amounts of manure • Nitrogen & phosphorus enter water systems

  17. Feed People, Not Cows! • As countries become wealthier, people eat more animal protein • Farmers change from food production to feed production

  18. What’s for Dinner? • Beef consumption peaked in the 1970s then reduced due to medical warnings about cholesterol • Books such as Rifkin’s Beyond Beef also placed beef production under scrutiny • There has been an explosive increase in chicken consumption

  19. US Per Capita Consumption (lbs.)

  20. Food poisoning from contaminated meat results in 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,200 deaths/year • Heavy use of anti-biotics is an important cause of antibiotic resistant diseases E Coli Breakout Traced To ConAgra

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