Student: Aphelion Crampton
Graduation date: May 2018
Type: Concentration (single major)
Date approved: November 2015
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Summary
Humans have been domesticating animals and consuming their proteins for over two million years (Diamond, 1997). Today the consumption and production of meat and dairy is an enormous sector of the world. Economies rely on the division of food production, and most religions and historical customs have ingrained into their culture, or forbid, the consumption of meat (Thorton, 2010). When looking at patterns of consumption in places like the global north, we can see that with the rise in affluence, in countries such as the United States, the commercial meat and dairy industry was formed. Affluence yielded a successful economy which led to the formation of railroads constructed in the mid 19th century. The availability of transportation made meat distribution simple (Cronon, 1991). Since then, mass production of meat and dairy in the U.S. rose rapidly for the next 150 years, before it peaked in the early 21st century (Zunig, 2014).
Large scale meat production has received criticism ever since noticeable effects were realized. The highly concentrated meat and dairy industry has been criticized ecologically because of its substantial impact on the world’s water, land, and biodiversity resources and its significant contribution to climate change (Seinfeld et al). The industry has been criticized ethically because of the intensified conditions sentient livestock endure (Yount, 2004). The industry has been criticized medically because, although meat and dairy provide beneficial nutrients, the high content of saturated fat and cholesterol often lead to threatening illnesses such as type II diabetes and heart disease (Walker et al, 2005). Despite these critiques, eating meat is ingrained in almost every culture, and consumed by most of the world. Still, the amount of meat and dairy consumed continues to grow (Thornton, 2010).
Middle income countries are currently, and have been for the past half-century, experiencing the same pattern of rapid increase in consumption and affluence. Middle income is defined by the World Bank as having a gross national income per capita of more than $1,045 but less than $12,746 (World Bank, 2015). Between 2005 and 2010 meat production increased by fourteen percent globally (Yang, 2013), a product of demand and consumption in middle and low income countries (Seinfeld et al, 2006). Some critics argue this amplification is beneficial because it provides protein and a stable economy for a previously low-income nation, however there are also negative assessments of this intensification (Delango, 2003). For example, one place my concentration could be situated in is eastern China. China, a middle income country, has a long spiritual and economic history considering meat, and in the past thirty years China’s meat consumption has more than doubled. This is a result of the wealthy urban class in eastern China, specifically in Shanghai and Beijing, where pork and poultry are consumed most (Yang 2013). The majority of meat production in China takes place on the eastern coast, however demand in the urban east is so high that China has begun importing pork from high-income countries such as the U.S. and Denmark (Ortega et al, 2015). This shows that there is a large income divide throughout China, and since only the east is experiencing affluence, and it is the location where meat consumption is rising.
India, on the other hand, has a very different cultural history concerning meat and milk. Three main religions in India forbid, or advise against, the consumption of meat. As a country, India currently consumes the least amount of meat globally. This, however is changing since the urban middle and upper class have begun to controversially produce and consume meat at growing rates (Alsdorf, 2010). Despite this, India is the second largest milk producing country in the world. This is partially a result of milk’s spiritual significance in India, but also exists because milk consumption has been rising in India since the mid-twentieth century. For example, in the 1960’s the World Food Program initiated a massive dairy project that aimed to make milk, and subsequently protein, more available in urban India, using funds from the U.S. and other high income countries in Europe. Although this did raise quantity of protein, one critique of this operation is that, rather than providing low-income, rural citizens with milk, it only increased the milk consumption of the middle and high urban class in India (Wiley, 2014).
Comparatively, my concentration could be situated in the United States, since it is a high income country that at one point experienced economic growth, and currently consumes the most meat. In both of the situations above, the U.S. used their economic power to influence the economic and consumption growths of the said countries. Additionally, the U.S. is a good example of how an affluent country doesn’t necessarily mean that there is no income (and consequently consumption) inequality, since many U.S. demographics are still experiencing poverty and hunger (Seinfeld et al, 2006).
In my concentration I would like to explore this paradigm and apply it to affluent middle income countries. I would like to understand how growing affluence increases demand and the implications of this relationship. I am interested in the reasons that meat and dairy have such a significant meaning, not only to religion and tradition, but also to the people who consume it. I would like to look deeper into the ethics of consuming animals, and if that changes the way that people think about their consumption. By doing this, I hope to better understand the culture, economics, and ethics of meat consumption in middle income countries.
Sources:
Cronon, William. 1992. Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West. W. W. Norton.
Delgado, Christopher L. 2003. “Rising Consumption of Meat and Milk in Developing Countries Has Created a New Food Revolution.” The Journal of Nutrition 133 (11): 3907S – 3910S.
Diamond, Jared. 2014. Guns, Germs and Steel: (1997). Norton.
Ortega, David L., Holly Wang, and Maolong Chen. 2015. “Emerging Markets for US Meat and Poultry in China.” Choices 30 (2).
Steinfeld, Henning, Pierre Gerber, T. D. Wassenaar, Vincent Castel, and Cees de Haan. 2006. Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Steinfeld, H., T. Wassenaar, and S. Jutzi. 2006. “Livestock Production Systems in Developing Countries: Status, Drivers, Trends.” Rev Sci Tech 25 (2): 505–16.
Thornton, Philip K. 2010. “Livestock Production: Recent Trends, Future Prospects.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 365 (1554): 2853–67. doi:10.1098/rstb.2010.0134.
Walker, Polly, Pamela Rhubart-Berg, Shawn McKenzie, Kristin Kelling, and Robert S Lawrence. 2005. “Public Health Implications of Meat Production and Consumption.” Public Health Nutrition 8 (04): 348–56. doi:10.1079/PHN2005727.
Wiley, Andrea S. 2014. Cultures of Milk. Harvard University Press.
Yang, H. 2013. “Livestock Development in China: Animal Production, Consumption and Genetic Resources.” Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics 130 (4): 249–51. doi:10.1111/jbg.12045.
Yount, Lisa. 2007. Animal Rights. Infobase Publishing.
Zunig, Robert. 2014 “Carnivore’s Dilemma.” National Geographic. 226, no. 5
Additional Sources:
World Bank. 2015.
Questions
- Descriptive: How has the consumption of meat and dairy changed during the past thirty years in middle income countries, and what kinds of meat have been consumed during that time? What other transitions have middle income countries experienced as affluence grows in addition to the rise in the consumption of meat and dairy, and do those changes mirror former growth in high income countries? How are meat and dairy advertised in middle income countries and who is targeted by these advertisements?
- Explanatory: Is the increased consumption of meat and dairy in middle income countries caused solely by affluence, or are there other major factors of influence, such as religion or transportation? In what ways do religion and tradition encourage or discourage the consumption of meat, and have religious and traditional practices changed relative to overall consumption increase? Have there been critiques on the consumption of meat that do not have to do with religious affiliation, such as social movements focusing on ethics, and how has this influenced meat consumption in middle income countries? How has economic contribution from high income countries changed the consumption patterns of middle income countries?
- Evaluative: Is animal and dairy protein accessible to lower income individuals in certain middle income countries, or do these people not significantly improve their protein intake because the increased amount of meat and dairy is not available to them? To what extent are livestock in emotional and physical distress during their life’s duration, and which livestock experience the most distress relative to their mandated circumstances? Among what populations is type II diabetes and heart disease most prevalent, and in what ways does the increased consumption of meat and dairy directly influence this? What justifications for eating meat are reasonable or unreasonable, and how should that be determined?
- Instrumental: Is there access to plant based proteins or synthetic meats in middle income countries, who would benefit from or be disadvantaged by the consumption of these alternative proteins, and would this be a less expensive alternative for low income populations? Awareness and fear of health and ecological problems is what drove meat and dairy consumption to peak in high-income countries. Will this be the only method of slowing down the increase of meat consumption in middle income countries, or are there other non-fear methods that could be utilized?
Concentration courses
- ENVS 460 (Topics in Environmental Law and Policy, 4 credits), Fall 2016. This class will examine major areas in environmental law, possibly covering animal ethics laws, which will help me with the animal welfare portion of my concentration.
- ENVS 499 (Independent Study, 4 credits), Spring 2017. I will complete this independent study as a 2+2 credit course, and do my research during the spring of 2017 when I am abroad in Senegal.
- SOAN 249 - (Political Economy of Food, 4 Credits) Fall 2016. This course situates food in the terms of political economy, society, and culture. I will use this course to look at how humans relate to agriculture, their own food, and the changes food has gone through over time.
- SOAN 296 - (Wines and Vines, 4 Credits) Fall 2016. This course follows the production of wine from vineyards to cellars, paying special attention to the political economy, historic, and present evaluations of wine. Focusing on this specific beverage will aid me in further understanding how specific foods can hold social, economic, and historic power. Additionally, the methodology includes fieldwork, interviews, and analytical research and writing, all tools that will be helpful for me when I conduct my own research during study abroad.
Arts and humanities courses
- HIST 261 (Global Environmental History, 4 credits). Pre-approved A&H course; no justification required.
- PHIL 103: (Ethics, 4 credits) This course looks at the fundamental issues of moral philosophy which help me better understand the ethics portion of my concentration.
- HIST 388: (What's For Dinner, 4 credits) This course is a cross- cultural examination of food by means of culture, politics, and economics. This will help me understand how religion and tradition play a part in food choices.