Red Meat Republic: A Hoof-to-Table History of How Beef Changed America: 3 (Histories of Economic Life, 3)

Author Joshua Specht summarizes his book many times. Probably his best attempt comes toward the end, on page 258:“In the late nineteenth century, quality fresh beef became daily fare. A multiplicity of regional food markets became a single national one; ranches in the rural West could now feed the urban East. Butchers became slaughterhouse workers, turning animal processing into factory work. Four processes enabled these changes:1. the re-orientation of the Plains ecosystem from grass-bison-nomad to grass-cattle-rancher through the violent expropriation of the Indian land;2. the standardization of spaces across the West and the rise of the regulatory mechanisms to promote mobility;3. the outcome of conflicts around beef processing, distribution, and sale and4. the dynamics of a consumer politics inextricably linked to beef’s cultural meanings.Driving each of these processes were human struggles over economic, political and social power.”If that all sounds a bit too clinical, it wasn’t. The book puts flesh of the bones of this outline (sorry, could not resist) and is a veritable page-turner. You get the history, the politics and the hypocrisy, but, most importantly, you get the picture, in five acts.First comes a blow-by-blow account of the dirty war that was waged against the Indians so we could replace their bison with our cows, followed by the humiliation of making them accept handouts in beef.Once the land is secured, the history of beef in America, and Specht’s account with it, moves to the investment mania in cattle, that drew funds all the way from Europe and was based on a deep dichotomy between facts on the ground (which demanded minimal investment in the supervision of cattle) and business cases made on precise but entirely made-up accounting. The author calls this chapter “the Range.” Its hero, the cowboy, became a foundational character in the legend of the West, much as he barely ever fought any Indians.From the range we move, along with the cattle, to “the Market” and the contest fought by countless cities in the West to become “cattle towns,” ideally with access to the railroad. The name of the game here is standardization, to make a town hospitable to both the livestock and the cowboy. But this is also the story of the trail itself, of disease, and of negotiating paths of access in unhospitable terrain. It’s also where the Federal state first makes its appearance, to settle the relevant disputes. If you know the tune (as I do thanks to my Midwest-raised wife’s bluegrass tape) you are invited to sing along:“Whopee ti yo yo, git along the little dogies,’It’s your misfortune and none of my ownWhopee ti yo yo, git along the little dogies,For you know Wyoming will be your new home.”The winners in this game, the meatpackers of Chicago, are introduced next. This is, pardon the pun, the meat of the book. Four companies managed to place themselves at the hub of the business and set up a business that has since absorbed all profit there is to be made. Not for a decade, but for the last century and a half. While you could argue that this was to some extent the expected outcome thanks to both the desire of the public for cheap beef and to ingenious innovation (including both the invention of the production line for meatpacking and the refrigerated car) Specht explains that somebody had to make this outcome come about. You are treated to chapter and verse on how the meatpackers maneuvered into this position. How they played their suppliers against one another on one side, in order not only to minimize cost, but also to diversify the sourcing of their raw material to make sure all risk from the elements is borne by others; how they played the railroads against one another on the transportation side, at one point coopting a Canadian railway that should have normally not stood a chance of being involved; and how, one city at a time, they took on the butchers. Also, you get the full picture of how the meatpackers enabled the US to wage war much more effectively, by making cheap canned beef available to the US military.Oh, and if you think it was Robert Bork who first moved the argument from anti-trust to “consumer welfare” there’s a surprise for you here: it’s cheap beef that won the argument for the meatpackers. Every time somebody accused them of price-fixing, whether that was against the butchers or the ranchers or the railroads, the argument was made that they were bringing steak to the table for the masses. Even John Updike, America’s Emile Zola, did not manage to move the needle with his explosive expose, the Jungle. What Americans saw when they read about the dreadful conditions in the slaughterhouse was a sanitary risk, rather than the horrors of exploitation. And the government, of course, under Roosevelt, saw a need (an opportunity, many will argue, though not the author) to regulate.The story does not end there. You’re also treated to a final chapter on “the Table,” which deals with beef as a positional good. It’s not directly relevant to the narrative (and indeed is scarcely to be found when the author attempts to summarize) but it is still very interesting and relevant context; and it’s closely entwined with the social theories that prevailed in the period when the US rose to prominence.In short, the history of beef in America is a very good proxy for the history of the US itself, and this is a book that tells it very well.

It is a good well researched read. It is a rare effort.😀

This is a terrific book. So much more than I expected, the book tells the entire story of beef in America, detailing, among other things, the displacement of Native Americans and bison from the plains, the development of railroads and railhead cattle towns, slaughterhouse labor issues, and the social implications of beef consumption. Exhaustively researched, Specht draws not only on a wide range of original archival material and academic sources, but also the stories of individuals and even cowboy songs that shed light on this interesting history. It’s not often that a single book can significantly enhance my understanding of this country, but by looking at American history through this unique perspective, “Red Meat Republic” has done just that. I’m strongly recommending it to all my friends.

Talk about facts, this books takes you to the beginning of how USA truly came to be, shocking, moving and keeps the reader hungry for more, not for meat, but for knowledge.

As a youngster, I remember advertisements with the catch phrase at the end - "Beef. It's what's for dinner.".How did this tag come to be? Why was beef considered such an important thing that advertisers felt it so important to remind everyone that it was the ultimate choice for mealtime in America?It is questions like this that have resulted in this book by Joshua Specht. Although he never mentions the ads that I remember, nor does he extensively talk about 20th century America, he does help the reader to gain a solid understanding of how American history was shaped by beef.Without saying as much, Specht even suggests that manifest destiny wasn't the real driver for American expansion westward - it was the ability to take over the land for feeding cattle on the prairies and ranges of the Western United States (though it was "Indian country" at this point in time.His history goes through multiple stages, including chapters entitled "Range", "Market", "Slaughterhouse", and "Table". Each of these helps the reader to really understand how, as Americans expanded their desire (and palates) to consume more beef, the nation shifted to meet these new standards.Specht's history is never dull, and often filled with tales previously not heard or (in some cases) causes for the squeamish to avoid, but they're all critical to his story and the concept that Beef changed America - after all, it IS what's for dinner, right?