The Many Meanings of Meat

MET ML 711

There is perhaps no foodstuff more prized than meat, and there is none more problematic. Consider its metaphorical contradictions. To go to the "meat of the matter" is to cut to the essence of things, the most important item on the agenda. Yet to be "treated like meat" is to be regarded as subordinate, subservient, an object for exploitation. Long associated with power, masculinity, vitality, and progress, meat is also linked to imperialism, sexism, speciesism, environmental collapse, foodborne disease, and chronic illness. In this comprehensive overview we will examine meat's many historical, cultural, economic, ecological, ethical, and nutritional dimensions.

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