Slaughterhouse Blues: The Meat and Poultry Industry in North America
“Slaughterhouse Blues: The Meat and Poultry Industry in North America” is a text written for the purpose of satisfying the quest of the society on the relationship between meat and poultry industries to the society. It is rather a case study on the effect of economic destabilization of the society on the meat and poetry industry, with special regard to the North American population (Donald and Michael 23).
This study was done by Donald Stull and Michael Broadway who are both academic enigmas. Donald is a well-known anthropologist. He is a professor and a chairperson of the Anthropology department at the University of Kansas. On the other hand, Michael Broadway is an associate professor of Geography at SUNY. This study was done in 2003 following the mighty inflow of the North American population into the meat and poultry industries in search of jobs, yet exhibiting low interest in the products from the meat and poultry industries (Donald and Michael 28).
The sociologist and anthropologist joined forces to show the contrasting relationship between the two groups as special entities in the society. The first group is that of the population and the second group is that of the industries. The industries require the population for labor and market, while the population requires the industries for employment (Donald and Michael 58). One would think that the population should readily assimilate into the industries’ demand for the market since the population is responsible for the product; however, according to this study, the population has a negative attitude towards the products (Donald and Michael 67). It sounds as if the demand for beef and poultry products declines with the rise of employment opportunities in the producer industries.
The good news about the study is that the proponents of it are crusaders of peace and reconciliation for the two groups. They actually work towards the realization of the need for the communities surrounding the industries to have a positive perception of the products from the industries (Donald and Michael 70). They resolve the conflict by maintaining that there is a need for the people in the North American region to live in preparedness for and tame the outcomes of the meat and poultry industries that they count as cons to them (Donald and Michael, 76).
Once it was said that disappointments can be easily turned into appointments if only positively taken. One needs only to accept the disappointment and choose to work on it for the advantage of the targeted victim. This is the dream of the authors of the case study, “Slaughterhouse Blues: The Meat and Poultry Industry in North America”.
It is interesting to note that the title of the case study is highly captivating and clearly indicates that there are woes in or about slaughterhouses (Young 102). The word ‘blues’ speaks it all! They then proceed to disapprove of every reason for the communities around the industrial location to have blues about the plants and their products (Young 129). This, the authors do by systematically showing the production processes involved before beef or poultry meal is ready for consumption (Young 140). They highlight the systematic involvement of the people’s historical, economical, socio-geographical, and cultural setting in the production of the last product, which, ironically, the very society declines to consume!
This study is essentially meant to change the view of North Americans on modern meat and poultry production means and make the Northants perceive the modernized meat and poultry production means as a solution for the better of the agricultural sector. For instance, the author dwells on the negative view of the communities on the confined animal feeding strategies by the industrial management (Ralph 21432). The authors use this to show how helpful it becomes as it helps avoid extra costs involved in the free-style feeding strategy, such as close supervision of the animals, soil erosion as the animals plunder the land, and the ease of acquiring manure from the animals’ waste.
With the free-style feeding strategies, the farmer may not be able to collect the waste, while the confined feeding strategy makes the waste available in one spot; therefore, not much labor is involved in the collection of the animal waste for manure preparation (Ralph 24580). The confined operation of the industrial strategies of feeding the animals makes it easy to monitor and control disease among the animals.
According to the author of this study, the impacts of the meat and poultry industries on the communities dwelling within the regions where the plants are situated can be blamed on the communities, not the firms (Ralph 25673). This is viewed in the light of the social diversities in the communities. The authors maintain that the conflict is best solved (if solved at all) at an individual level (Ralph 27688).
This is true since the influx of different communities into the North American region has led to the creation of different patterns of cultural practices. As a result, these differences in culture have led to conflict. Therefore, for there to be harmony in the North American region, the people must speak in one voice, dropping their cultural differences away. They have to learn to dance to the turn of technological change, so as to appreciate the presence of fast meat and poultry products from the firms in the region.
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Conclusion
In conclusion, the study by Donald and Michael is a mental thriller on modern food product operations and their impacts on society. They actually choose the meat and poultry industries in the North American region and the conflict there is among the population in the region against the plants and their products (Ralph 27563). The authors are fighting to defend the commercial advantage that comes with the installation of food processing industries within the residential areas. They are striving to inflict blindness on the eyes that see the disadvantages of the thought of an agriculture-based industrial development in their residential region (Young A. 108).
The authors passionately campaign on the advantages of the food processing industries. Overtly, they protest against diversity, culture, economy, and social-geography barriers against fast foods. Society has to come to terms with the fact that times and seasons have changed and it is high time that we all kissed the changes in the market and society instead of wishing them away (Donald and Michael 80).
We should readily embrace fast foods, not ignoring the sophisticated agricultural operations either. This study is a great work since it has been used greatly by scholars, industrial managers in fast food industries, and agricultural experts to pave the way for food processing technology.
Reference list:
- Donald, Stull, and Michael Broadway. Slaughterhouse Blues: The Meat and Poultry Industry in North America. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/ Thomson, 2003.
- Donald, Stull, and Michael Broadway. Rev. Slaughterhouse Blues: The Meat and Poultry Industry in North America. By Ralph L. Impacts of Change and Diversity in the Meat and Poultry Industry. 27688 (2008) 26578
- Donald, Stull, and Michael Broadway. Rev. of Slaughterhouse Blues: The Meat and
- Poultry Industry in North America. By Young, John. Food/ Food Security book reviews 98 (2004): 174
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