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CM . . . .
Volume VII Number 5 . . . . November 3, 2000
Steaks, roasts, burgers - most of us don't give much thought to the meat we casually throw into
our shopping carts. We know that cattle are raised on ranches, fattened in feed lots, and
processed in packing plants. Beef may be one of the more expensive items on our shopping lists,
but we assume that the ranchers are fairly compensated for their end of the production process.
Beef, Inc. challenges that assumption and takes us into the politics and economics of food
production. Like many other traditional farmers, smaller ranchers face a tough struggle against the
giants of agri-business. Directly and indirectly, three large American companies control
production and pricing of North American beef. These companies are to the beef business what
OPEC is to oil: a cartel regulating the price and quantity of a highly desirable product. And
business is what it is all about: whether it is fertilizer and pesticide to aid in the production of the
grain on which the cows are fattened, to processing the various by-products of the slaughter, the
agri-business giants have control of all of it. Large contracts with big players in the food service
business also effect what we eat. The fast food industry, with its standardization of product, has
led to a narrowing of breeds available for beef production. The sheer volume of product needed
by the food industry has led to "intense livestock production," the overcrowding of cattle in
feedlots, leaving them vulnerable to disease. Cattle are doctored with a whole range of medical
interventions, including antibiotics and growth hormones, leaving the consumer to wonder about
potential health risks and changes to the quality of the beef itself. North Americans are used to
cheap food - this video asks us to consider the real cost of what we eat. Also available in its
original French-language version, L'effet boeuf, Beef, Inc. would be particularly useful in
senior high school Geography classes studying agriculture and food production.
Recommended.
Joanne Peters is a teacher-librarian at Kelvin High School in Winnipeg, MB.
To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.
Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association.
Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice
is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without
permission.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - November 3, 2000.
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