Anthology: 'How We Became Meat Eaters'

A historical study conducted by the JKU reveals just how food, society, and the environment have been intertwined over the last 150 years.

Symbolbild Fleisch; Credit: Pixabay

The average Austria annually consumes just under 60 kgs of meat (whereby men tend to consume more meat than women), placing Austria in the higher range of meat-consuming countries compared to the global average. Consuming meat represents one end of a global value chain extending from retail, the meat processing industry and livestock farms, to feedlots, most of which are located outside Europe. This value chain is tied to a number of social problems (such as low-wage labor) and ecological issues (such as greenhouse gas emissions).

JKU historian Ernst Langthaler outlines the history of the relationship between meat and capitalism over the past 150 years as part of a recently published anthology titled "Fleischwissen". Click here, opens an external URL in a new windowto read the press report.