1961–1980: The new industry of meat

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the 1960s and 1970s, seen through the further industrialization of the meat-system. Specifically, this part of the book analyzes novelty and change at the slaughterhouse, the butcher’s shop, and the supermarket. As regards the abattoirs, new machinery further de-personalized the job of the slaughterer. Moreover, in Europe, after decades in which slaughterhouses were public, it was decided that they would become private again. As a result of this process, these buildings moved further away from the city centers and were not part of the public services anymore. Instead, butchers’ shops continued to undertake a process of cleaning, gradually eliminating animal traces such as carcasses and blood stains. However, the real novelty for the shoppers was the rise of supermarkets and their shelves full of packaged meat, which could be bought without the assistance of any butcher or clerk. The last part of the chapter investigates how a critical view of meat and its production process was popularized by the hippie movement. Finally, the short story centers on the effects of factory farming on animals and humans.