BEYOND BEEF This research paper consists of a s

Rifkin traces the changing but nonetheless central role of cattle as civilization evolved. In ancient cultures, such as that of Egypt, and in the later Roman Mithran cult, the bull was revered as a god and as a symbol of fertility and martial/masculine prowess. The great nomadic tribes of Central Asia valued cattle as possessions, as well as a blood sacrifice to the gods. As the European economies developed and their populations cultivated a taste for beef, cattle became a commodity and an important source of wealth and power. First introduced into the New World by the Spanish, cattle ranching dominated the societies of many Central and South American nations.

Cattle production and consumption: the making of the modern world

In the 19th century, large sections of agricultural, pastoral and forest-covered land were devoted to cattle grazing, first in England, then in Scotland and Ireland and finally in the Western Hemisphere and other areas suitable for the raising of cattle. The effect of the enclosure of lands for grazing in the British Isles was to eject tenant farmers from their ancestral lands and create large numbers of impoverished migratory laborers who were exploited by the factories which sprang up during the early stages of the Industrial Revolution. In Ireland, farmers were forced to rely on the potato, a crop which could be grown in small areas and whose

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levels of beef consumption are linked with the increased incidence of diseases such as diabetes, certain types of cancer and coronary maladies. Meanwhile the displacement of farmland from food grain to feed grain for cattle is contributing to the malnutrition and possible starvation of up to a billion people. According to Rifkin, "while the rich are dying from the diseases of affluence, the poor of the planet languish for want the bare essentials of life" (176). World steer and ecological destruction In the modern globalized economy, multinational corporations in the beef as well as other industries decide where to raise, feed, slaughter, package, distribute, transport and retail their cattle and beef products based on considerations of efficiency and profit. The world steer like the world car might be the product of the efforts of many areas, regardless of the wishes of local inhabitants. Cattle raising is capital intensive and requires little labor. The effect of corporate decisions to convert land to grazing is to remove persons from traditional agricultural pursuits which not only has tragic human consequences but often upsets the ecosystems in the regions involved. The American Great Plains, for example, have lost muc
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1577
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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