A Valuable Commodity with Global Reach: Meat production in the World Economy, 1960-2020

• In Event: Commodity Frontiers, Land, and Global Production

Abstract

From 1960 to 2020, the global meat industry expanded dramatically. We show how meat production, consumption, trade, and economic value has increased in the world economy, but these increases have not been geographically even. Drawing on data from the USDA and the Food and Agriculture Organization, we use a world-system perspective to analyze the how the expanding global meat industry has mapped onto the international division of labor of the core, periphery, and semi-periphery. We also show how new industrial techniques and technologies increased the economic value and profits in meat production.

Authors

• Bill Winders, Georgia Institute of Technology

• Elizabeth Ransom, Pennsylvania State University