3 ms·

I think this is an obvious side effect of industrialization. We got really good at factory farming chickens/cows/pigs/etc. and catching/processing certain fish,

by dfxm12 3y ago

I think this is an obvious side effect of industrialization. We got really good at factory farming chickens/cows/pigs/etc. and catching/processing certain fish, like tuna, sardines, salmon, etc. so that's the cheapest meat to get to market and the cheapest to buy, so that's what we eat. There's room for regional variations, like more seafood is around the Mediterranean sea compared to the Midwest US. Then, most cookbooks call for these in recipes, so it becomes more in demand. This causes something of a cycle. There are foods I would eat more if it was more available, like salt cod was very common in an area I used to live (with a lot of Portuguese ex-pats), but where I live now, it's only common around Christmas (because demand from the Italian Americans I live near now rise around this time). My buddy hunted an elk a while back so I was flush with elk meat for a while and if it was available and economical, I'd buy elk steaks from time to time, just to change things up.

jessriedel 3y ago
Right. Likewise, there are many unusual materials we could make our houses out of, but for economic efficiency we mostly make them out of some combination of wood, stone, clay, steel, and chemical binders thereof.
ajmurmann 3y ago
Maybe domestication more than industrialization. Were there other animal species that used to be more commonly grown by farmers that disappeared with industrialization?
- bratwurst3000 3y ago
  That’s it. There where not many animals that are good for domestication. For example rabbits and pigeons are beeing eaten in France but even here it is uncommon because the have to much bones in relation to meat compared to a chicken or cow. Other animals are to hard to domesticate. For examples lions.
- tfourb 3y ago
  Not disappeared but lost significance: goats, Camel, horses (for meat), rabbits, eels, various poultry, and of course a 99% reduction of the commercially grown varieties of pigs, cows and chicken (now called „heritage breeds“)
  - wizofaus 3y ago
    Goat meat is still eaten by 70% of the world's population apparently - and perhaps surprisingly Australia is the single largest exporter. But it's certainly a niche market compared to the big 3. Even lamb/mutton is only eaten at 1/6th the quantities of beef worldwide.
    - ajmurmann 3y ago
      Was goat, lamb and mutton ever big in the US? How little lamb is available was one of the things that stuck out to me when moving from Germany to the US many years ago
scythe 3y ago
>salt cod was very common in an area I used to live Cod was much more common period prior to 1992.
- jaipilot747 3y ago
  What happened in 1992?
  - jhbadger 3y ago
    The Atlantic northwest cod population collapsed in that year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse_of_the_Atlantic_northwest_cod_fishery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse_of_the_Atlantic_north...
    - aidenn0 3y ago
      Which was a great boost to lobster populations (Cod prey on lobster), we managed to over-fish those too though.
nonethewiser 3y ago
>I think this is an obvious side effect of industrialization. We got really good at factory farming chickens/cows/pigs/etc. and catching/processing certain fish, like tuna, sardines, salmon, etc. so that's the cheapest meat to get to market and the cheapest to buy, so that's what we eat. I think you're right, or at least it's a major reason. Before this article I have also observed that the only wild animals that people generally eat (at least in much of the developed world) is seafood. Most other meat, for most people, is farmed. Its not uncommon to eat fish that someone caught from the ocean, but it is uncommon to eat a bird that was shot out of the sky.
- rcarr 3y ago
  Deer is pretty common because of hunting, especially in America and probably Scotland too. Any wild animal that is a problem is still eaten e.g kangaroo in Australia, boar in Hawaii.
  - nonethewiser 3y ago
    Well, I would say it's the most common. But it still seems like a vast minority of people eat it with any regularity. I'm not sure what that measure would be. Something like once every few months. As opposed to "I tried it a couple times." kinda thing. I eat it a couple times a year maybe which I think is more than the average person.

by dfxm12 3y ago

jessriedel 3y ago

Right. Likewise, there are many unusual materials we could make our houses out of, but for economic efficiency we mostly make them out of some combination of wood, stone, clay, steel, and chemical binders thereof.

ajmurmann 3y ago

Maybe domestication more than industrialization. Were there other animal species that used to be more commonly grown by farmers that disappeared with industrialization?

bratwurst3000 3y ago
That’s it. There where not many animals that are good for domestication. For example rabbits and pigeons are beeing eaten in France but even here it is uncommon because the have to much bones in relation to meat compared to a chicken or cow. Other animals are to hard to domesticate. For examples lions.
tfourb 3y ago
Not disappeared but lost significance: goats, Camel, horses (for meat), rabbits, eels, various poultry, and of course a 99% reduction of the commercially grown varieties of pigs, cows and chicken (now called „heritage breeds“)
- wizofaus 3y ago
  Goat meat is still eaten by 70% of the world's population apparently - and perhaps surprisingly Australia is the single largest exporter. But it's certainly a niche market compared to the big 3. Even lamb/mutton is only eaten at 1/6th the quantities of beef worldwide.
  - ajmurmann 3y ago
    Was goat, lamb and mutton ever big in the US? How little lamb is available was one of the things that stuck out to me when moving from Germany to the US many years ago

scythe 3y ago

>salt cod was very common in an area I used to live Cod was much more common period prior to 1992.

jaipilot747 3y ago
What happened in 1992?
- jhbadger 3y ago
  The Atlantic northwest cod population collapsed in that year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse_of_the_Atlantic_northwest_cod_fishery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse_of_the_Atlantic_north...
  - aidenn0 3y ago
    Which was a great boost to lobster populations (Cod prey on lobster), we managed to over-fish those too though.

nonethewiser 3y ago

>I think this is an obvious side effect of industrialization. We got really good at factory farming chickens/cows/pigs/etc. and catching/processing certain fish, like tuna, sardines, salmon, etc. so that's the cheapest meat to get to market and the cheapest to buy, so that's what we eat. I think you're right, or at least it's a major reason. Before this article I have also observed that the only wild animals that people generally eat (at least in much of the developed world) is seafood. Most other meat, for most people, is farmed. Its not uncommon to eat fish that someone caught from the ocean, but it is uncommon to eat a bird that was shot out of the sky.

rcarr 3y ago
Deer is pretty common because of hunting, especially in America and probably Scotland too. Any wild animal that is a problem is still eaten e.g kangaroo in Australia, boar in Hawaii.
- nonethewiser 3y ago
  Well, I would say it's the most common. But it still seems like a vast minority of people eat it with any regularity. I'm not sure what that measure would be. Something like once every few months. As opposed to "I tried it a couple times." kinda thing. I eat it a couple times a year maybe which I think is more than the average person.