Sacred cow, mad cow : a history of food fears / Madeleine Ferrières ; translated by Jody Gladding.

ISBN:

9780231131926

Title:

Author:

Ferrières, Madeleine.

Personal Author:

Ferrières, Madeleine.

Uniform Title:

Histoire des peurs alimentaires. English

Edition:

American ed.

Publication Information:

New York : Columbia University Press, c2006.

Physical Description:

xiii, 399 p. ; 24 cm.

Series:

Arts and traditions of the table

Series Title:

Arts and traditions of the table

Contents:

1. Forbidden meats -- 2. Political meat -- 3. The birth of the consumer -- 4. The vigilant consumer -- 5. The phobia of new plants -- 6. Bread on trial -- 7. Silent fears -- 8. The Pate and the garden -- 9. Hungarian cattle disease -- 10. From the epizootic to the epidemic -- 11. The politics of precaution -- 12. The dangers of imperfect metals -- 13. Health conflicts -- 14. Bourgeois serenity -- 15. English cattle disease -- 16. The poisoners of Chicago.

Subject Term:

Nutritionally induced diseases -- France -- History.

Food habits -- Psychological aspects.

Food -- Safety measures -- France -- History.

Food -- Toxicology -- France -- History.

Food adulteration and inspection -- France -- History.

Format:

Books

Electronic Access:

Table of contents only http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/fy0608/2005051796.html

Publication Date:

2006

Publication Information:

New York : Columbia University Press, c2006.

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
616.3900944 FER	Book	1	Standard shelving location	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Contemporary concerns about food such as those stemming from mad cow disease, salmonella, and other potential food-related dangers are hardly new-humans have long been wary of what they eat. Beyond the fundamental fear of hunger, societies have sought to protect themselves from rotten, impure, or unhealthy food. From the markets of medieval Europe to the slaughterhouses of twentieth-century Chicago, Madeleine Ferrières traces the origins of present-day behavior toward what we eat as she explores the panics, myths, and ever-shifting attitudes regarding food and its safety. She demonstrates that food fears have been inspired not only by safety concerns but also by cultural, political, and religious prejudices.

Flour from human bones and pâté from dead cats are just two of the more unappetizing recipes that have scared consumers away from certain foods. Ferrières considers the roots of these and other rumors, illuminating how societies have assessed and attempted to regulate the risks of eating. She documents the bizarre and commonsensical attempts by European towns to ensure the quality of beef and pork, ranging from tighter controls on butchers to prohibiting Jews and menstruating women from handling meat. Examining the spread of Hungarian cattle disease, which ravaged the livestock of seventeenth-century Europe, Ferrières recounts the development of safety methods that became the Western model for fighting animal diseases.

Ferrières discusses a wealth of crucial and curious food-related incidents, trends, and beliefs, including European explorers' shocked responses to the foodways of the New World; how some foods deemed unsafe for the rich were seen as perfectly suitable for the poor; the potato's negative reputation; the fierce legal battles between seventeenth-century French bread bakers and innkeepers; the role of the medical profession in food regulation; and how modern consumerism changed the way we eat. Drawing on history, folklore, agriculture, and anthropology, Ferrières tells us how our decisions about what not to eat reflect who we are.

Author Notes

Madeleine Ferrières is professor of social history at the University of Avignon.Jody Gladding is a published poet and the translator of several works, including French Gastronomy: The History and Geography of a Passion .

Reviews (2)

Booklist Review

Ferrieres traces the long history of consumers' fears of foods in their quotidian diets. She focuses initially on legislative attempts to improve the state of public health through regulation of meat butchery and processing. Beginning with fourteenth-century accounts from the town of Mirepoix in the south of France, she finds a local lord considering a measure to ensure that only wholesome meat be sold and that fair profits for the town's butchers be preserved. Even at that early date, good politics sought to encourage commerce. Succeeding centuries gave rise to fear of novel foods from the newly discovered Americas. Potatoes and tomatoes both engendered outcries against their consumption lest the public be poisoned. Later times raised fears that some food preservation techniques harmed consumers. Public exposure of conditions in Chicago's stockyards led to vast government oversight to preserve workers' well-being and the public's confidence in newly established mass markets. A highly scholarly book, Ferrieres' accomplishment provides a historical foundation for anyone interested in development of public policy regarding what we eat. --Mark Knoblauch Copyright 2005 Booklist

Choice Review

Well composed and excellently translated, this scholarly overview of some of humankind's challenging dietary encounters is a delightful excursion, covering about eight centuries, into much more than just food history. We all must eat, should know about what we eat, and endeavor to make engaging table conversation. In 16 chapters, Ferrieres (social history, Univ. d'Avignon) provides much information on medieval life (mainly in France), and on meat and potatoes and milk too; but the author's objective is to examine irrational public perceptions and actions. In the process readers get a few good lessons on public health and medicine, agriculture and biology, cooking and the culinary arts, and on governmental responses (often bizarre) related to food safety. Food fears are still with us and always will be; rumors and Internet discourse will see to that. The answers to such phobias lie in better nutritional literacy, application of scientific principles when examining the unknown, reliance on true professionals, and rational leadership by public officials and consumer advocates. Even though this book is meant for a general readership, educational programs in fields such as food science, food service, nutrition, and anthropology will welcome it. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. All levels. M. Kroger emeritus, Pennsylvania State University, University Park Campus

Series Editor's Preface	p. vii
Preface to the American Edition	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
1 Forbidden Meats	p. 9
2 Political Meat	p. 29
3 The Birth of the Consumer	p. 47
4 The Vigilant Consumer	p. 62
5 The Phobia of New Plants	p. 82
6 Bread on Trial	p. 111
7 Silent Fears	p. 134
8 The Pate and the Garden	p. 154
9 Hungarian Cattle Disease	p. 171
10 From the Epizootic to the Epidemic	p. 193
11 The Politics of Precaution	p. 217
12 The Dangers of Imperfect Metals	p. 231
13 Health Conflicts	p. 254
14 Bourgeois Serenity	p. 270
15 English Cattle Disease	p. 285
16 The Poisoners of Chicago	p. 301
Conclusion	p. 325
Notes	p. 331
Bibliography	p. 355
Index	p. 373

Available:*

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (2)

Booklist Review

Choice Review

Table of Contents