Forging a National Diet: Beef and the Political Economy
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FORGING A NATIONAL DIET: BEEF AND THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF PLENTY IN POSTWAR AMERICA _____________________________________________________ A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri-Columbia _____________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy _____________________________________________________ by CHRISTOPHER DEUTSCH Dr. Catherine Rymph, Dissertation Supervisor JULY 2018 © Copyright by Christopher Deutsch 2018 All Rights Reserved The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the dissertation entitled FORGING A NATIONAL DIET: BEEF AND THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF PLENTY IN POSTWAR AMERICA presented by Christopher Deutsch, a candidate for the degree of doctor of philosophy, and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. _______________________________________________________________ Catherine Rymph, Associate Professor of History, Chair _______________________________________________________________ Jerritt Frank, Associate Professor of History _______________________________________________________________ Victor McFarland, Assistant Professor of History _______________________________________________________________ Jay Saxton, Professor of History _______________________________________________________________ Mary Hendrickson, Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A large number of people made this dissertation possible. I would like to thank the many archivists who assisted and guided my work in the archives. Such trips always feel like mad dashes fueled by hope and desperation and the archivists who have helped me always managed to direct me to the best sources and ensured that I got the documents in a timely manner. Allen Fisher, who handled my FOIA request at the LBJ Archives, deserves special mention for his diligent processing of my request. Organizations helped me complete this project. My home at the University of Missouri, the History Department, always made me feel welcomed and found countless ways to support my work, especially the hard work of Nancy Taube, Patty Eggleston, Lynn Summers, and Melinda Lockwood got me through my PhD. My other home, the Women’s and Gender Studies Department, exposed me to whole worlds of scholarship that made me a better scholar. Being awarded the Harry S. Middleton Fellowship and a Moody Research Grant by the LBJ Foundation provided crucial support and was a great honor. This work was also made possible by a research grant the Truman Library Institute. I have benefitted from support over the years that was too innumerable to count. At the University of Missouri, I always was humbled by the love and comradery I was shown by my fellow graduate students, whether it was during a class discussion, at a bar, or fighting for our rights as workers, we were a family and I would not have made it without them. At conferences that I have attended over the years, several scholars have given their time and improved this work as a result. They include Shane Hamilton, Kendra Smith-Howard, Nancy Langston, Sara Phillips, Philip Scranton, Thomas iii Andrews, Gabriel Rosenberg, and Gabriella Petrick. I need to specially thank my writing partner Anastasia Day, a fellow traveler in the field of food history and a genuinely wonderful person. My committee made me a better historian and helped me make this work something better than I had ever hoped it would be. Jerry Frank turned me onto environmental history and planted the seeds that became this project. Victor McFarland taught me how a young scholar might successfully navigate academia and pushed me to understand my work within the broader scholarship. Mary Hendrickson gave me important and necessary insights into farming and agriculture as seen by non-historians. Jay Saxton agreed to join late in the process but proved no less willing to help me for that. Robert Smale deserves special mention because, although he was not able to serve on my committee, he never let my analysis slack and pushed me to drive deeper into my subject. Finally, Catherine Rymph was the best advisor that I ever could have hoped to have. She never failed to support me, was always there to keep me on track, and even helped me pick up the pieces when broken. Her joy and encouragement has meant the world to me. My family also helped me complete this project. To my siblings, siblings-in-law, and nieces and nephews, thank you for keeping me grounded and reminding that there is life outside of my work. To my parents, Sue and Steve, thank you for everything you have provided. And finally, Deidra, words fail to capture the depth of my feelings for you so I will settle for this approximation: thank you my love. iv CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ ii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ...............................................................................................v ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... vi INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 Chapter 1. Beef for the Multitudes: Reconversion and the Origins of Beef Policy, 1945- 1948........................................................................................................................23 Chapter 2. Making Cattle Modern: Disease and Chemical Management in the Era of Mass Beef Consumption ........................................................................................78 Chapter 3. Securing the Peace: The Korean War and the Transformation of Beef Policy, 1948-1954 ............................................................................................................131 Chapter 4. “Fabulous Fifties”: The Social and Policy Underpinnings of Mass Beef Consumption ........................................................................................................181 Chapter 5. “Something Priceless”: Managing Abundance, 1960-1967 ...........................236 Chapter 6. End of an Era: Economic Crisis and the Collapse of Beef Policy, 1968- 1974......................................................................................................................289 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................339 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................360 VITA ................................................................................................................................378 v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1.1 Estimated carcass weight of per capita meat consumption, 1909-2011 .................6 2.1 Department of Agriculture map of foot-and-mouth disease in Mexico as of February 22, 1947 ...............................................................................................95 2.2 Department of Agriculture map of foot-and-mouth disease eradication showing large areas of infection and reinfection in Mexico as of January 9, 1948 ........110 2.3 Map of vaccinations as of August 1950 .............................................................113 3.1 Total cattle population in millions of head of cattle, 1888-1948 ........................135 3.2 The average value of cattle per head as measured in nominal dollars, 1888- 1948...................................................................................................................140 3.3 Estimated pounds per capita meat consumption by carcass weight, 1942-1962 164 3.4 An image of consumption that emphasized it as a pleasing and non-political activity...............................................................................................................179 4.1 Under the title “We have built a better living for all…”, this image represents an idealized scene of domestic consumption that the results of food surveys seemed to confirm for Department of Agriculture personnel in the mid-1950s ............195 4.2 Example of a meat company celebrating meat inspection as part of the production process ............................................................................................211 5.1 Estimated Carcass Weight of per Capita Meat Consumption, 1960-1970 .........242 6.1 Estimated retail weight of per capita meat consumption, 1953-1972 ................300 7.1 Estimated per Capita Meat Consumption by Carcass Weight for Beef, Pork, and Chicken, 1971-2011 ..........................................................................................341 vi FORGING A NATIONAL DIET: BEEF AND THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF PLENTY IN POSTWAR AMERICA Christopher Deutsch Dr. Catherine Rymph, Dissertation Supervisor ABSTRACT Few foods items are more associated with the United States than beef yet it was not until the 1950s that Americans ate more beef than any other meat. The triumph of mass beef consumption was not accidental or a preordained event. As this dissertation argues, beef became the most consumed meat in America because of a policy enacted by a succession of presidential administrations and was aided by popular demand. Beef policy, as understood by its enactors, was an attempt at creating a nation undifferentiated by diet and unified by eating a meal fit for the leader of the free world. Drawing on primary research