Sacred Cow, Mad Cow – A History of Food Fears (Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary History) - Hardcover

Ferrières, Madeleine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0231131925 ISBN 13: 9780231131926

Publisher: Columbia University Press, 2006

Synopsis

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 Ferrieres 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 pA te from dead cats are just two of the more unappetizing recipes that have scared consumers away from certain foods. Ferrieres 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, Ferrieres recounts the development of safety methods that became the Western model for fighting animal diseases. Ferrieres 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, Ferrieres tells us how our decisions about what not to eat reflect who we are.

About this title

Review:

Its scholarly foundation is solid and extensive... She has read well and has chosen her texts... with care.--Priscilla Ferguson "Journal of Modern History "

A study that has fascinating contemporary echoes... It is a dense but rewarding book.--John Postgate "Times Literary Supplement "

Scholarly, densely written but fascinating.--Ingebord Boyens "Globe and Mail "

Sticks to a rich and well-exploited range of historical sources... Ferrieres argues convincingly.--W. F. Bynum "Nature "

An original and useful book.--David F. Smith "American Historical Review "

Truly groundbreaking.--Richard Pillsbury "The Historian "

Ferrières cuts across historiographic heritages with intelligence and uncommon pertinence.--Le Monde

Ferrieres' accomplishment provides a historical foundation for anyone interested in development of public policy regarding what we eat.--Booklist

An impressively researched addition to the Arts and Traditions of the Table Series... Filled with choice nuggets of food lore.--Kirkus

Well composed and excellently translated... a delightful excursion... Recommended.--Choice

About the Author:

Madeleine Ferrieres 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.

About this edition

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0231131925
• ISBN 13: 9780231131926
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352