The Meat Racket and In Meat We Trust

The finale photograph of Processed Views is looming --  inspired, in part, by two recent investigations of the meat production and packing industry.
Investigative reporter, Christopher Leonard, delivers an account of  the evolution of the nations's meat supply over the past thirty years. In The Meat Racket, Leonard covers how meat production conglomerates have created a system that puts farmers on the edge of bankruptcy, charges high prices to consumers, and returns the industry to the shape it had in the 1900s before the meat monopolists were broken up. Numerous interviews have revealed the extend to the political power of this industry that is contributing to the demise of  America's family farm culture.

Review of The Meat Racket: 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/book-review-the-meat-racket-by-christopher-leonard/2014/02/28/3000c400-934c-11e3-84e1-27626c5ef5fb_story.html

Maureen Ogle provides  historical perspective to this industry in her book “In Meat We Trust.”  Tracing the history, she profiles the technological developments, as well as personalities that built the industry. She lay much blame, on the American consumer who remains uninformed about the process and consequences of their diet. The "meat problem is really one of culture, of politics and, above all, of identity." 

It is about time, Upton Sinclair would be gratified.