Beef: The Untold Story of How Milk, Meat, and Muscle Shaped the World

I sat down to read this, and had a very difficult time putting it down. This is an informative and well-researched history of beef, from the very beginnings of human domestication of animals way, way back in prehistoric times to modern day. I am a big fan of beef - one of my favorite foods - and so this book is personally meaningful, simply to read about something that I love so much. But, as much as I love beef, I also realize that there is a huge environmental cost to it in our modern ways of raising it, and Rimas pulls no punches in speaking about what is a simple truth: eating beef (just as all foods) has a moral and ethical component to it, and we, as humans living in a limited world, have an ethical and moral responsibility to be mindful of what we are eating, how much of it, when, how, and why. Rimas does not spend much time on the ethical or moral components of beef consumption, but does do enough to ensure that the reader - the ones whose minds are open to truth, anyway - will go away from this book thinking in new ways about beef. And not in a way that condemns beef or condemns meat eaters. In fact, Rimas is very much in favor of GOOD beef: the non-industrial, non-factory, organically raised beef (such as Kobe or Mishima beef, or the kind raised by my family in Wisconsin and elsewhere that spends much time in pasture, isn't hormoned and antibiotic-ed, and lives as natural a life as possible). Beyond the wonderfully informative historical stuff about beef and cattle, Rimas' position is one of enjoying beef, preferably beef that is raised ethically, but enjoying it moderation. I am a lover all books related to food history (Nathanael's Nutmeg, Cod, Salt, and so forth), and I give this five stars. This is a good one that stands very well along with the others.

I am an omnivore for my health, and as such I was incredibly curious about the history of one of my common grocery items--beef. I've been aware of the horrific conditions of commercial stock yards for a while; however, I'd had no idea of what had led up to these conditions forming. This book offers a concise yet thorough journey of the relationship between cattle and humans. Rimas and Fraser start off with an exploration of culinary details about beef--what the different cuts are, and what gives each their characteristic flavors and textures. Then it's off into prehistory to surmise about the methods of domestication of cattle. Continuing along the timeline, we see how civilization depended on cattle in its growth, but how after a certain time, we became so convinced of our self-sufficiency that we turned the cattle into specialized beings, only for meat or for milk. Some people may be turned off by the last portion of the book, a strong argument against the American dependence on beef--especially after so much of the book extolled its virtues. However, there's plenty of food for thought, so I recommend not giving in to initial kneejerk reactions. Overall, an excellent read.

I have lived across the road from a large herd of cows attached to a local dairy for some time now, yet I never really saw them until I read this book. Reminiscent of Mark Kurlansky's books, Salt and Cod, in Beef-the Untold Story of How Milk, Meat and Muscle Shaped the World Rimas takes a common thing that we take for granted and weaves an erudite and well-written tale that brings the commonplace to life. In Beef he spends the first half of the book defining the nature of the beast itself, and its natural history, before going deep into the historic and pre-historic relationship of humans to cattle. As Rimas points out, our very language is peppered with words that directly illustrate the importance of cattle going back as far as the human mind can remember. Such words as pecuniary (Latin) and fee (Old English) show the connection that has always existed between wealth and cattle. This relationship persists today in such sayings as "big hat, no cattle". In the second half of the book, Rimas tells the sad story of how, in the modern world, the once wholesome bovine has been transformed into a mere commodity that is actually dangerous to our health and some would say the health of the planet. It is only in the last couple of years that forward looking ranchers have started to answer the demand for beef that is grown in such a way as to correct the errors of the past century. Rimas is pessimistic about Big Beef, but guardedly optimistic about the efforts of the new entrepreneurs. Reading this book has made me more careful about what I put in my mouth, and more respectful of this ancient species. I will never look at a cow the same way again.

The general message of this book is that as humans we have gone from respecting our food to having a "disrespect" for it, motivated by economics; because we don't need it in the same way we used to In this book the author describes vividly the history of the cow from work animal to today's attitude of purely commodity to make money. We produce cows for different things, i.e. we have one breed of cow for milking, one for meat, and one for work. Whereas previously we used one cow to accomplish everything. With the advancement of technology, our society has changed to make food secondary, but it should be primary. This book is fantastic with the authors educational and analytical view points. You learn so much without even realizing how educational this book is.

It's hard, if not impossible, to choose an animal that has impacted the fate of humankind more than the bovine. Beef chronicles our relationship with the cow, from Gods to hamburgers. This book is a chronicle written in essay format, exploring various historical and cultural ideas that have formed our society based on how cattle have affected this. I think...it sounds goofy perhaps, but this is a book everyone should read. Yes, you vegetarians, too! Because while morality may dictate whether or not eating meat is good or bad, this is the history of how Western culture got to where it was - on the back and with the flesh of the cow. Some of the things in here may disturb you, bother you, or surprise you, even. The tales range from the grizzly and extremely cultural bullfights of Spain, the worship of cow-related deities in the ancient near and middle east, and the modern meat and milk industry. It's more of a chronicle of humanity's distancing from our resources. We've gone from venerating our food and respecting it (even the plants - all food dies to give us life, corny as it may be, it's true), to seeing it as merely a commodity. So, this book isn't "just about cows", nor is it about why we should go back to worshiping Daisy or throwing some spears at bulls. It is about an ancient and almost tremulous relationship that we, as humans, have with a creature even older than we are in terms of history. It is highly philosophical, but also extremely educational. I can't recommend this book enough, especially if you are becoming more conscious of where food comes from. Even if you don't eat meat, throw some thanks out to the bovines when you see them. If it wasn't for our mutual histories intertwining, we probably wouldn't be here.