Meatonomics
Subtitle: how the rigged economics of meat and dairy make you consume too much--and how to eat better, live longer, and spend smarter
By: David Robinson Simon
Published: 2013
Language: eng
Number of pages: 289
ISBN-13: 9781573246200
Subjects: Government policy; Meat industry and trade; Dairy products industry
Description: "Few consumers are aware of the economic forces behind the production of meat, fish, eggs, and dairy. Yet omnivore and herbivore alike, the forces of meatonomics affect us in many ways. Most importantly, we've lost the ability to decide for ourselves what - and how much - to eat. Those decisions are made for us by animal food producers who control our buying choices with artificially-low prices, misleading messaging, and heavy control over legislation and regulation. Learn how and why they do it and how you can respond. Written in a clear and accessible style, 'Meatonomics' provides vital insight into how the economics of animal food production influence our spending, eating, health, prosperity, and longevity. 'Meatonomics' is the first book to add up the huge 'externalized' costs that the animal food system imposes on taxpayers, animals and the environment, and it finds these costs total about $414 billion yearly. With yearly retail sales of around $250 billion, that means that for every $1 of product they sell, meat and dairy producers impose almost $2 in hidden costs on the rest of us. But if producers were forced to internalize these costs, a $4 Big Mac would cost about $11."--Publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: The brave new world of government marketing; title: Massaging the message : shaping consumer beliefs; title: Sausage-making and lawmaking : influence in the political process; title: Regulatory conflict and consumer confusion; title: Feeding at the subsidy trough; title: Diseases and doctor bills; title: The sustainability challenge; title: The costs of cruelty; title: Fishing follies; title: Recipes for change.