Portrait of a Burger

Portrait of a Burger

In 1997 in McDonalds, waiting to buy his daughter a Happy Meal
with one of those oh so popular Teenie Beanie Babies, Peter Livenheim
experienced an epiphany. The line up included a bull named Snort and
a cow named Daisy. "It struck me as odd that a company selling ground
beef would offer toys in the shape of cattle. Were children really
expected to hug and play with a toy cow while eating the grilled
remains of a real one? It seemed to me that the McDonalds-Beanie Baby
promotion revealed a deep disconnect between what we eat and where it
comes from"
Lovenheim was reminded of a family trip from his childhood. His
mother had distracted him from learning how cows become hamburgers by
starting a game of license plate bingo. In a modern America where
fewer than 2% of the population farms most of us go through life in a
state of distraction. Knowing too much about meat production could
make burgers and steaks less appealing dining options.
Lovenheim decided he was going to connect the dots and watch the
process from from birth to burger, from conception to consumption.
(Actually he also watches the harvesting of straws of semen from the
bull sire which is a little before conception.) The result of his
quest is Portrait Of A Burger As A Young Calf: The Story Of One Man,
Two Calves, And The Feeding Of A Nation. He takes the readers step by
step through every step of this transformation with nothing left to
the imagination. This is a fascinating book but not for the faint of
heart. Toward the beginning you read about pulling (by machine) two
dead calves, one of which had split in utero, from a cow in labor. He
also introduces us to the people who do the mostly unseen work of
creating, raising, and slaughtering the bovines, really making them
come to life as individuals.
I found Portrait Of A Burger As A Young Calf to give a really
interesting insight into food production. It should be a must read
for anyone who eats beef. Still...
...on a personal note, I'm glad I'm a vegetarian.
A great big shout out goes out to vetinarians who care for creatures
large and small.
Julia Emily Hathaway


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