Cheap Meat: Flap Food Nations in the Pacific Islands

by Deborah B. Gewertz

Cheap Meat follows the controversial trade in inexpensive fatty cuts of lamb or mutton, called "flaps," from the farms of New Zealand and Australia to their primary markets in the Pacific islands of Papua New Guinea, Tonga, and Fiji. Deborah Gewertz and Frederick Errington address the evolution of the meat trade itself along with the changing practices of exchange in Papua New Guinea. They show that flaps—which are taken from the animals’ bellies and are often 50 percent fat—are not mere market transactions but evidence of the social nature of nutrition policies, illustrating and reinforcing Pacific Islanders’ presumed second-class status relative to the white populations of Australia and New Zealand.

Genres: Anthropology, Nonfiction, Food

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

i was so annoyed by the constant self-justification of their methods by the authors of this book that it really got in the way of their message for me. and that's too bad, because the message is a good one - that economic and power interests play an enormous role in the way food gets distributed/consumed in our world today, even out in the remote islands of the pacific.

interestingly, on the subject of flaps - or the fatty belly of animals (mostly sheep in the case of this book), i think there is a renaissance going on and they're becoming trendy - i've seen pork belly on the menu of some pretty high end restaurants (e.g. noma in copenhagen), so these issues can turn at any moment, depending on larger cultural trends that are at work.

[Katherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is incredibly lazy scholarship. Their methods are entirely flawed and the author's poor data collection and analysis is riddled with excuses of not having the "time and energy" to do the work well. Due to these flaws they consistently make "rough" generalizations, write about what they can only "suspect" is true, make contradictory statements throughout, and veer off into tangents that they are unable to synthesize into their main argument. I would suggest that you follow the authors' lead and not waste any "time and energy" on this book unless you are required to for some reason.

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love any ethnographic study into food and the intro is enticing. Easy to read, fascinating book about tracking commodities in the global food chain. It is a difficult type of study but I give kudos to the scholars who tried to follow how sheep fat ends up in the Pacific. It attempts to be a historical work, an anthropological treatise, a policy recommendation work, and popular food health book and sadly it fails to fulfill any of those. This book lacks the theoretical sophistication of similar works such as Anna Tsing's The Mushroom at the End of the World and leaves me wanting to know what sheep flaps are really for Papuans or Pacific Islanders.

There was too much general overview that we miss the in-depth analysis typical of ethnographic work - so we hear the excuse that "if we dive too deep into Australian slaughter, we won't reach Papua New Guinea" and there the weakness of this book lies. We don't understand anything in the Pacific or even Papua New Guinea! Their argument falls when flaps become part of the social norm of gift and food exchange. Here, the argument is undeveloped. What does totemic even mean? Between eaters and non-eaters? I remain unconvinced about the stature of flaps as a totemic symbol. It is pushing it too much. Would it even be better to ask and find out, since we are at a global scale anyway, why Mexico, Indonesia, China, and Africa would similarly have brisk sales but not so in Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam where this commodity would be technically welcomed and geographically near? No answers there.

This book tries to be a "food" health book but it fails to present any study related to health except for secondary sources. Their argument largely follows the norm that fat contributes to ill health. But they offer little corroborating insights there. Given the recent findings on sugar as the culprit for obesity, I wonder if flaps need to be demonized more than soda or other food items cheaper than this. They offer some glimpse into Maggi instant noodles but little overview of the availability of other food. I don't get the sense of when the enchantment with Western cargo became the crutch and diet in these areas losing taro and other root crops traditional in these areas. This is not that book. I still remain fascinated by how Pacific islanders have grown to love sugary and instant food in copious amounts. Is this the same reasoning why Native Americans and Aborigines are plagued by alcohol? This issue is not discussed but definitely need to be.

I so wanted to love this book and even completed it because commodity chains deserve to be exposed. Whether flaps were "dumped" or if cheap food needs to be distributed to other markets, the book definitely shows that the market is not simply about supply and demand. What it truly is is awaiting further studies in the Pacific Islands.

[Dylan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a huge fan of Gewertz and Errington as writers or anthropologists. Their fieldwork seems brief and thin, and their under-theorized analysis fails to enlighten. The topic at hand--the dumping of garbage meat from 1st world onto 3rd--could and should lend itself to powerful insights about capitalism, "modern" subjectivities, and diet. But instead, the authors play it safe, and give a fairly journalistic account. They don't seem to want to engage with questions of capitalism, race, and power. Those three words scarcely appear in this book, and their absence leaves the book wanting. They also spend a lot of time trying to appreciate both sides ('some people like these meats, while some note that they're linked to cardiovascular disease and diabetes'). Thus, the book suffers from middle-of-the-road-ism.

[Phil Bundy · Rating 1 out of 5]

"reinforcing Pacific Islanders presumed second-class status" The only one assuming anything is you.
No one thought that not the sellers or the buyers until you interjected it manifesting what was your imagination. Pretending to be an advocate to a people on a problem you and people like you created makes you, in my opinion, lower than Fly Vomit.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

First thoughts below, will add more later. I was fascinated by this book but also thought a lot of statements in it were ridiculous.


Bit of a red flag to me is that in the first chapter, you find a paragraph about gender identity and meat consumption that was weirdly shoehorned in and had nothing to do with the topic at hand, as well as the fact that they used the separate words for meat and the corresponding animal in English to be evidence of avoiding the recognition of death in the consumption of meat... this is just WRONG as far as linguistics goes and serves their point much less than the actual explanation they used the example of cow and beef in english... this distinction came about because Anglo-Saxon serfs raising the farm animals spoke old English while the invader Norman nobles consuming the meat spoke old French. This why all the animal words essentially come from German while all the meat words come from French (beef/boeuf.) This is not some obscure fact; it's easily found if you just google why these words are like they are. I would think a book written by anthropologists would have solid explanations from a linguistic stand point instead of a statement shoved in based on their pointifications alone.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

We read this fascinating study of cheap, fatty mutton flaps in our Anthropology of Food class.

This work unpacks the production of flaps in New Zealand and Australia, developed countries where flaps are considered inedible, suitable only for poor quality dog food. In an astonishing and inequitable turn of events, these flaps are not only sold to and consumed by poor consumers in the Pacific Islands, but enjoyed and sought out, revealing an interesting example of globalized food and the globalization of obesity.

[Tegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as part of my Anthropology unit. It offers an interesting look at the sale of flaps in the Pacific Islands, and the contributions they make, not just nutritionally, but also culturally.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the food supply chain, specifically dealing with meat and the unfair, classist way in which it's distributed and sold to Pacific Islanders.