ENVI 233
The Industrial Animal
Last Offered Spring 2016
Division II
This course is not offered in the current catalog

Class Details

This class is inspired by a January 2015 New York Times exposé written by the food journalist Michael Moss. “At a remote research center on the Nebraska plains,” he wrote, “scientists are using surgery and breeding techniques to re-engineer the farm animal to fit the needs of the 21st-century meat industry. The potential benefits are huge: animals that produce more offspring, yield more meat and cost less to raise. There are, however, some complications.” There are always complications. In this class, we examine the historical development of the industrial animal. Exploring the physical, scientific, and political infrastructures that support American industrial meat production, we pay critical attention to the biological complications that have arisen in shaping animal life to fit the needs of the modern factory. We examine the methods–from synthetic vitamins and artificial light to antibiotics and artificial insemination–industrial producers use to overcome the obstacles of biology. Finally, we consider the industrialization of the meat animal in the context of the industrialization of feedstuff crops like corn and soy, changing US consumption patterns, local and national food politics, and the human labor that makes it all possible.
The Class: Format: lecture
Limit: 16
Expected: 16
Class#: 3400
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: midterm and final exam; papers
Prerequisites: none
Enrollment Preferences: Environmental Policy & Environmental Science majors; Environmental Studies concentrators
Distributions: Division II
Attributes: ENVI Environmental Policy
ENVP PE-A Group Electives
ENVP PTL-A Group Electives
ENVP SC-A Group Electives
PHLH Nutrition,Food Security+Environmental Health

Class Grid

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