Resilience in the US red meat industry: the roles of food safety policy

We use the case of red meat food safety to illustrate the need to problematize policy. Overtime, there have been numerous red meat scandals and scares. We show that the statutes and regulations that arose out of these events provided the industry with a means of demonstrating safety, facilitating large-scale trade, legitimizing conventional production, and limiting interference into its practices. They also created systemic fragility, as evidenced by many recent events, and hindered the development of an alternative, small-scale sector. Thus, the accumulated rules help to structure the sector, create superficial resilience, and are used in place of an actual policy governing safety. We call for rigorous attention to not only food safety, but also the role and effect of agrifood statutes and regulations in general, and engagement in policy more broadly.

Michelle R. WoroszEmail:

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Michelle Worosz   has a PhD in Sociology from Michigan State University. She is Assistant Professor with the Food Safety Policy Center and affiliated with the Institute for Food Laws and Regulations, both of which are at Michigan State University. Her research focuses on agrifood studies including sustainability, food safety, and governance. Andrew Knight   earned his PhD in Rural Sociology from The Pennsylvania State University. He is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor in Sociology at Susquehanna University and affiliated with the Food Safety Policy Center at Michigan State University. His research focuses on agricultural systems, environmental issues, public policy, and risk perception. Craig Harris   has a PhD in Sociology from the University of Michigan. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Michigan State University, where he is also appointed in the National Food Safety and Toxicology Center, one of the principals in the Food Safety Policy Center, and one of the founding members of the Institute for Food and Agricultural Standards. His research focuses on food safety policy, fisheries management, and the coevolution of agriculture and society.