America, Wave That Steak With Pride!

Going through some ancient writing, I ran across this piece I did for cerdo.com, which has since morphed into the Twin Cities collective Squad19, which is terribly, terribly cool. Those guys are so cool I doubt they'd even talk to me anymore.

Regardless, here's a piece on meat Steve T. commissioned from me for those goofy, early days of collaborative content back when we all worked for a violently temperamental little man. Unfortunately, it appears just as relevant more than five years later. (Insert deep sigh here.)


Meat: The Most Powerful Icon in Your Refrigerator

Friends, in a time of flag-wagging, and jocular jingoism, I think we’re all a little more aware of the power of the symbol. That’s why I’d like to make a wild little proposal. What do you say we change up our national flag and make it a little more modern? My vision: three bold fields of red, white and blue, creating a background for a sizzling-hot steak.

Okay, so it doesn’t really capture the idealism and romance of liberty and justice for all, but think about it from the realism standpoint. What says “America” better than meat? Meat is no longer just food. Meat is power. Meat is strength. Meat is sex and religion and consumerism. These days, that dinner-plate variety steak, in all its bloody, gory glory, has sprouted new wings of meaning. Your steak has lifted off the plate and soared to a lofty perch among the ranks of everyday objects so saturated in judgment, subtext and connotation, they have morphed beyond their original shape into powerful icons. Think about it. The cross can’t go back to the time when it was an arrangement of a couple of sticks. The swastika won’t crawl back up the family tree to reminisce about its roots as a symbol of good luck and prosperity. Meat will never revert to simply representing a food group.

Let’s begin with the science. Meat is not a “leave no trace” kind of food. It takes thousands more gallons of water and acres of land to feed the livestock that will become dinner than it takes to simply eat plant-based cuisine. It’s simple math, really. One cow vs. ten thousand peanut-butter sandwiches. So meat, in essence, symbolizes the ultimate consumer food. And what nation is consistently the biggest consumer in the world? That’s right, kids.

And keep in mind that for many Americans, meat has a clear link with masculine power. To observe this trend in action, watch a little TV. Rent a few action films. Does Arnold toss salads? Not unless it's intended for comedy. Sensitive men reach for vegetables. But step away from the grill, girly men. You can’t keep a Marlboro man from demonstrating steak-flipping prowess. Our social norms tell us that strong, manly men hunt, prep, cook and eat meat. You won’t find barbequed portabella mushrooms over the hot coals of popular masculinity. In fact, commercials regularly intertwine machismo and meat, as evidenced in the old “Beef, It’s what’s for dinner” campaign. Tough-guy actor James Garner wasn’t just randomly chosen as the beef-council spokesman.

In a society that envisions tough-as-nails ranchers, cowhands and butchers as men, a salad-loving woman is properly aligned within her appointed gender role. She’s apppropriately soft, feminine and non-confrontational. The feminine woman remains attractive as she munches on a plate of vegatables. In contrast, vegetarian men are often viewed by popular culture as weak or emasculated.

On the other hand, a ravenously meat-eating woman can also be viewed as strikingly sexual. Weiner, sausage, manmeat, beefsteak, hot beef injection… meaty euphemisms make up a good portion of our phallic references. Singles bars are referred to as “meat markets.” Bodice-ripper model Fabio relayed in a 1998 court case that his manager was using him as a “piece of meat.” Perhaps the primitive mind buried in modern humans is still attracted to meat and blooming sexuality as signs of vigor, reproductive health, and the assured continuity of one’s genes. In any case, our fleshy words and phrases indicate that meat is also deeply intertwined with virility and sexual arousal.

Don’t forget that meat is a religious icon. With a little study of history and world theology, meat also shines across the globe a powerful religious icon, appearing in many spiritual beliefs and practices. For example, it’s reported that cannibalistic warriors ate the flesh of their enemies or heroes in an attempt to absorb in their best qualities. The Indonesian word “bakthi” has a translation similar to the notion of “chi,” or inner spirit. People’s bakthi could be gathered through cannibalism, taking trophy parts, and generating the spirit animal, to “express the taking of the internal spirit of the opponent and the expression by the practitioner.” Ritual cannibalism was performed by the Aztecs, people of the New Guinea Highlands, in Fiji and in some Pacific island areas.

It’s also metaphorically explored through most of the world’s great religious texts, including the Bible, in which Christ says, “I am the bread of life that came down from heaven. The bread I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. For my flesh is real food and my blood real drink” (John 6:52). Ritual animal sacrifice as a part of religious practice is even more widespread. In fact, flesh is so common in religion, it’s surprising there’s not more meat-based religious imagery.

Way, way back in 1991, artist Jana Sterbak stirred controversy at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa with her "Vanitas: Flesh Dress for an Albino Anorexic.” Sterbak’s 50 lb. flank steak garment outraged politicians and food-aid agencies. Helen Murphy, a museum spokeswoman, said "It can be quite repugnant, even to people who eat meat. People just aren't prepared in some cases to say this is art.”

Sterbak's piece, though shocking and revolting to some, reinforces the power of meat to stir up ideas beyond the notion of protein on a plate. Reject it, eat it, love it, hate it, worship or wear it, you can’t ignore it. Could anything better encapsulate the flavor of modern America?