When I think of the Irish under British rule, I think of a people who had only one staple food, the potato. When the potato blight hit and the potatoes rotted in the fields, it caused a famine. But it’s not as if the Irish were only capable of growing potatoes. Under British rule, every aspect of their lives was controlled by a foreign government body. The rents on peasant houses and subsistence land were set at unlivable levels.
Centuries ago, potatoes were brought to Ireland from South America. They were introduced to Europe because they could be grown in large quantities on a small plot of land each year. This made them a cheap and accessible food source for the poor. In South America, there are hundreds of different species of potatoes. However, the colonial Europeans who brought potatoes to Ireland did not consider the importance of biodiversity. As a result, when a blight hit the potato crops, the poor were left with little to eat. The famine was so severe that dogs would dig up gravesites in order to find food.
Under the influence of Thomas Malthus, a philosopher whose ideas on overpopulation were dangerously flawed, the British believed that famines were caused by an excess of people. As a result, many members of the British Royalty viewed the potato famine in Ireland as an “opportunity” to allow many of the poor to die so that their land would be available for the taking. Part of what the British did with the farmland they confiscated from farmers was to convert it into cattle pastures for beef production. This practice was no more environmentally sustainable then than it is today.
Raising cattle requires a lot of land and water. Cattle are supposed to graze on grass, but when they are raised in large numbers, it is not possible to provide enough grass for them to eat. As a result, they are often fed grain, which leads to the production of methane gas and a surplus of manure. The methane gas contributes to climate change, and the manure can pollute water supplies. While a few cows grazing on grass can be beneficial to the environment, industrial cattle operations can have a negative impact. The manure from these operations can contaminate water supplies with nitrates, which can kill fish and cause algae blooms.
Another facet of meat consumption is examining how slavery shaped meat consumption. It is a status symbol to consume the highest-quality cuts of meat. When people say, “Where’s the beef?” they are not referring to oxtail, hooves, or tongue. These parts are delicious and are more commonly consumed by people who had to subsist on the discarded scraps of slave owners.
It’s why sausage has always been popular among the common laypeople. Grind up meat scraps, throw them in some intestinal lining, and cook them up. When the Irish were starving, the British were raising cattle on former Irish farming territory for their own markets.
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