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History Unplugged Podcast

A Land Flowing with Pork and Beef: Colonial America’s Rise to the World’s Meat Consumption Capital

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

History, Society & Culture

4.24K Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2026

⏱️ 56 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When European settlers arrived in North America, they enjoyed a level of meat consumption that was absolutely unimaginable in the Old World. An average European was lucky to see meat once a week while even a poor American consumed about two hundred pounds a year. Ten years after the starving Plymouth colonists subsisted on wild game and Squanto's help, the Massachusetts Bay Colony found the environment so favorable for pigs and cows they didn't know what to do with all the extra food. A man who visited Pennsylvania in the 1750s marveled at the abundance of beef cattle. “[E]ven in the humblest or poorest houses, no meals are served without a meat course.”

Today's guest is Maureen Ogle, author of The Price of Plenty: A History of Meat in America. We look at how a single cow acted as a compounding asset, allowing a farmer to turn free pasture into immediate capital that could be reinvested into more land and larger herds. This cycle of expansion triggered a massive supply surge that crashed the price of beef, transforming meat from a high-status luxury into a foundational calorie source for the growing working class. Meat spread with refrigerated railcars that undercut local butchers to create a national market and then government subsidies for cheap corn and soy after WWII killed off remaining retail butchers while creating the modern paradox where Americans want ethically raised meat but won't pay the high prices such a system requires.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Andy Christman, a for him, has spent 40 plus years in Christian music, and chances are, he knows your favorite artist personally.

0:09.0

Now he's bringing you their stories.

0:11.0

I'm Andy Christman.

0:11.8

In his new podcast, One Degree of Andy, he sits down with the voices behind the songs.

0:16.1

For real, honest, and faith-filled conversations, you won't hear anywhere else.

0:19.8

That's a great question.

0:21.2

If you love Christian music, this is your backstage pass.

0:24.5

The One Degree of Andy podcast.

0:26.2

Listen now to One Degree of Andy wherever you get your podcasts.

0:34.7

Sky here with another episode of The History Unplugged podcast.

0:39.6

When European settlers arrived in North America, they enjoyed a level of meat consumption absolutely unimaginable in the old world.

0:45.4

An average European was lucky to see meat once a week, while even a poor American consumed about

0:50.4

200 pounds a year. Ten years after the starving Plymouth colonists subsisted on wild game and squanta's help,

0:57.6

the better-funded Massachusetts Bay Colony showed up and found the environment so favorable

1:02.0

for pigs and cows that didn't know what to do with all the extra food.

1:06.5

A man who visited Pennsylvania in the 1750s marveled at the abundance of beef cattle.

1:11.4

He said even in the humblest or poorest houses, no meals are served without a meat

1:16.1

horse. Today's guest is Maureen Ogle, author of The Price of Plenty, The History of Meat

1:21.1

in America. We look at how a single cow acted as a compounding asset, allowing a farmer to

1:26.4

turn free pasture into immediate capital

1:28.7

that could be reinvested into more land and larger Hertz.

1:32.2

This cycle of expansion triggered a massive supply surge that crashed the price of beef,

...

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