1973 meat boycott explained

The 1973 Meat Boycott was a week-long national boycott in the United States to protest the rapidly increasing meat prices. It took place from 1 to 8 April 1973.[1]

Background

Meat prices began to rise in late 1972. The Consumer price index published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics attributed this price increase to poor weather conditions, which increased the price for grain and animal feed, rising domestic demand, and unusually high export demand for pork due to the dollar devaluation in mid-February.[2] Meat prices had risen 5.4 percent in a month, poultry and fish 5 percent and all retail food prices 2.4 percent, and that all consumer prices had risen seven-tenths of one percent.

Boycott

The boycott rose out of small, local organizations of consumers across the country as prices for meat rose dramatically.[3] [4] These groups were primarily female led, as women traditionally bought the groceries for their households, and these groups grew both from people that only joined together around this issue and already existing women's and community groups.[5]

The boycott included both abstention from buying and cooking meat as well as active protests.[6] The protest was observed by more women than men, as men continued to eat meat that was bought before the boycott took effect.[7]

Lasting effects

According to some, the boycott was successful in lowering meat prices for a short period of time,[3] although the New York Times reported that there was "no significant decline in meat prices".[8] That being said, in the Time Magazine cover story for April 9, 1973, the boycott was called, "the most successful boycott by women since Lysistrata,"[9] and the public pressure pushed President Nixon to enforce price ceilings on beef, pork and lamb. The leaders supported continued boycotts of meat, specifically by refusing to cook or eat meat on Tuesdays and Thursdays.[8]

Ralph Nader wrote that consumers would become more aware of their ability to advocate for and control food policy.[3] Others wrote that "housewife activism" and women's groups' power gained more recognition, and the boycott's primary lasting effect was as a "consciousness-raising experience".[6]

References

[10] [11] [12] [13]

Notes and References

  1. News: CONSUMERS RALLY FOR MEAT BOYCOTT . The New York Times . 30 March 1973 . 2018-09-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181004185725/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/03/30/archives/consumers-rally-for-meat-boycott-mobilization-on-midwest-farmers.html . 2018-10-04 . live . Lissner . Will .
  2. Web site: The Consumer Price Index . U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics . 22 September 2018 . 1 . March 1973 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170622001458/https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/files/docs/publications/cpi/1970s/cpi_031973.pdf . 2017-06-22 . live .
  3. Web site: Nader . Ralph . The Lessons of the Meat Boycott . Nader.org . 22 September 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180917014540/https://nader.org/1973/04/09/the-lessons-of-the-meat-boycott/ . 2018-09-17 . live .
  4. News: Cowan . Edward . Nixon Sets Meat Price Ceilings at Both Wholesale and Retail; Asserts Costs 'Should Go Down' . 22 September 2018 . The New York Times . March 30, 1973 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181004185623/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/03/30/archives/nixon-sets-meat-price-ceilings-at-both-wholesale-and-retail-asserts.html . 2018-10-04 . live .
  5. News: Lissner . Will . Consumers Rally for Meat Boycott . 22 September 2018 . . March 30, 1973 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181004185725/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/03/30/archives/consumers-rally-for-meat-boycott-mobilization-on-midwest-farmers.html . 2018-10-04 . live .
  6. Book: Friedman . Monroe . Consumer boycotts: effecting change through the marketplace and the media . 1999 . Psychology Press . 978-0415924573 . 78 . 22 September 2018.
  7. Book: Adams . Carol J. . The Sexual Politics of Meat. 1990 . The Continuum International Publishing Group . 978-1-4411-7328-7 . 58 . Twentieth Anniversary Addition . Carol J. Adams#The_Sexual_Politics_of_Meat:_A_Feminist-Vegetarian_Critical_Theory .
  8. News: McFadden . Robert D. . Boycott of Meat Ends With a Call for New Protests . 22 September 2018 . The New York Times . April 8, 1973.
  9. News: Inflation: Changing Farm Policy to Cut Food Prices . 22 September 2018 . . April 9, 1973 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140713182242/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,903930,00.html . 2014-07-13 . live .
  10. Web site: Journey began with meat boycott . standard-journal.com . The Standard Journal .
  11. Web site: April 5 1973 - Few boycott meat in city despite soaring prices . .
  12. Web site: The flap about food . agriculture.com . 14 September 2008 . Successful Farming .
  13. Web site: On this day:March 29, 1973 . .

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