ABSTRACT
This examination of meat as a social phenomenon has used two kinds of data. Firstly there is ‘hard’ archaeological or statistical evidence of people’s eating habits, or about the medical risks and benefits of meat consumption. And secondly, there is what people say or write-their opinions. This may or may not coincide with the former sort of fact. It may seem more ephemeral, but is equally real and indispensable to understanding the first sort of evidence. Indeed, what people think to be true may if anything be more significant than ‘facts’, since belief is what governs current and future consumption. Let us review each in turn.
