The Fishmeal Revolution: The Industrialization of the Humboldt Current Ecosystem

Off the Pacific coast of South America, nutrients mingle with cool waters rising from the ocean's depths, creating one of the world's most productive marine ecosystems: the Humboldt Current. When the region's teeming populations of fish were converted into a key ingredient in animal feed--fishmeal--it fueled the revolution in chicken, hog, and fish farming that swept the United States and northern Europe after World War II.

The Fishmeal Revolution explores industrialization along the Peru-Chile coast as fishmeal producers pulverized and exported unprecedented volumes of marine proteins to satisfy the growing taste for meat among affluent consumers in the Global North. A relentless drive to maximize profits from the sea occurred at the same time that Peru and Chile grappled with the challenge of environmental uncertainty and its potentially devastating impact. In this exciting new book, Kristin A. Wintersteen offers an important history and critique of the science and policy that shaped the global food industry.

Author: Kristin A. Wintersteen
Publisher: University of California Press
Published: 05/25/2021
Pages: 246
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.70d
ISBN13: 9780520379633
ISBN10: 0520379632
BISAC Categories:
- History | Latin America | South America
- Nature | Ecology
- History | Latin America | Central America

About the Author
Kristin A. Wintersteen is a scholar of modern Latin America, environmental history, and global food studies. She earned her PhD in History from Duke University.