Where’s the Beef Mr. Trump?

More Sizzle Than Steak

Donald Trump can  boast about his juicy steaks all he wants but when it comes to substance and policy…where’s the beef? The Republican front runner is plainly just more sizzle than steak.

There’s just too much at steak here to empower this wiener.

Make  America Great Again

Clearly  Mr. Trump is following the conventional wisdom of my childhood that asserted “ meat was what made America great.” Cooked to a carcinogenic turn, nothing was more American than a back yard barbecue when slapping a hunk of steak on a Weber  grill proclaimed to the world “I’m proud to be an American.”

Vintage ad American Meat Institute 1947 All their ads came with the certification of the American Medical Association, confirming meats nutritional value. Vintage Ad American Meat Institute.

To make certain mid-century Americans included plenty of essential red meat in their diet, The American Meat Institute created a long running ad campaign touting the benefits and magic of meat, assuring the public that yes, you’re right in liking meat!

Vintage Ads American Meat Industry

The ads that ran from WWII through the 1950’s drew no distinction in food value or health benefits whether from  the lowly hot dog or  the king of meat, the sirloin steak.

Meat was the yard stick of protein, the gold standard of nutrition or as the American Meat Institute called it “the nutritional cornerstone of life.”

Leaders of the Free Meat Eating World

Vintage illustration 1958 Saturday Evening Post

When the boys came marching home from WWII,  it wasn’t for some sissy cheesy carrot ring casserole, but for a he-man steak. Our new post war wealth allowed us to buy large chunks of steaks and chops. And binge buying we did, filling up our new deep freezers with all  manner of meat.

The rest of the world still reeling from the horrors of war, its industrial base shattered,  its farmlands untended or blown to bits, could only sit back in amazement and watch.

Toss another steak on the barbecue

While the allies were busy carving up the post war world, Americans were living high on the hog, carving up their fat larded steaks.

And what well marbled, tender meat it was.

DES – It’s No Wonder

DES -USDA approved (L) Vintage ad Eli Lily Stilbosol DES (R) Vintage ad Swifts Meats

When hormones were introduced into livestock production after the war, the meat industry was fairly salivating .

The manufacturers of diethylstilbestrol, known as DES, hailed the event as the most important moment in the history of food production, right up there with frozen food.

And my father couldn’t agree more.

His cousin a Junior  executive with Eli Lilly, knew the benefits and importance of this breakthrough and explained it to my mother:

“Because it produced more fat and more weight on the animals,” Cousin Albert marveled,”and thus more profits for the meat industry, DES, rightfully so, was being used on more than 90 % of American cattle. It was short of a miracle.”

This new wonder drug he promised, “would give meat juicy tenderness that cannot fail-the best eatingest…melt in your mouth goodness cut with a fork tenderness ever served!”

Are You Sure You’re Right in  Liking Meat?

Just in time for the baby boomers diet! ( L) Vintage Ad for DES (R) Vintage ad Gerbers baby Food Meat

Baby boomers born into this golden age of meat consumption would grow up consuming this sizzling DES deliciousness folks don’t forget.

Decades later those unfortunate people who would develop cancer wouldn’t forget either.

Although the carcinogenicity of the synthetic DES in test animals was known by 1938 it was approved in 1947 by the USDA. With profits sky-high , it’s no wonder.

By the time I was born, meats place in Americas life was as firmly attached to their dinner plates as the plaque lining their arteries would become.

Meat…You’re right in liking it because it contains so many things that are good for you…and maybe some things that aren’t.

Kinda like Trump.

© Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream, 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.