Cheap Meat: Flap Food Nations in the Pacific Islands - Tapa dura

"Could easily become a food studies classic... A compelling and informative read." Material World "Valuable book for a range of academic interests including human rights, photography and journalism, and the history of South Africa and apartheid." -- Paul Lowe Times Higher Education "A fascinating study about a distasteful topic." -- Eric K. Silverman Pacific Affairs "An engaging narrative... Will be of interest to a broad audience." -- Geoffrey C. Marks American Journal Of Human Biology

"Cheap Meat" follows the controversial trade in inexpensive fatty cuts of lamb or mutton, called 'flaps', from the farms of New Zealand and Australia to their primary markets in the Pacific islands of Papua New Guinea, Tonga, and Fiji. Deborah Gewertz and Frederick Errington address the evolution of the meat trade itself along with the changing practices of exchange in Papua New Guinea. They show that flaps - which are taken from the animals' bellies and are often 50 per cent fat - are not mere market transactions but evidence of the social nature of nutrition policies, illustrating and reinforcing Pacific Islanders' presumed second-class status relative to the white populations of Australia and New Zealand.