From Affluence to Processed Food: Meat Consumption in Spain from 1950 to the present

Abstract

Using Spain as a case study, we analyze the evolution of meat consumption from the 1950s to the present. A meat consumption database was constructed using four sources: the FAO, Ministry Balance Sheets, Household Budget Surveys and the Food Consumption Panel. The study has two main contributions. First, we question the idea that meat consumption in Spain has been increasing steadily since the 1950s, as some economic historians have reported. Second, we identify two different food consumption models. The first is characterized by an increase in standardized meat consumption and the second features decreased meat consumption alongside a rise in the consumption of processed and prepared meat.