commodity meat

English

Etymology

From commodity +‎ meat.

Noun

commodity meat (countable and uncountable, plural commodity meats)

1. Meat that is produced and distributed on an industrial scale, and can be bought and sold on the commodity markets.
   • 1966, United States Senate Select Committee on Small Business, Expansion of Exports‎^[1], page 342:

     Swift and Wilson are both attacking the problem of commodity meat head on.

   • 2002, Nicols Fox, “The Hamburger Bacteria”, in Gregory Pence, editor, The Ethics of Food, page 283:

     In 1987, when the pathogen was discovered in commodity meat, causing four deaths in two institutions in Utah, the USDA decided that the meat need not be sampled or recalled, because it was "safe" if "cooked properly" […]

   • 2006, Julius Ruechel, Grass-Fed Cattle, page 214:

     Yet despite aggressive advertisements claiming the uniqueness of specific brands of commodity meats, the identities of commodity producers remain anonymous to the consumer […]

2. (US, dated) Meat distributed through the USDA commodity food distribution program.
   • 1967, Dissent‎^[2], volume 14, page 483:

     I have used my last can of commodity meat.

   • 1970, John Fetterman, Stinking Creek‎^[3], page 70:

     Always the cheese, peanut butter, and rice from the commodity program. Or commodity meat — chicken, beef, pork — fried in a heavy iron skillet.