Meat in the heat; a history of Tel Aviv under the British mandate for Palestine (1920-1940s)

Under the British Mandate for Palestine, Zionist experts – economists, agronomists, nutritionists – discouraged Jews from consuming meat, yet meat remained an important part of European-Jewish diets especially in Palestine’s cities. By focusing on the country’s carnivorous capital – Tel Aviv – this dissertation first explores why Zionist experts objected to meat consumption and how urban Jewish settlers ignored this advice. It then highlights how urban settlers created systems to allow themselves more access to meat in a country of limited supply and traces the tensions that arose within those systems. Finally, this dissertation demonstrates how Tel Aviv’s meat industry was tied to the expansion and development of the city, allowing it to gain more land, revenue, and autonomy. As such, this study shows how increasing Jews’ access to meat in Palestine was perhaps against experts’ advice, but ultimately served the national goal: the colonization of Palestine.