LAUSR

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand how the meanings of veal change from 1989 to 2014 in the pages of two major newspapers. Design/methodology/approach Articles in The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph that use the word “veal” were selected (n=1,387). Articles were read for emergent themes and each use of the word veal was coded. Each newspaper had phases of popularity in the use of the word “veal,” and unique words for each of these phases were identified. The context of these unique words was examined in order to illustrate changes in what to eat and why, as well as how to access food and act toward it. Findings This paper illustrates how readers are meaningfully encouraged to engage in food politics in ways that may be incrementally transformative, but do not involve demanding food as a right. Originality/value This paper illustrates that normalizing scandalous food involves complexity and subtle changes. Shifts in messages are detected and analyzed using the related concepts of subsistence standards and practices of reciprocity.