New Slaughter Technologies and Their “Aftertaste”: Biographies of Reindeer, Meat and Blood in the Arctic

The Yamal and Chukotka agro-industrial complexes are going through a period of reform, during which the slaughter of reindeer with the help of an electric shock or an air pistol becomes the norm from a technological and sanitary point of view. On the one hand, traditional reindeer slaughter technologies as techniques of killing are saturated with symbolic meanings that are erased or come into conflict with the introduction of new technologies. On the other hand, what happens at the level of everyday practices causes negative assessments by local people and allows one to look at this situation from a different angle: the meat of reindeer slaughtered according to all state sanitary standards often does not meet the taste expectations of local Arctic communities. In this article, we are looking for an answer to the question that arose during our field work: why is the production from the slaughter station not in demand among local dwellers? We believe that in many ways it is the life/history of a reindeer itself and its blood as a separate substance that co-create a certain taste, quality and influence the perception of meat. If earlier the researchers of Russian reindeer husbandry explained the superiority of the qualities of personal meat compared to the “state” by socio-economic reasons, the authors of this article, without denying the existence of these factors, tried to show a number of other grounds for the formation of a disdainful attitude of local residents to venison produced in an industrial way. Tracing the biographies of reindeer on their way to becoming a food product, the article analyzes the role of the relationship between human and animal, people and food, changing technologies and traditions, breaking local distribution networks and social ties in the production of tastes and quality of venison. The biographical approach leads the authors to reflect on the boundaries, the complexities of their implementation and the relationship not only between life and death, but also between individual actors involved in the creation of reindeer products, such as blood, meat and reindeer. In the modern world, the social life of food is inextricably linked with industrial and transport infrastructures, since, as a rule, within them and in interaction with them, the individual stories of specific products are formed: in stores, at factories, ports and slaughterhouses. This article shows how the infrastructure of slaughter (slaughterhouses) and new technologies determine the biographies of reindeer herding products. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

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