Editing Corned beef (section)

===Pre-20th century===
[[File:Libby McNeill & Libby Corned Beef 1898.jpg|thumb|A 1898 illustration of tin of corned beef produced by [[Libby's]]]]
[[File:Mmm... corned beef on rye with a side of kraut (7711551990).jpg|thumb|right|A [[corned beef sandwich]] served in a [[diner]]]]

Although the practise of curing beef existed across the globe since the period of [[classical antiquity]], the industrial production of corned beef started in the [[British Isles]] during the [[British Agricultural Revolution]]. Corned beef sourced from cattle reared in [[Ireland]] and [[Scotland]] was used extensively for civilian and military consumption throughout the [[British Empire]] beginning from the 17th century onwards due to its non-perishable nature.<ref name="auto"/> Irish and Scottish corned beef was also sold to the [[French West Indies]], where it was used to feed both [[settler]]s and [[slaves]].<ref name=mandel>{{cite journal |doi=10.1093/hwj/dbm028 |last=Mandelblatt |first=Bertie |year=2007 |title=A Transatlantic Commodity: Irish Salt Beef in the French Atlantic World |journal=History Workshop Journal |volume=63 |issue=1 |pages=18–47 |jstor=25472901|s2cid=140660191 |doi-access= }}</ref> Industrial processes in the British Isles for producing corned beef during the 17th century did not distinguish different [[Cut of beef|cuts of beef]] beyond the tough and undesirable parts of the cow such as the [[beef shank]] and [[neck]].<ref name=mandel/><ref name=irish/> Instead, the grading was done by sorting all cuts of beef by weight into "small beef", "cargo beef" and "best mess beef", with the first being considered the worst and the last the best.<ref name=mandel/> "Small beef" and "cargo beef" cuts were most commonly traded to the French, while "best mess beef" were frequently intended for sale and consumption in markets throughout the British Empire.<ref name=mandel/>

Ireland produced a significant portion of corned beef consumed in the British Empire during the [[early modern period]], using cattle reared locally and salt imported from the [[Iberian Peninsula]] and [[southern France]].<ref name=mandel/> Irish port cities, such as [[Dublin]], [[Belfast]] and [[Cork (city)|Cork]], became home to large-scale beef curing and packing industries, with Cork alone producing half of Ireland's annual beef exports in 1668.<ref name=irish>{{cite journal |title=Irish Corned Beef: A Culinary History |year=2011 |first1=Máirtín |last1=Mac Con Iomaire |first2=Pádraic |last2=Óg Gallagher |journal=Journal of Culinary Science and Technology |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=27–43 |doi=10.1080/15428052.2011.558464|s2cid=216138899 |url=https://arrow.dit.ie/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=tfschafart|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Although the consumption of corned beef carried no significant negative connotations in Europe, in European colonies in the Americas it was frequently looked upon with disdain due to being primarily consumed by poor people and slaves.<ref name=mandel/> American social theorist [[Jeremy Rifkin]] noted the sociopolitical effect of corned beef in the British Isles during the early modern period in his 1992 book ''Beyond Beef: The Rise and Fall of the Cattle Culture'':

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The British [[enclosure]] movement had displaced thousands of rural English families, creating a cheap new labour pool to fill the unskilled jobs in the industrial factories of [[London]], [[Leeds]], [[Manchester]], and [[Bristol]]. Shortages of foodstuffs and rising prices were fueling discontent among the new working class and middle class of the cities, threatening open rebellion. British officials and entrepreneurs quieted the masses with Scottish and Irish beef. Historians of the period point out that were it not for the Celtic pasturelands of Scotland and Ireland, it might well have proved impossible to quell the growing unrest of the British working class during the critical decades of British industrial expansion.<ref>{{cite book| last = Rifkin | first = Jeremy | title = Beyond Beef: The Rise and Fall of the Cattle Culture | publisher = Plume | date = March 1, 1993 | pages = 56, 57 | isbn = 978-0-452-26952-1}}</ref>}}

Despite being a major producer of corned beef, the majority of the Irish population during this period, [[Irish Catholics|Catholic]] [[tenant farmer]]s, consumed relatively little meat in their diets. This was due to a variety of factors, including the high costs of buying meat in Ireland and the ownership of the majority of Irish [[farms]] by [[Protestant Ascendancy|Protestant landlords]], who marked most of the corned beef produced using their cattle for export. The level of meat, including corned beef, present in the Irish diet of the period decreased in areas away from major centres for corned beef production, such as [[Northern Ireland]], while increasing in areas such as [[County Cork]]. The majority of meat consumed by working-class Irish Catholics consisted of cheap products such as [[salt pork]], with [[bacon and cabbage]] quickly becoming one of the most common meals in [[Irish cuisine]].<ref name=irish/>