Eating Animals

Such important material. Such a great presentation. Such a shame that he ends it on such an offputting sanctimonious note.

We all know we need to eat less meat. We can all use periodic boosts to our resolution; some of us also appreciate impartial observations about the meat we do eat, especially when we’re hoping to eat humanely raised and ethically slaughtered animals. This book provided much of that: points of view I hadn’t considered, frank discussion of the difficulties of being humane throughout an animal’s entire life. Genuinely thought-provoking material. Then, at the end, he goes all preachy-like and undoes so much of the good he’s done! I felt like eating a fuck-you burger just out of spite. (I didn’t, but it’s taken me more than a week to get over my ill will and write a fair(ish) review.)

So, unless you’re already vegan: read this book, but skip the last section (“Storytelling”). There’s worthwhile material in it, but it’s not worth the proselytizing.

If you eat any meat at all, even 100% non-CAFO, read it. You will be better informed, and perhaps be a better person.

If you do eat CAFO meat, I don’t know what to say: you probably should read this book, but you won’t. It’ll be too difficult. Do me favor, though: start thinking a little about the animals you eat. Start paying attention to infectious-disease news and to animal-rights voices. At some point you’ll be ready to read this, and then please do. (Just skip the last section).

This is the second time I've read this book. The first time was some years ago, when I was just on the cusp on committing to vegetarianism. Back then, I found "Eating Animals" both affirming in some of my meat eating while also disgusting me enough to help me temporarily swear off factory farmed meat.

Now that I've been vegan for a number of years, I wanted to revisit Foer's arguments and see how they stacked up. What I found was an account that is both acceptable for readers completely ignorant to the factory farming industry while also remaining strangely incomplete.

I find it strange that while nearly every animal based food product is represented, any accounts of the dairy industry are absent. For a book that's basing its argument on ethical eating and awareness, the lack of information on what can be regarded as one of the cruelest industries left a sour taste in my mouth.

If you have read or are reading this book, I urge you to look into how dairy-based products are produced. Look at the industry standards from The National Dairy Council and you'll find that there is no profitable way that one can ethically harvest milk.

"If we are at all serious about ending factory farming, then the absolute least we can do is stop sending checks to the absolute worst abusers. For some, the decision to eschew factory-farmed products will be easy. For others, the decision will be a hard one. To those for whom it sounds like a hard decision (I would have counted myself in this group), the ultimate question is whether it is worth the inconvenience. We know, at least, that this decision will help prevent deforestation, curb global warming, reduce pollution, save oil reserves, lessen the burden on rural America, decrease human rights abuses, improve public health, and help eliminate the most systematic animal abuse in world history."

Pretty well sums it up. Foer gives a comprehensive look at the facts of how the vast majority (over 99%) of animals are raised for food in the U.S.

He also gives a lot of time and no small hope to some of the "good players" at the edges of the industry. But ultimately the inescapable conclusion is to stop eating meat altogether rather than attempt (and fail) to be an ethical omnivore.

This is a conclusion my family made just over a year and a half ago, but this book confirms a lot of what went into that decision.