The Way We Eat

Why Our Food Choices Matter

328 pages

English language

Published Sept. 18, 2006 by Rodale, Distributed to the trade by Holtzbrinck Publishers.

ISBN:
978-1-57954-889-6
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4 stars (2 reviews)

A thought-provoking look at how what we eat profoundly affects all living things--and how we can make more ethical food choices

Five Principles for Making Conscientious Food Choices 1. Transparency: We have the right to know how our food is produced. 2. Fairness: Producing food should not impose costs on others. 3. Humanity: Inflicting unnecessary suffering on animals is wrong. 4. Social Responsibility: Workers are entitled to decent wages and working conditions. 5. Needs: Preserving life and health justifies more than other desires.

Peter Singer, the groundbreaking ethicist who "may be the most controversial philosopher alive" (The New Yorker), now sets his critical sights on the food we buy and eat: where it comes from, how it's produced, and whether it was raised humanely. Teaming up once again with attorney Jim Mason, his coauthor on the acclaimed Animal Factories, Singer explores the impact our food choices have on humans, animals, …

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Review of 'The Way We Eat' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Ethics is hard.

If I've learnt something all these years, it is this universal maxim. Everybody wishes they'd make ethically sound choices in their lives, but more often than not, ethical choices are in contrast with cost and convenience. Nowhere is this more apparent than the way we consume food.

There are a lot of similarities between food and religion. Both are deeply personal choices which are erroneously thought of as having a clear, set winning answer. Both divide people into disjoint sets where they vehemently try to outdo one another in following "The Right Way". And of course, both are deeply political.

My personal journey in food, as in religion, has been quite tumultuous. Coming from a vegetarian family, I used to feel discomfort in sitting at the same table where somebody was eating meat, used to scoff at the smell of eggs and couldn't go near anything related …

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Subjects

  • Food -- Moral and ethical aspects
  • Diet -- Moral and ethical aspects
  • Food industry and trade -- Moral and ethical aspects
  • Gastronomy
  • Food preferences
  • Diet -- ethics
  • Diet, Vegetarian
  • Food Industry -- ethics
  • Health Food