"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.