I just finished reading Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. WOW. This book was fantastic. This talented fiction writer, who turned non-fiction for the purposes of writing this book, did an amazing job. It reads smoothly and dramatically at (appropriate) times, while supplying a wealth of facts and information.
I am glad that I was already a vegetarian before reading this book, but if you are not, and even if you are not considering becoming one—ever, this book is a must-read. Everyone should know where their food comes from! The invention of factory farming and misleading terms like cage-free have made people blind to their food source, and food is such a critical component of our lives that to be ignorant of this is just crazy.
Jonathan spent 3 years writing this book. I love that he allows those in the food industry to express their views and stories in their own words. Some people said they blew through this book in record time, because it was just so fluid and entertaining, though I had to put it down multiple times just to contemplate and reflect on what I had just read.
He touches on so many things, but he drew the focus on where 99% of the US's meat comes from: Factory Farms. However, he did spend a lot of time with farmers who work to keep their animals happy and healthy, as well—even a vegetarian cattle rancher and a vegan slaughter house builder! Although I loved the sections that tended to be more fact-intensive and even bought a set of highlighters just for this book (I had never highlighted in a book before in my life), the storytelling sections were excellent. It was so well-rounded, empathetic, and revealing. There is an entire section in the back devoted to explaining where his data came from and an index to help you reference relevant information.
Even though commercial fishing was such a minimal topic in this book, I came out with a much stronger understanding of the modern fishing methods, especially regarding the bycatch from these methods, which has been consciously built into the process. I have such a strong love and respect for ocean life and the ocean's ecosystems that this information really moved me. Taking in mind the recent news about the widespread fish labeling fraud, which is not discussed in this book, there can't be anything good to say about the modern fishing industry. Species are overfished, species are dying purposelessly as bycatch, and now I find out that the fishing industry is illegally selling those overfished species under the names of other, plentiful species. It's just terrible.
And then there is the impact of farmed animals on our environment. While this was not news to me, he had a great knack for putting things in perspective. One of the most notable statements in this book to me was, “Most simply put, someone who regularly eats factory-farmed animal products cannot call himself an environmentalist without divorcing that word from the meaning.”
If you choose not to read this book because you intentionally prefer to remain ignorant of issues related to our food supply chain, then you are actively contributing to a huge problem.
I'm still trying to figure out how he squeezed all of the information he did into those pages without making it seem like I was in class, but even though at times it was hard for me to continue reading due to the harsh reality of the topics discussed, those times were few and far between, and Jonathan just did such an amazing job making this book readable. I know I am going to read it more than once.
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