The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
melrkernan's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Violence
caseyjayner's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
As a long time veg, I don’t read books about animal farming. But this one kept getting suggested as great books.Â
I admit it’s very well done, but holy heck don’t read it if you are already sensitive to factory farming practices. I couldn’t handle some and fast forwarded, but I feel okay with that since I don’t participate in it.
I must say, it’s much harder to be around my near eating family no, but I really wish they’d read this. At the same time, the title is such that most meat eaters probably won’t read it. Â
I admit it’s very well done, but holy heck don’t read it if you are already sensitive to factory farming practices. I couldn’t handle some and fast forwarded, but I feel okay with that since I don’t participate in it.
I must say, it’s much harder to be around my near eating family no, but I really wish they’d read this. At the same time, the title is such that most meat eaters probably won’t read it. Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
ashareads's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Animal cruelty
remie's review
slow-paced
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Racism, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Confinement, and Gore
alybark's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Animal cruelty
Minor: War
alisylvi's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Torture
natrabbits's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
5.0
As a vegetarian, this book was very difficult and I had to skip portions and return to them. Foer's arguments have been useful in my conversations with non-vegetarians. If you are looking for a reason to stop eating meat, read this book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Blood
elerireads's review against another edition
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.25
I've read this kind of journalistic, memoir-style nonfiction book exploring an issue before and not been at all impressed (Johann Hari), but this is how it's meant to be done. Such a thoughtful discussion of the role that meat plays in the world and all the different factors that weigh into our decision to eat it. We know from the outset that he has a bias, having spent most of his life trying to be vegetarian, with varying degrees of success, but it really did feel from reading it that he had come at it with genuinely open-minded curiosity (of course he could have just written it to sound that way!).
I liked the depth he goes into around the socio-cultural importance of traditional foods, and also that he doesn't minimise the desire/pressure to be polite and eat what other people are eating or what someone has cooked for you. But then he sort of turns it around and says in a way that makes it more important to believe in what you're eating and the symbolism of it. He puts it much better than that though so I'd recommend reading it! I also really enjoyed the chapter structured as a glossary of relevant terminology - the combination of dry wit and stylistic creativity made it very satisfying to read.
The investigation of farming and slaughterhouse practices was absolutely harrowing, although at least not surprising to me. The effort to talk about fish in more depth was important too, as they are often ignored or their suffering is dismissed as lesser than that of land animals which more visible and easily understood. Some of the most interesting bits were about the people trying to do it better, the difficulties they face, the unease he still felt, and emphasising how small the proportion of meat from these sources is. He also points out that eating any kind of meat is still contributing to overall demand for meat. He does advocate animal agriculture moving back to these kinds of small, family farming type practices. The piece I did think was missing was how much less 'efficient' these practices are and that it would be completely impossible to produce all meat this way unless demand is drastically reduced.
The book was prefaced with a discussion of his grandmother's attitude towards food and how that was shaped by her experience of extreme hardship and starvation during the Holocaust. It comes back around to it at the end, finding that although he's arrived at a different answer to what he should be eating, the core principle is the same. I thought it was a valuable perspective to add.
I liked the depth he goes into around the socio-cultural importance of traditional foods, and also that he doesn't minimise the desire/pressure to be polite and eat what other people are eating or what someone has cooked for you. But then he sort of turns it around and says in a way that makes it more important to believe in what you're eating and the symbolism of it. He puts it much better than that though so I'd recommend reading it! I also really enjoyed the chapter structured as a glossary of relevant terminology - the combination of dry wit and stylistic creativity made it very satisfying to read.
The investigation of farming and slaughterhouse practices was absolutely harrowing, although at least not surprising to me. The effort to talk about fish in more depth was important too, as they are often ignored or their suffering is dismissed as lesser than that of land animals which more visible and easily understood. Some of the most interesting bits were about the people trying to do it better, the difficulties they face, the unease he still felt, and emphasising how small the proportion of meat from these sources is. He also points out that eating any kind of meat is still contributing to overall demand for meat. He does advocate animal agriculture moving back to these kinds of small, family farming type practices. The piece I did think was missing was how much less 'efficient' these practices are and that it would be completely impossible to produce all meat this way unless demand is drastically reduced.
The book was prefaced with a discussion of his grandmother's attitude towards food and how that was shaped by her experience of extreme hardship and starvation during the Holocaust. It comes back around to it at the end, finding that although he's arrived at a different answer to what he should be eating, the core principle is the same. I thought it was a valuable perspective to add.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
sophieennis's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Torture
lucnmn's review
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
4.0
I've been meaning to read this book for a while now but I've always been kind of scared to actually pick it up. Although I've been a vegetarian for some years now and I'm also eating vegan for most days of the week, eating meat is still something I think about when people around me eat it. This book has given me a good insight into the meat industry (even though I already knew most of the things mentioned in the book) but I also liked how the author approached this topic more unbiased and very fact-based because eating meat tends to normally be a very heated discussion with many feelings involved. One part that really stood out for me was the vegan person owning a slaughterhouse because it's this perfect gray area that I sometimes think about. As an individual, all I can do is change my eating habits and I can talk to people about it but that's pretty much it. Therefore, I find it really incredible that he at least tries to somewhat change the meat industry. Overall, I felt like this was a great and kind of new take on the topic of whether or not one should eat meat but I can't help but feel that some parts are missing. I would've loved to see more about how meat affects our environment, about the topic of meat alternative products, or even lab-grown meat. Though the book is from 2006 I believe so it's understandable why these topics weren't included. But I did find the part about pandemics very interesting because it's obviously very relevant today. However, it would've been nice to have more information about the system in Europe because it was very much focussed on America and I do believe that Americans are eating way more meat than Europeans do. Still, this is a very good and educating read and I will definitely recommend it to others who want to know more about the topic.Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death