From Goodreads: “Jonathan Safran Foer spent much of his teenage and college years oscillating between carnivore and vegetarian. As he became a husband and a father, he kept returning to two questions: Why do we eat animals? And would we eat them if we knew how they got on our dinner plates?
Brilliantly synthesizing philosophy, literature, science, and his own undercover detective work, Eating Animals explores the many fictions we use to justify our eating habits-from folklore to pop culture to family traditions and national myth-and how such tales justify a brutal ignorance. Marked by Foer’s profound moral ferocity and unvarying generosity, as well as the vibrant style and creativity that made his previous books, Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, huge bestsellers, Eating Animals is a celebration and a reckoning, a story about the stories we’ve told–and the stories we now need to tell.”
This book is not for the light hearted. It’s graphic, albeit informative, and at times can be hard to get through. Being a vegetarian I was immediately drawn to this book. Not in a morbid sort of way but a way to stay up-to-date on facts involving the meat industry. The one question I get asked all the time is “Why don’t you eat meat?” and now I can respond with “Read Eating Animals and you’ll understand why.” I’m in no way advocating vegetarianism. It’s a personal choice that no one can be forced in to. To each his own, right? Right. Eating Animals is packed with information about the meat industry and how animals are processed into the food we serve our families. It is interwoven with personal stories from Jonathan Safran Foer on growing up and choosing to be either a carnivore or a vegetarian. Some of the insight he shares is too much to handle. Even though he was trying to stay in the middle and not pick sides I find it hard to look at this objectively and still be ok with eating meat. If you’re looking to switch over to a vegetarian lifestyle then this would be a great book to kick start it. However, meat eaters be warned: you may start to look at your food differently! He has an easy to read writing style that is very down to earth and real. And for a non-fiction book it felt more like a story than a collection of facts. As much as I want to say I enjoyed this book enjoy just isn’t the right word for this kind of material. I appreciated this book. It’s nice to have this part of the food industry exposed.
Rating – 3.5/5
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