Rating

★★★★★

Category

non-fiction

Read

2014-09-14

Pages

341

This book is exceptional. Foer weaves research, interviews, and personal history unlike any other food book I have read. I couldn’t put it down.

“Eating Animals” struck me as an honest investigation triggered by impending fatherhood, and includes a number of plainly written chapters on the social role of food in Foer’s own life. What is thanksgiving without a turkey? What of his grandmother’s (“The Greatest Chef In The World”) chicken and carrots? What stories will his son tell of food?

Most refreshing about this book is the author’s own struggle to decide what to do with the information he uncovered in over three years of research. The book includes fairly presented letters (in full) from factory farmers, welfarists (think: humane farming), and rights activists (think: PETA). He engages with recent popular writing, such as Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dillema”, placing his own thoughts in a relatable context.

While necessarily shocking at times (you can’t write authentically about modern animal farming otherwise), I can’t think of anyone I wouldn’t recommend this book to.

“We are the ones of whom it will be fairly asked, What did you do when you learned the truth about eating animals?”