Jonathan Safran Foer

Eating Animals is a riveting expos� which presents the gut-wrenching truth about the price paid by the environment, the government, the Third World and the animals themselves in order to put meat on our tables more quickly and conveniently than ever before. Interweaving a variety of monologues and balancing humour and suspense with informed rationalism, Eating Animals is as much a novelistic account of an intellectual journey as it is a fresh and open look at the ethical debate around meat-eating. Unlike most other books on the subject, Eating Animals also explores the possibilites for those who do eat meat to do so more responsibly, making this an important book not just for vegetarians, but for anyone who is concerned about the ramifications and significance of their chosen lifestyle.

Eating Animals

Part memoir and part investigative report, Eating Animals is the groundbreaking moral examination of vegetarianism, farming, and the food we eat every day that inspired the documentary of the same name. Bestselling author Jonathan Safran Foer spent much of his life oscillating between enthusiastic carnivore and occasional vegetarian. For years he was content to live with uncertainty about his own dietary choices-but once he started a family, the moral dimensions of food became increasingly important. Faced with the prospect of being unable to explain why we eat some animals and not others, Foer set out to explore the origins of many eating traditions and the fictions involved with creating them. Traveling to the darkest corners of our dining habits, Foer raises the unspoken question behind every fish we eat, every chicken we fry, and every burger we grill. Part memoir and part investigative report, Eating Animals is a book that, in the words of the Los Angeles Times, places Jonathan Safran Foer "at the table with our greatest philosophers" -and a must-read for anyone who cares about building a more humane and healthy world.

This should be mandatory reading for everyone. We need to think about our actions and see if they align with our beliefs.

The truth is often difficult to listen to. I had to stop reading a few times as what was described was emotionally difficult to think about, particularly because it is still happening so frequently.

Rebecca Joy Tan

This should be mandatory reading for everyone. We need to think about our actions and see if they align with our beliefs.

The truth is often difficult to listen to. I had to stop reading a few times as what was described was emotionally difficult to think about, particularly because it is still happening so frequently.

Lizelle G

This might be the best, toughest nonfiction book I've read to date and I will be thinking about it for a long time. Beware that there are a handful of reckless comparisons between eating animals and slavery, racism, and the civil rights movement; these thoughts are made in passing with little to no context and are incredibly irresponsible.

Jule

Amazing book which is very revealing about the circumstances of factory farming. 
Yet, it is not imposing in any way. 
Still it makes me rethink my eating habits & my consumption behavior.

Very much recommend it to everyone who is concerned with one's own health!

Jonathan Tysick

An intellectually and emotionally convincing indictment against factory farming (which produces some 90% of the world's meat, 99% of the USA's). 

A nuanced account (no radical "meat is murder" sentiments here) that let's the reader hear firsthand from a factory farmer, slaughterhouse workers, animal activists, traditional turkey and pig farmers, and cattle ranchers. Thought provoking, well written and challenging. A must read for all who eat, especially those who have never thought about where their food comes from.

To reduce risk of pandemics for ourselves, our gaze needs to turn to the health of animals. From the bestselling author of the essential new 2019 book on animal agriculture and climate crisis: We are the Weather Discover Jonathan Safran Foer's eye-opening and life-changing account of the meat we eat 'Should be compulsory reading. A genuine masterwork. Read this book. It will change you' Time Out Eating Animals is the most original and urgent book on the subject of food written this century. It will change the way you think, and change the way you eat. For good. Whether you're flirting with veganuary, trying to cut back on animal consumption, or a lifelong meat-eater, you need to read this book. 'Shocking, incandescent, brilliant' The Times 'Everyone who eats flesh should read this book' Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall 'Universally compelling. Jonathan Safran Foer's book changed me' Natalie Portman 'Gripping [and] original. A brilliant synthesis of argument, science and storytelling. One of the finest books ever written on the subject of eating animals' Times Literary Supplement 'If you eat meat and fish, you should read this book. Even if you don't, you should. It might bring the beginning of a change of heart about all living things' Joanna Lumley

Nora 

Our book club podcast sat down and read the book & watched the documentary. Essentially our minds weren't changed by the book, it seems dated in the information we have now. (unless you are completely ignorant to the farming industry.

alexandra

4? 4.5? –

i’ve been vegetarian/vegan for the past two years and the contents of this book is the reason why it’s lasted this long (and will continue to last longer). although it did take me TWO YEARS to finally finish this, Eating Animals is life changing, important, and at times, hard to consume.

i wouldn’t consider myself a typical “animal lover” and grew up loving burgers and korean bbq. but i grew interested in the vegan community and picked this up a few weeks after i decided to make the change. the experiences in here is more than any “vegan documentary” i watched. there’s one paragraph i always come back to when thinking about factory farmed chickens and to sum it up: FECAL SOUP. 

beyond the fact that it’s inhumane, the factory meat and dairy we consume is just bad for you. it’s filled with bacteria and disease and other things i can’t summarize in a sentence. PLUS humans are horrible towards every living things. PLUS it’s terrible for the environment. even though the book gets lengthy at times, it’s all necessary. 

the only reason i docked off a star is because it took me so long to finish. the writing makes it easier to read, but it’s hard when the information itself is the tough part. 

this is a book i would recommend to anyone and everyone. i feel like we all deserve to know where our food comes from, and what’s really in it. we deserve to know what goes in our bodies, and how it got there. when people ask me why i’m vegetarian or vegan (aka a lot of people, aka whenever food is brought up), i want to give them this book and say, “this is why.”

Like many young Americans, Jonathan Safran Foer spent much of his teenage and college years oscillating between enthusiastic carnivore and occasional vegetarian. As he became a husband, and then a father, the moral dimensions of eating became increasingly important to him. Faced with the prospect of being unable to explain why we eat some animals and not others, Foer set out to explore the origins of many eating traditions and the fictions involved with creating them. Traveling to the darkest corners of our dining habits, Foer raises the unspoken question behind every fish we eat, every chicken we fry, and every burger we grill. Part memoir and part investigative report, Eating Animals is a book that, in the words of the Los Angeles Times, places Jonathan Safran Foer "at the table with our greatest philosophers."

Wynter

Convoluted and frustrating book. Eating Animals started out so good, exploring our relationship with eating meat in a neutral, rational tone, but then turned into a crusade with slogans and broadly painted, shock-filled statements. Okay, I get it, Foer is biased due to his own very passionate believes about vegetarianism. And I get even more the sources of his convictions. After three years of researching slaughterhouses and commercial farming, I too would have some strong words to say. But! Let me tell you why I must put a very emphasis on the "but" in my review.

JSF has openly stated over and over again that the goal of his book was not to propagate vegetarianism but to present facts about the abuses that go on in factory farming. That is exactly why I wanted to read Eating Animals! True to his word, he includes at least 200 pages of very graphic descriptions of the horrific acts that take place in these factories: cruel abuse, inhumane and prolonged deaths, live dismemberment, you name it. It's hard to read and for a good reason. Factory farming is an evil and cruel enterprise, and the government has very little interest in creating and enforcing improvements. Nobody is arguing this fact! We all know that, and it's true that a lot of people just opt not to think about it, and something has to be done to change the system. 

All is well and I am totally on the same page with the author at this point.

True to his word, JSF goes on to include some interesting and thought-provoking tangents about eating euthanized dogs and farmers that treat their livestock with dignity, as if to show us how neutral he can be on the subject. 

Lies! 

Untrue to his word, and while giving small, ethical producers the stage and feigning respect for what they do, he immediately follows with describing their product as "dead flesh", "tortured flesh", and "carcasses". It is language like this that exposes him to be not nearly as diplomatic as he wants to appear. In between the lines, there is a very clear statement, you either become a vegetarian or you are a bad person. You either agree with him, or you are a bad person. There really isn't much in between. 

The author does not address the fact that he chooses to be vegetarian and not vegan, which means he eats animal by-products, like eggs and milk - which are factory farm produced, no? - and which I find kind of ironic. He does not address the fact that, contrary to what he is saying in the book, going vegetarian does not exactly mean your food choices will not have an environmental or ethical impact. Unless you have your own garden, mass crop production comes with its own evils, like deforestation, soil degradation, indiscriminate killing of numerous wildlife during combine harvesting, slavery and child abuse in third world countries, carbon emissions during production and transport, etc. He does not mention that price for quinoa more than tripled since 2008, affecting the poor, or how the avocado farming industry is incredibly unethical and destructive to the environment. What about GMO, pesticides, and pollutions through eutrophication? See, I am starting to rant like JSF.

Whether you choose to be vegan, vegetarian, or omnivore - which is a choice that should be made based on your own informed decision, - what is more important is ensuring that your food is produced, delivered, and disposed of in ethical, humane, and environmentally sound manner. 

It is one thing to advocate animal welfare (with which I completely align myself), and it's another thing to push hypocrisy and guilt-tripping readers. After all these mixed messages, I am not sure whether JSF purposefully misleads the reader about his intentions, or if he simply does not know what his message is. If you are vegan/vegetarian yourself, in this book you will find a perfect echo chamber to reinforce your ideals. If you are an ethical omnivore, like me, you will probably get rather annoyed. 

For a more leveled look on our relationship with animal-based nutrition, I suggest to check out Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It's So Hard to Think Straight About Animals. Eating Animals also quotes a lot fromThe Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. While JSF is pretty critical of Michael Pollan's ideas, finding them rather soft and lacking action, I really identified with those quotes, so I'll have to read that book too.

heleen de boever

Must-read for anyone with a moral conscience.

Anthony

The book was great and very insightful. Who can argue that it's also brutal? It was extremely sad at parts. I hope to one day move toward a plant based diet.

Jeannette Ordas

This is probably the best book about food and eating that I've ever read. Instead of forcing your hand with gruesome scenes of factory "farming" & slaughterhouses (though they exist in this book), Jonathan Safran Foer makes you think about your own choices when it comes to eating animals.

Jack Harrison

It’s interesting that, like me, most people assume that a book about eating animals will be an uncomfortable read, and might advocate vegetarianism. This suggests that we probably all know, on some level, that we’re complicit in a system that we wouldn’t want to be part of if we let ourselves see it. I can’t conceive of an individual who could read this book and still defend factory-farmed meat.

Given how sickening the subject matter often is, though, it’s a surprisingly ‘easy’ read. The author’s conversational style and concise delivery are miles better than the often dry treatises I’ve read before. My only criticism is that it sometimes felt like it could’ve benefitted from another editing pass, as there’s some repetition of points across the chapters. That’s the sole reason I’ve dropped a star from my review. This book is essential reading for omnivores.

Charlotte 

For the most part, I agree with the conclusions drawn, however, where this book falls down is that it gives the impression that vegetarianism is enough to avoid supporting factory farm cruelty, but this isn't the case. To completely stop funding factory farming, one must also stop consuming products such as eggs and dairy, which are just as cruel as eating an animals flesh (this is touched on in the early section of the book).
Granted, this is a book about eating animals not eating their secretions, but if the message is to stop giving money to corporations that operate factory farms, then one must be vegan. 
Vegetarianism is good- a step in the right direction- but veganism is better, and I think this could've been discussed more through the book.

Mary Rose Luksha

Eating Animals was recommended to me by a friend, and I'd also read Foer's novels, so I was interested to see his non-fiction writing style. I began this book because I wanted to learn more about animals rights and welfare, but I didn't want to be shamed or judged, or have ideals shoved down my throat. And this book did absolutely none of those. Of course I felt shame, and I judged myself, but I think that cut deeper than any author doing the same.

It really is true, once you know the facts of how America treats animals raised for food, you have to do something. I'm currently living abroad, and this country doesn't import meat from the U.S. (they're still pissed about mad cow), but Eating Animals also raised moral questions for me about eating animals. Maybe it sounds callous or ignorant, but I'd never thought of the separation between pet animals and food animals in our conscience.

As for Foer's writing style, I read a few reviews that criticize his scattered, note-taking-like style of this book. I would agree that the overall arc seemed lacking. Obviously all the sections in the book are related to one another, and while I understand they're all related to the question "should we eat animals," sometimes I felt that written connection was missing which led to its scattered feel. 

So, because of that, I rated it 3 stars, though had the style been a little different I would have rated it higher because I really loved Foer's eloquent prose about the morality of eating animals, and I felt that, more than the facts, was a call to arms for me.

Amélie Vaugarny

Informative. Interesting. Horrible. This is the scariest book I have ever read. I broke the spine, dog-eared multiple pages, and highlighted so many passages. This is how important the message in there was to me!

This book is so much more than a man trying to convince you to turn to vegetarianism or veganism. It's actually none of that. There are a lot of numbers and statistics making it extremely informative, mostly farm factory related stats. I also found it super interesting to read various stories revolving around food and meat and how it shapes us and is part of our culture. I really enjoyed the different voices Jonathan Safran Foer gives us to hear. And, finally, I was absolutely sick to my stomach way too many times, simply reading about the inhumane way animals are treated. This book made me extremely conscious of what's happening, though at the same time utterly helpless and heartbroken. Factory farming is putting our planet and us, human beings, at stake. We CAN and we HAVE to act towards a better future or else we simply won't have one at all.

Danai koftori

This book completely chnaged my view on what I eat. I have tried becoming vegetarian a couple of times before but have given up again and again. There's just no way I can keep justifying eating meat - not after all I've learned about factory farming. 

My only criticism is that the author spends a lot of time talking about vegeterianism and where we draw the line on our meat eating habits when it causes so much suffering. However, for some people have no choice. Because meat is so cheap, easily accessible but also nutritious for people coming from undeprevilleged backgrounds it is their only option. They don't really have a choice, especially when vegetables are way more expensive. I think that argument was missing and I would have liked to see it being addressed but maybe that was out of the scope for this book. 

A very thought provoking read that I think anyone that cares where their food's coming from should read. And frankly, we should all care where our food is coming from. We can't claim ignorance any longer.

Jen Estrella

We can't plead ignorance, only indifference. Those alive today are the generations that came to know better. We have the burden and the opportunity of living in the moment when the critique of factory farming broke into the popular consciousness. We are the ones of whom it will be fairly asked, What did you do when you learned the truth about eating animals?

Julia A.

No es lo que pensaba. Y eso que yo soy de las convencidas.

Lewis John Fisher

As someone's been a vegetarian for over two years, and a vegan for close to two, this book didn't have many surprises for me, but here I am, still so incredibly angry. The case for the continual march towards anthropogenic climate catastrophe is borne on the backs of agribusiness, both agriculture and aquaculture, and here we are, continuing to not rectify our mistakes. If eating animal products is the single biggest thing that people can do in order to combat climate change, and animal agribusiness is the largest contributor to climate change, the option seems fairly sensible to take. I know, theres 100 companies (or whatever the constant instragram story performativeness that gets shared says), that are directly responsible for the state of the world, but that doesn't give you any and all excuses to sit back and not do anything. We are approaching the end times, and either you can act and try and mitigate something, or you will die. There is no more black and white.

Rebeca 

4 stars!!!! 
Wow wow wow, would recommend everyone to read this. As of right now I've been doing really good not eating meat. This was hard to read at times, and as I had picked it up long ago and read some of it I had to put it down for an extended time but I'm so glad I finally picked it back up because ITS SO IMPORTANT.

Francisco Romero

Me gustó, aun así tuve muchos problemas para impulsarme a agarrar y seguir leyendo. No porque el contenido del que habla sea un tema complejo, político y moral (es las tres cosas), porque describa una realidad que no se muestra libremente y muchos no queremos ver (también lo hace) o porque no tenga un interés real por el tema (este punto es para mi, que si lo tengo). El real motivo que me llevo a retrasar cada toma de esta lectura es, a mi parecer, que luego de un tiempo se vuelve repetitivo y un poco confuso de a ratos en los que no entendés si el relato del momento es la opinión del escritor o parte de una transcripción de la experiencia de un tercero. 

El contenido es interesante, crudo y te lleva realmente a entender y compartir el impulso que llevo al escritor a cuestionarse todo lo que se plantea en el libro. También, para los más escépticos, al final se encuentran todas las referencias bibliográficas que fundamentan lo expresado en las paginas. 

Las tres estrellas son justamente por esa leve confusión y ausencia de impulso a seguir.

K. Mike Merrill

I didn't eat any meat while reading this book. I wonder how long that will last?

I.m. ruzz

i admit i haven't finished it. one chapter left. it feels like maybe if i don't finish it i can ignore what i learnt in it.

Eating Animals

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