Eating Animals review and Reading by Foer
I finished reading Eating Animals a few days before last night’s reading of it by the author, Jonathan Safran Foer. Woo-hoo! It was stimulating to read a new book, and to listen to the author speak.
Eating Animals Review:
Overall, I found the book to be a gentle and easy read (despite all of the words I had to look up – I need to work on my vocabulary). I was surprised by it though. So many of the reviews I read of it made me think it would be this revolutionary, in-your-face expose pushing veganism. It truly wasn’t. Yes, it did expose gruesome details of the factory farming industry, but what it really did was encourage starting a dialogue to discuss eating animals. And it did it in a gentle way, hence the use of the word above. There was no unnecessary shock in his writing – just the shock of the statistics themselves.
Foer writes in a very relateable manner, telling stories of his childhood that most of us can probably relate to – I know I can. He begins by talking about the stories we tell about food, and how we justify eating the way we do. He goes on to do interviews of some of the more humane animals farmers. He talks about how their processes are much less cruel than those on factory farms, but how they also have their flaws (and are not extremely profitable).
In the end, Foer is just asking people to think about the suffering imposed on factory farmed animals, and to take a stand against it. He encourages vegetarianism, not because he thinks it is wrong to eat animals (that is the impression I got) but because he thinks it is wrong to make animals suffer so much so that we can eat them.
There is a lot more I could say, and I definitely took A LOT of notes, but I will leave it at that for now. I encourage you to pick up a copy of the book. It may be an eye-opener for you! I was familiar with a lot of what he was saying, but it also gave me a lot of food for thought.
Eating Animals Reading:
Yay for small blurry pics… not.
Foer’s reading and discussion enforced my review of the book – he mentioned that he doesn’t think the discussion should be about whether or not it’s right or wrong to eat animals, but whether it’s right or wrong to eat animals the way we’re eating animals. He mentioned a few times that he loves the way meat tastes – but there’s things he loves more. There are things he finds more important.
He reiterated that he want to get the discussion flowing – he wants to start a conversation. I wish there would have been more time to start conversations with the audience! The whole program was about an hour, with questions in the last half. I could tell the audience was very diverse. There were actually a few agriculture people there. One of them told Foer he was impressed with the book and thinks he got it right (This guy said he thinks the meat business is going to change drastically, because it is not sustainable, and that in 20 years, eating a hamburger will be like smoking a cigarette). Foer said he’s been getting a lot of great feedback from farmers. So it seems like it’s working – the conversation has started.
Again, there are so many great points I would love to share with you, but I’m not sure they’ll make any sense, and Foer explains them better than me. I’ve never been very good at explaining things (but let me know if you want to hear more!).
Again, I encourage you to pick up a copy of the book!
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Themocracy
I like that he’s bridging the topic in a more conversational manner. I don’t like shock and awe and attempts to shove facts down people’s throats. That is not, in my estimation, the best way to “enlighten” people. To me, the more forceful approach reeks of a person who only sees one side of the argument and not the other. Someone who can approach it more rationally strikes me as a person who is more logic based and has researched both sides (this may not necessarily be the case, of course, but it’s how it comes across to me; perception is everything). Sounds like it could be an interesting read.
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This does sound like an interesting book…one that I probably wouldn’t hate and fling out the window. (“Skinny Bitch”? Burn that shit!) I’m glad there are some good vegan authors out there who can be thoughtful and like you said, gentle about expressing their views, which are inherently polarizing in our society.
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I think a lot of people feel vegetarians and vegans are radical in their views of the meat-eating world. What’s interesting is this author is trying to build a gentle bridge between the meat eaters and non-meat eaters. Also? From what I understand, the difference between Kosher meat and regular meat is the way in which the animals are slaughtered. Supposedly getting the Kosher stamp of approval means the animals were killed in a more humane way (if that’s possible). It’s largely why Kosher meat is more expensive …and why it tastes better, too.
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interesting.. i’m not really willing to give up meat entirely, but i AM willing to pay more to have good meat from free-range organic farms, so i have to say i like this approach 🙂 my mom buys all her meats from local, independent farmers, and i hope to eventually accomplish that myself!
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I always pick up books but never get to read them (because I’m swamped with school work). Though I did find the time to get through the Twilight series in about a week, so maybe it just takes a little dedication. I’ll put it on my list!
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I will be reading. Thanks for the review.
Damn, Mr. P is going to be upset if I go all rogue vegetarian on him again.
🙂
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I will definitely be picking up this book (via the library). I’ve read one of Foer’s fiction books, and saw the movie version of another. Wasn’t too impressed. But perhaps doing non-fiction fits him better? What you say about his book’s message resonates, and I’d like to see/read for myself. While I doubt I’ll go back to being a vegetarian let alone going vegan (I like my cheese & eggs!), I have been making it a point to reduce “dead animals” and to use soy products instead.
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Kim,
Did you see Food, Inc? (I’m betting you did.) Thought provoking. Sealed the deal on almost all meat-eating for me… One of my sisters and I have this conversation a lot. Especially tough to figure it all out w/ small children (she’s got three).
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This book is on my list of books I want to read during the few weeks I have between semesters. I’m glad to hear what you thought of it. I tend to agree with this: (quoting you)
“he mentioned that he doesn’t think the discussion should be about whether or not it’s right or wrong to eat animals, but whether it’s right or wrong to eat animals the way we’re eating animals”
I think that really IS the important question.
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Hi Kim–
Thanks for stopping by my blog! It’s so nice to get friendly comments, especially when it’s so brand new!
I really enjoyed reading your review of the Jonathon Saffran Foer book. A lot of my friends are big fans of his writing, but I’ve never read any of his books. Still, I think I might have to pick this one up. It’s definitely causing a stir. That’s very cool that you were able to hear him talk about it in person.
I’ll be picking up a copy of the book soon, and I’ll definitely let you know what I think!
I saw him on Ellen (who is a vegetarian, maybe even a vegan) and he was such a GREAT speaker and he just really made sense!!!!
Talking about how you can easily go visit a chocolate factory, or a box factory, or a beer factory—but then try to visit a meat factory and you need a special pass from some secret society (my words, not his). Why is this?? Shouldn’t this worry us??
He said the one thing you can do if you want to make a small and easy change – stop eating eggs. Unless you buy them from someones backyard chicken, they are the worst as far as what the animals go through.
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