Eating Animals 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

This book is a must for anyone curious about the meat/dairy industry and all the things that go on in these industries that they try to keep under wraps.

Jonathan Safran Foer does a wonderful job of remaining objective throughout the book; he doesn’t try to persuade anyone to do anything, but rather simply shares the facts he finds out.

I was required to read this book for a class I took in college, but I’m glad I read it – I’m a vegetarian and this book was part of the reason why I chose to become one.

Even if you’re convinced you’ll never give up meat or dairy, this book is still an important read to shed light on the goings-on of the meat and dairy industries. I would highly recommend it.

Eating Animals doesn't convince readers to not eat meat, dairy, or fish, but is framed around three ideas: that our farming practices have become increasingly unethical, harmful to our environment, and dangerous to our bodies. His empathetic ways of showing these unapologetic truths, along with his witty sense of humor, lets even the most close-minded people enjoy this book. There are intense and grotesque descriptions of turkey, beef, egg, pork, and fish farming, but they're important. We see from this book the main point: factory farms have taken over our food industry and are awful in numerous ways to humans and animals. With Foer's vivid descriptions, enjoyable narrations, and humor, I recommended this book to meat-eaters and vegetarians alike. It's not preachy, but makes a controversial topic that many of us turn our heads to something so impactful. He includes letters from factory farmers and descriptions of his own three year investigation, and we are learning right along with him in an entertaining and capturing way.

I’ve owned “Eating Animals” by Jonathan Safran Foer for years, but it’s remained on my shelf, staring down on me with judgement like Big Brother’s mustached poster. The fear was I’d never be able to eat meat again once I read it, and the fear may be justified—I haven’t had meat since starting it. The book is not a vegetarian diatribe against carnivores, and I have no problem with humans eating animals. The idea of a cow putzing around a pasture for a few years and dying instantly from a bolt to the brain never thrilled me, but it seemed no crueler than the deaths nature delivers. Only problem is, that’s fiction. I guess I was naive, but I didn’t realize 99% of all meat is now from factory farms, which are so disgusting they don’t even let journalists inside. Maybe part of getting older is realizing that it’s impossible to live a life without causing others to suffer.

Caution to the faint-hearted: this book is graphic because it is honest and real. If you prefer to remain ignorant (sarcasm), you may want to avoid it. Besides airing what takes place behind your ground beef, the author does a great job at remaining as unbiased as possible. Offering a lot of accounts from different individuals who work and live in the middle of factory farming, ranging from executives to farmers. I felt so passionate about family owned and operated farm mentioned in the reading, I actually reached out to thank them. This book really pulls at your heart strings with hard to stomach facts. In my opinion, it's disturbing that the majority of people are completely unaware of the contents of this book.

This definitely pushed me over to the vegan side of the fence, after being on the fence for so long. Foer doesn't argue against eating meat entirely, he argues against eating "farmed" meat. Even if you support eating meat, this is a terrific book, as you should know the conditions under which the creatures whose flesh you consume live.

This book was a catalyst where I wasn't looking for one. After the first 35 pages a light bulb started lighting up...and I feared my life was about to change. I've never written a book review, but after reading what Jonathon learned in his 3 + years of researching factory farming, I had to tell others to read it. He provides serious, horrific and real information. I never knew about factory farming until I read his book and googled 'factory farming' on the web. It was all over from there. I started watching those videos on what we do to animals-the ones we don't want to see-and I could not stomach another bite of an animal again. I loved meat, ate it easily 3xday for all of my life, grew up near those green pastures in northern California where cows graze all day. Wow. Was I disconnected and fooled...

What I felt, was that he did not preach about not eating animals. He presented information that I could personally relate to and grasp. For me, Jonathon felt like a messenger...where many have failed to bring light to what humans are systematically doing to animals every moment of every day. He provided very important information about 99% of the animals I used to buy and eat for my family and friends. I had no idea that the US alone consumes 10 billion animals PER YEAR. I finally woke up. One chicken has 2 wings(that they never use)--how many chicken wings come in a basket at a restaurant-6? 12? 24? I used to throw meat away after getting full. I was throwing away a life-a wasted one who suffered in life and in death. What frightened me more about this book is why is an author bringing this info to me? Where are the ongoing news specials on this?

Jonathon's personal tone, statistical/historical data, research team, true accounts from the field, letters, etc., left me no choice than to agree with him. Of course, he is not a farm owner, hasn't worked on a farm, and can't come from a place of truly understanding 'farming'. And he doesn't shun farming, he actually helped me realize that the farming I thought ALL animals came from--humane ones--are actually a miniscule percentage of all farms. His writing is heartwarming, but gut-wrenching. His occasional wit about the insanity of factory farming made me laugh quietly, but kept me awake at night thinking & fretting.

Eating Animals forced me to realize the terrifying component of being lied to by these factory farms and the megacorporations that support them. I used to pay extra for organic milk & cage free eggs because I believed in Horizon Farms. I thought I was making a better choice for the animals. Ultimately, the author woke me up from a deep, deep sleep. As he eloquently presents about turkeys, how can we celebrate 'thanks' and 'family' or whatever tradition you have on Thanksgiving while the main course never saw the sun, felt the earth, a breath of fresh air, had his beak seared off with a hot blade and no pain killers, lived on top of thousands of other turkey's and their excrement, thrown into trucks for transport hundreds of miles without food or water, and never had one true moment of 'love.' If having a better understanding of what love means to you, read this book.