Eating Animals

This new father sets out on this journey to find out how meat gets from the farms to our kitchen tables in America; in hopes of being able to give his son real answers about the food we eat. The book tells of his journey; looking at factory farming of chickens and turkeys; to the way that pigs and cows are slaughtered. The author tells his own struggles of being an on again, off again vegetarian.

Jonathan Safran Foer truly takes the reader on a journey in this non-fiction, first person account of the meat industry. It is a journey to learn about the meat industry, but also one of life and culture. At the beginning of his book, he sets out to make a connection to the reader. He makes the connection between eating meat and memories of his grandmother’s cooking, of a culture that celebrates with food; associating food with memories. He discusses the fine lines we set between animals we will and will not eat. The association of food with culture is one that all Americans can relate to, vegetarians and omnivores alike.

This book does not set out to be, nor is it a secret investigation into factory farming and slaughterhouses. It is truly an honest account of a father trying to figure out where our food comes from. As he takes the reader through the history of factory farming, and introduces us to the factory farming industry, the details can be shocking. What is great about this book, is that he does not attack, all farming for meat. He does give accounts of conditions on family farms, and makes a case for why our country needs to turn back to family farming. The numbers and statistics that he presents can be alarming, but overall he does his best to present general information about how meat is produced in the U.S. and what the affects of this process may have on the health of Americans.

It is clear that the author comes to his own conclusion at the end of the book about whether eating meat or not eating meat is best for his family; but he also allows the readers to draw their own conclusions. Although the book captures the cruelty of raising animals for food, it is not definitively pro-vegetarian; and allows the reader to make his or her own decisions.