Reddit reviews Eating Animals

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safron Foer. Great book, really interesting perspective on factory farmed animals. You won't be disappointed.

Amazon link

Read his book.

This is seriously a MUCH bigger and more prevalent concern. Here is a very enlightening book about the issue.

I love your last point BopCatan! It's awesome to see the confused looks and stutters from the ignorant people when they see a strong fit person tell them they're vegan.

As for my motivations I'd say I'm a bit of a mix of both. I was inspired to look into it because someone I have a lot of respect for decided to become vegan. In short, what I found was that a lot of the animal products we ingest are far from the simple collection of healthy nutrients and proteins that they were sold to me as. I had already mostly phased out red meat based on previous health risks I had researched, but my initial response was to switch to eating only locally produced meat where I could be confident in knowing where and how it was produced. Over time I kind of just stopped eating that all together too as I noticed how much better my body was feeling after vegan meals. I used to get stomach aches quite regularly or feel tired and sluggish after eating and those problems vanished almost instantly. Plus my girlfriend was a vegan before me anyways so I was learning to cook some awesome vegan meals to impress her anyways!

My ethical motivations sort of developed alongside my already growing veganism. A big part for me came from focusing on the damage mass production of animal products does to our planet. There's so many aspects to this and I don't want to write a short story on here but I'd say my introduction to these thoughts began with factory farming. I had a discussion with someone where they explained how these methods are often so stressful to the animals being slaughtered for consumption that huge amounts of meat and milk was being spoiled by the animal’s own stress hormones and that products that were still being pumped out of these factories were causing disease and poor health significantly more then ever before. This was a big deal to me, but the kicker was later reading an article about how researchers for some company were attempting to genetically modify the cows so they wouldn't have a stress hormone to release in the first place. This just seemed like such a ludicrous response to me. Rather then recognizing that hey, maybe what we're doing is pretty bad after all, we decide to mess with the genetic composition of our food even more? Really? And that says nothing for the ethics of putting animals in a situation where they feel so much terror that they are destroying their own bodies from the inside out.
(I can't remember the exact articles I read but just did a 5 second Google and here is one that talks about the stress response of animals).

There are many more environmental factors to my ethical “motivations”. Another big one for me is the massive amounts of C02 created from all the production and shipping we do. But ya, there are people way better qualified then me to talk about this stuff.

If you’re looking for a good articulation of ideas and facts I’m currently reading a really cool book called Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer (the guy who wrote Everything is Illuminated) discussing his research into food production preceding the birth of his first child. I dunno if it’s the best book ever, and I haven’t even finished it, but I figure maybe it’s something people haven’t heard of rather then suggesting people go read Michael Polan or watch Earthlings etc. (not saying those aren’t worthwhile!).

Any fact checks/critiques of this are encouraged! Eating Animals convinced me that over fishing was a problem but I can't speak to the specific facts quoted in the video.

If the goal of Buddhism is to limit suffering in all beings, then it is absurd to argue for an omnivorous diet. Animal agriculture is one of the most destructive forces in our world.

> it is permissible to eat meat on the condition that the animal was not slaughtered specifically for the person who eats it.

That was always the excuse I got from people while living in Thailand. It's just a loophole to allow people to do something they know in their hearts is wrong. Why should it matter to anyone who the animal was slaughtered for? It certainly didn't matter to the animal. How about in the case of factory farming, where animals are killed by the billions in an automated system of blades, grinders and boiling water? Who are those animals being killed for? If not specifically you, it must be ok, right? Also, there is more to consider than the moment of slaughter. A compassionate person must also consider the horrendous conditions the animals are forced to live in for their short, awful lives.

I have a great deal of respect for Buddhist thought, but in regards to the moral and ethical problems one encounters when eating meat, Buddhist texts must surely be inadequate. The Buddha had no way of anticipating the horrors of factory farming. He didn't know anything about the torture chambers that produce the meat we eat-- he didn't know that millions of humans would have to starve while the grain they needed to survive was fed in bulk to genetically mutated livestock, all so a wealthy few could have a more delicious dinner. The Buddha had no way of knowing how much suffering eating meat would cause years later, but the Dalai Lama should know better, and he really should have a bit more to say on the matter.

For a more enlightening take on eating meat, read Eating Animals by Jonathan Safron Foer.

http://www.amazon.com/Eating-Animals-Jonathan-Safran-Foer/dp/0316069906

Unbiased, honest, well-written.

PeTA can also help you out:

The Dairy Industry

The Egg Industry

I recommend reading The New Becoming a Vegetarian and Eating Animals. The first one will get you up to speed on how to get what your body needs without meat, and the second one will help you learn how to talk about it when your family and friends give you shit. Good luck and congratulations!

Just curious, is there a specific type of farm you're involved in?
You make a good point that there are many other arguable reasons. I've been vegetarian for over 15 years but only recently became interested in the potential environmental issues related to meat production after reading Eating Animals.
I would highly recommend the book to anyone interested in the topic of meat production in the U.S. I felt the author really tries to take an unbiased look at the industry and does a great job of offering different viewpoints. He has a chapter about pig farms that is particularly the most memorable regarding waste problems. Overall, though, he covers a wide range of other issues as they relate, including health, social, economic, and moral issues.

the book eating animals by Jonathan Safran Foer is a great source for information about vegetarianism being a better solution for the planet.

it has an extensive bibliography of credible sources, and is an entertaining read (he also wrote everything is illuminated and extremely loud and incredibly close).

i find having some books as sources in research papers feels a little more substantial than all internet articles!

This is a very well written book about eating animals without (thankgod) vegetarian/PeTA sensationalist/fundamentalist approach. And, yes, the book tells about gestation crate and piglet banging in details.


I recommend it to those who haven't read it yet. I haven't become vegetarian after reading it, but it totally changed my view on eating animals and eating animals (=carnivores).

Maybe check out this book:
Jonathan Safran Foer - Eating Animals

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

The Grand Inquisitor by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig