Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer Published by Little Brown & Company on November 2, 2009
Genres/Lists: Food, Non-Fiction
Pages: 341
Read synopsis on Goodreads
Buy the book: Amazon/Audible (this post includes affiliate links)
I’ve been reading a fair amount of food books lately now that I’m doing the vegetarian thing, but Eating Animals is at the top of almost every “Top Books for Vegetarians” list. Now that I’ve finished it, I can understand why. The book is a poignant memoir by a man who faced the reality of where his food comes from upon learning that he is going to be a father. This was my first Foer book and I loved his writing style, but my guess is that this is a bit different from his fiction books.
The book chronicles his interviews with chicken farmers, meat slaughterhouse owners, and vegetarian dairy farmers. He dives headfirst into the atrocities that are committed against animals for the sake of our food. What’s different about this book from other books about not eating meat is that Foer takes the time to interview and chat with those on the “other side” and humanizes them in a way that is, in all likelihood, unpopular in some circles. For me, his humanization is what made the book so great – it encompassed all sides of a contentious debate in a respectful and factual way.
Recommended for: Readers interested in a personal journey from meat-eating to vegetarianism but don’t want to be preached to.
Jonathan Safran Foer chronicles his journey from meat-eater to vegetarian in Eating Animals. Click To Tweet
