Eating Animals

meatAlthough I don’t have my own copy yet, I’m really looking forward to reading Jonathan Safran Foer’s new book, Eating Animals, published this week. The noted novelist has now added a non-fiction and deeply personal book to his list of works with Eating Animals, where he explores society’s paradoxical relationship with the animals. On the one hand, companion animals are valued and cherished by society yet on the other, factory farming (producing 99 percent of meat) abuses and exploits animals on a scale that rivals all others, and we buy into this system each time we eat meat, dairy or eggs. If our next door neighbour’s dog was tied up in his backyard in the same conditions that exist on these farms, most of us would be appalled and immediately call law enforcement. Yet, each year, billions of farm animals are confined in these deplorable conditions to produce the meat we eat. Instead of turning a blind eye to this system, we need to consider their pain and suffering when making food choices, examine our contradictory attitude toward animals, and decide whether it is truly acceptable to continue to eat meat and other animal products.

If you want to read more, here’s an interview with Safran Foer in the Globe from yesterday, and another from NPR earlier this week. I’m hopeful that Safran Foer’s renown as a novelist will increase this reach of his latest book, as the way society eats and treats animals is a moral and ethical issue deserving of our collective consideration.

UPDATE: You may also enjoy this video interview with the author on the publisher’s website.

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