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BOOK ABOUT EATING ANIMALS |
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by Neha Swaminathan | 21-12-2018 13:04
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Eating Animals is a book by the American novelist Jonathan Safran Foer, published in 2009. Farm Forward, a nonprofit organization focused on reducing animal suffering and advanced sustainable agriculture is a collaborator for this great book.
Foer highlights how he decided if his newborn child should eat meat. He conveys how the generations entering a world of industrialized farming have to make a decision whether to eat meat such decision has many more implications than taste – these being not just for the animals involved, but also for the environment and ourselves He highlights that the animals suffer, the environment is damaged, and our health is impaired. Foer concludes that the disadvantages arising from factory farms outweigh the benefits of taste so he decides to raise his son a vegetarian.
Foer narrates many interesting stories relating to food. Foer says "stories about food are stories about us, our history and our values" and makes storytelling an important underlying thread in the book. The storytelling has a profound impact in reducing the complexity of the subject. The stories portray the relationship with the world, the process in food making in factories and what kind of food reaches us. One may also feel a bit of religious explaining the meat eating.
As the title suggests, the particular phenomenon Foer focuses on is the consumption of meat. He discusses what eating meat has meant in the past, and what it means today. In doing so, he does not, as one might expect, make the claim that eating meat is intrinsically bad. Rather, he claims that eating meat is circumstantially bad for example, it is bad when it entails the suffering of animals, environmental destruction, and/or a risk for human health. Today, according to the book and a number of its cited sources, eating meat overwhelmingly entails these problems, while in the past, it has not. The conclusion Foer reaches is that eating animals that come from industrial methods such as factory farming, industrial fishing, and the like is bad.
Many people recognize there is something bad about eating animals. Foer states, "what we forget about animals, we begin to forget about ourselves." This leads to sense of shame when we remember that we have willingly forgotten the ability to feel or be relieved of pain on the part of animals. Foer states this is the animality of humans. For this, he laments the lack of transparency in the meat industry. Farms are usually closed to the public to maintain confidentiality of harmful practices. Foer brings to light some of the labels and certifications that are assigned to animal products are misleading.
When we support factory farming, we are expressing immoral behavior to animals and in turn, to humans as well because we are ignoring the suffering and the ability of the animal and the human to bear the suffering. Though I have been a vegetarian throughout, I found this book very interesting to read and learn more insights into vegetarian and non vegetarian food habits and learn the environmental issues behind such decision |
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5 Comments
Hello Neha, eating chickens or any kind of meat is just one of normal routines for all of us in 21st century since its supply has become sustainable and easy to convey the demand of city people into their table during their lunch or dinner time. However, though lots of animals get killed and 'consumed' like consumable supplies, it reminds me of 'how would we define their lives though we cannot give up carnivorous diet styles?'.
They do not deserve such short lives and they even get killed so thoughtlessly.
How do you think about this and modernized mass production of meat in this world?
Thanks for raising this issue up the submerged area of modern problems :)
Posted 26-12-2018 00:00
Hello Neha
It is an individual right to decide what one would eat but it is true that we could consider what it costs for the things that we eat.
Even if we are not vegetarians, we still can feel the value of life and should at least restrict malicious ways of treating animals for sale.
Thanks for the report!
Posted 25-12-2018 20:01
This book sounds really increasing.
The world has seen increase in the number of vegetarians in the recent years.
I had also recently read the article on how consumption of meat contributes towards climate change. If we see in the view of Animal Right, killing animals is not good but livestock rearing has been a major part of earning many people around the world too.
We must respect of the view of both vegetarian and non vegetarian. This book must be a choice of the vegetarian. Although being a non vegetarian, i am really excited to read this book.
Thank you for the report.
Keep writing reports @Neha
Posted 22-12-2018 21:38
Hello Neha Swaminathan, Namaste
Hope You are fit fine and healthy
Hello i though i am not vegetarian. i truly love animals, people act very brutally to them, this book is really beautiful.
Thank You for the report.
Keep Writing more
Posted 22-12-2018 14:54
Good morning Neha!
I trust you are well. I may not be a vegetarian but I can relate to this book on several aspects, them being: animal cruelty, environmental damage and poor health conditions for humans.
Many articles and documentaries about animal cruelty have been released and still are today because the truth is that farmers and industrial meat processing house still resort to extremely disturbing manners to killing livestock
Moreover, livestock are not properly monitored during the course of its life. That's why get outbreaks of diseases that kill humans on a year to year basis.
I remember in my country, when a big outbreak of literiosis was claiming the lives of infants right through the elderly. All because improper handling of chicken being the cause.
The manufacture house responsible for this paid a hefty fine, some were sent to jail, and compensation monies were given to the families who lost a loved one(s) . But all this didn't bring back the people who were lost.
This book really sounds interesting and I think that everyday citizens and those working in livestock farming and livestock industry should take a look see at the Book.
This was very interesting and insightful! Thank you for your report update!
Yours sincerely
R
Posted 21-12-2018 13:40