EATING ANIMALS - Jonathan Safran Foer - Nonfiction

Every fact in this book is something you should know. I mean that two ways--it is important, and nearly imperative, to know about the conditions under which the meat you (most likely) eat is grown, killed, and prepared. But you also know most of these facts already--most of us are familiar with factory farming, slaughterhouses, and large-scale fishing, and their impacts on the environment and our health. Most of us already know that chickens are stuffed full of antibiotics and given space equivalent to a sheet of paper to live in. Most of us know that bycatch from commercial fishing is draining the ocean of its marine mammals, sea turtles, sharks, and endangered fish. Most of us know that slaughterhouses frequently send live cows down the line, dismembering them while they are still fully conscious. And yet, most of us scoff at "those PETA people" and eat meat not only willingly but avariciously, enthusiastically, at the exclusion of other food groups. Jonathan Safran Foer, in a conversational style reminiscent of his novels, tries to explain why.

I read this book having already become a pescatarian--someone who eats seafood along with a vegetarian diet--but the book has impelled me to start giving up fish. I honestly can't imagine another reaction. There's the animal rights standpoint: why do we keep animals as slaves and brutally kill them, solely for their taste, when eating meat is not biologically necessary to remain healthy? There's the public health standpoint: why do we consume unnecessary antibiotics, and allow the animals we raise to encourage antibiotic-resistant bacteria to proliferate, and eat meat that has been soaked in a bath of tepid fecal matter? There's the personal health standpoint: why, when meat and dairy products have been shown to contribute to a range of diseases, including heart disease and cancer, and living near factory farms has been shown to exacerbate asthma and lung cancer, do we allow these practices to continue?

I've seen criticisms of this book, arguing that Safran Foer isn't saying anything new, that he acts as though he is the first person to have thought of these arguments despite the copious amounts of ink spilled on the matter, that because he wrote this book after having a child and deciding what to feed that child, he is inexcusably solipsistic. In fact, one of the best and most convincing aspects of the work are the sections Foer gives over to other voices: an animal-rights activist with whom he infiltrates a farm, the owner of one such farm, the operator of a 'more humane' slaughterhouse, the founder of Niman Ranch, a cattle ranch, and his vegetarian wife, a PETA employee, and more. Foer wants you to have the whole picture, and he wants you to hear personal accounts from people whose lives are tied into the industry of meat: either supported by it, or fighting against it. These testimonials and justifications lay bare the equivocation and denial necessary to eat meat and tell yourself it's okay to do so. These essays are really all you need.

But Foer's personal story is useful too, because this decision is a personal one at heart. What you are going to eat is going to affect your personal relationships: what you tell your parents to serve you when you come home on the holidays, what you order when you eat out with your friends, what you make for a potluck dinner party, and where you buy your groceries. Not eating meat is not difficult. It's healthy, it's cheap, and it's accessible, by now, with every restaurant offering vegetarian options and every grocery store stocking Boca burgers and textured soy protein. The difficult part is telling yourself, when it comes time to choose between pepperoni and cheese, that the decision you're making is not just about what would taste good to you, what you can afford, or what you would prefer--it's about the life of an animal, about your health and the health of others, and about your moral relationship to animals. It's about being able to look at an animal--your dog, or a cow on a farm--and not feel guilt. It's about hearing about a disease like MRSA, a bacterial infection resistant to multiple antibiotics, antibiotics which we feed to chicken and pigs to prevent them from getting sick under terrible conditions--and knowing whether or not your choices have contributed to its spread. It's about feeling good personally.

On a personal note, giving up meat, even months ago when I gave up everything but chicken and fish, and again when I gave up chicken, and now, giving up fish, I feel wonderful. I've lost weight, I feel like I have more energy, and I feel healthier. I'm happier being able to make that choice at every meal, and feel good about myself. I'm happier to be part of a community of people who have thought about their actions and are choosing a moral good, rather than acting as though such considerations are beneath them. I like having something in common with Jonathan Safran Foer. I would like to have this in common with you.