Eloquent and convincing, Jonathan Safron Foer's Eating Animals is one of those rare eloquent non-fiction masterpieces that do not indulge his ideas of the world – when he could so easily have done so – instead what he created is a volume that will undoubtedly become a Vegan's Bible in the years to come. It is intrinsically about humanity's struggle to overcome the violence inherit in our eating habits and tells a story few people have truly heard. And he does so in what is simple, understandable and accessible language for all people, of all walks of life. Nobel Prize Winning author J.M. Coetzee said bluntly that “anyone who, after reading Foer's book, continues to consume the industry's products must be without a heart, or impervious to reason, or both.” He is right. The facts laid out by Foer are almost shocking, horrifying to consume. This volume delves into the very nature of humankind and what we are doing to our body and mind. Any person who, upon completing Eating Animals, goes out and purchases a hamburger has serious psychological defects and must look inside their soul to find meaning, because they have missed the point completely. What separates Foer's writing from anyone else who has tackeld the subject of eating animals and the factory farming industry is that he has a way of engrossing the reader in a subject that at times can be appalling, especially for the millions who continue to eat meat on a daily basis. Foer counters the assumption that eating animals is “normal” and that human history is filled with societies that constantly consumed meat products daily. The reality, he states, is that this day-to-day fork to mouth of savory meat – whether beef, chicken, pork or whatever – is a modern construction created by the farming industry to foster more sales. The idea that meat eating has been a constant in our world is egregious and must be re-examined by any good citizen. This is not to say that Foer despises those who do adhere to the omnivore diet, instead he is honest in his assertion that “this is better for him” as he sees the world and the future for his new son. In essence Eating Animals is a text for the future generation. Our world today may not be ready to make the leap toward veganism, despite the evidence that shows it to be more sustainable, healthier and better for the environment. Throughout the reading, it soon dawns on the reader how simple Foer's writing is; he is not being pretentious – a calamity that often befalls well-intentioned people who believe they have the truth – but instead gives the average person a glimpse at a new way of life that may, just may, be better than the one they are living. Whether you are a sushi lover or a steak connoisseur, this is a must read. We, as a world and a community should take to heart the words of Foer, for if we don't, our very health is at stake. Sure, many will undoubtedly respond to this text by stating it is unnecessary for people to turn to vegans, that domesticated animals and a “humane” slaughter are not necessarily negative, that it is what civilizations have created and to go vegan would see the demise of these animals. Foer does an excellent job of portraying what domestication has caused among animals in today's “modern” and “humane” world. It has seen the overpopulation of cows, chickes, pigs and any other “food source.” These animals are not only in massive abundance, but are literally grown to live shorter lives in order to please the consumer. Chickens and turkeys are the leading example of our “humane” meat processing society. These birds are developed on the idea that a shorter lifespan is beneficial to the company, which using hormones and growth enhancers can “grow” a bird in less than two months, kill it and start the whole process over again. None of these animals can reproduce sexually and the horrific conditions they “live” in would make any reasonable human being stop aghast. This is the “humane” life given to our animals, which many across the world indulge themselves in. It is a question that everyone must ask of their own being. Nobody is going to force being a vegan on anyone, least of Foer. He simply makes an argument that is nearly impossible to argue against. We must ask ourselves what the point of our constant, over consumption of meat really is to our world and our society, including our children. Take one of those everyday staples of the modern world: tuna. It is used on a daily basis by many societies and cultures worldwide, but how many knew that at least 145 other fish are ground up and eaten in each piece of tuna you ingest? Probably not that many. Foer uses the style of simply laying it out for you to see. If tuna was on your list of fish to pick up that day, Eating Animals tells us to think twice. It is easy to argue against the moral argument against eating living beings, as there is much evidence that we have been a meat eating race for a long time. But with modern societies comes new ways of looking at things and this is part of the argument of the volume: that we can be better and more socially aware than our ancestors. Who wants to go back to the “good old days” when we slaughtered at will our dinner? I certainly don't. Let us recall that our history is lined with racism, slavery, war and violence. Maybe by going vegan we can start to separate ourselves from the inherent violence that accompanies slaughter, no matter how “humane” it may be. Killing, on one level, is killing. Have you looked into the eyes of a baby pig on a farm? Now, think of what happens in the factories when a runt is born? People, human beings, slam it repeatedly against the floor until it dies, or even sometimes it doesn't die and when it thrown down the garbage shoot, someone else is there to finish the job. Humanity can be better than this. We must start with number 1: us. Foer's most convincing argument is the environmental relation between eating meat and carbon footprints. Or on the flip side, the fact that vegans have a noticeably smaller carbon imprint and do more for climate change simply by avoiding animal products. He quotes the United Nations on the environmental effects of the meat industry – and for those sitting in a developing country, this applies to you more and more everyday: “raising animals for food (whether on factory or traditional farms) ‘is one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global … [Animal agriculture] should be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution and loss of biodiversity. Livestock's contribution to environmental problems is on a massive scale'.” In other words, if you are not convinced of the moral rightness of putting down the cleaver and becoming a herbivore, if you care about the future of our planet, it only makes sense to stop eating animals. Foer says, in what is arguably the most efficient argument against eating animals that “simply put, someone who regularly eats factory-farmed animal products cannot call himself an environmentalist without divorcing that word from its meaning.” Good luck. Buy Eating Animals from Bikya Masr's online Amazon store. BM
