Book Review: Eating Animals

Jonathan Safron Foer is known for his two eloquent and witty novels, Everything is Illuminated, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. However, his most recent book is a non-fiction account of his past three years delving into the factory farm industry that has overtaken our family farms. Foer has plunged head first into the animal shit (so to speak) that has begun to flood farms all over the country.

I've teetered between the realms of omnivore and vegetarian for the past few years. In my junior year, a good friend convinced me to live a healthier lifestyle by going vegetarian. She would bring me tofu chicken nuggets from the Asian market and helped me master the art of chopsticks. However, after she left for med school, I didn't have incentive to keep me on the path. This past summer I rode my bike across the country with 26 other cyclists and feared that no meat would equal not enough nourishment.

Maybe I'm just easily pursuaded, but Foer's book was the tipping point for me when it came to meat vs. no meat. His research is thorough and concise, while also dramatically gripping without added drama (it's all real...which is more than I can say for the animal genetics profiled in his book).

I can see omnivores choosing to read this book with a sense of openness and desire to eat better, whether they will stick with meat or not. Self-proclaimed "carnivores," on the other hand, may not even choose to open the book. It is one of those things that reveals the ugly truth, but only if you choose to actually read it. However, maybe you can force your carnivorous friends (or foes?) to read it through creative force...Valentine's Day gift? (Love thy animal?)

Whether or not you're willing to face the facts, this book lays them out in an extremely bold and powerful manner, without leaving behind the beauty of this author's prose. Foer's wit is crafty and clever, but never outshines the disturbing figures that claw through the pages.

DISCLAIMER: "Don't read at the dinner table." I highly recommend you avoid eating any food, particularly meat or fish products, while reading this book. It won't work out very well.

Jackie's review: 5 stars (note: vegetarians may be slightly biased)