2001

What perhaps is a classic in food books turned out to be a bit of a disappointment for me. It started off very strong as John Robbins revealed the horrors of animal treatment within the food industry. However, by the end of the book, I felt that the book itself was just one man’s method of pushing a vegetarian agenda. Somehow, I got the impression from the chapter about disease that all illnesses have a basis on diets of meat, eggs, fish, and cheese. By the end of the book, I was about ready to toss the book across the room as the author exclaims how all of us are already so overwhelmingly tainted by pesticides. I felt as if I should quickly run to make out my will instead of finishing his book.

I have mixed feelings about the book. You now know what I didn’t like. Here’s what I did like. The book was very readable, nicely written in easy-to-understand prose with quite a list of citations from reputable sources. His motivation was to make the world a better place. My only hesitation was that Robbins seemed to be presenting only one side of the issue. Yes, he did include quotes from the agriprocessors (not that I like them any more than he did), but not all of them are bad guys (nor are all vegetarians perfect in every way).

The book is dated. Many of the facts within the book are no longer accurate. However, we’ve come a long way since the book was first copyrighted, and I can’t help but believe that the green movement and the slow food movement are trends in the right direction. What readers should take away from Robbin's book is the wisdom to question what they eat and to work toward helping others live a more caring, healthy life. I can’t argue with Robbins on either of those two ideas. ( )

Helped me make the switch to being a Vegetarian. I wondered if all of what he said has been supported by Science since the release of the book 10 years ago - but even if 50% of it is true, it was good enough for me! If 100% of it is true, then eating meat causes everything bad you can think of!! Where's my Green Beans??!! ( )

I recommend this book to every person who eats. Most of us no longer grow our own fruits,vegetables and grains. For the most part, we do not hunt and kill and butcher our own meat. We rely upon a massive food industry, corporate farms, slaughterhouses, meat packing plants and canning factories. Something that is essential to our very lives, to the continuance of our species, and the welfare of our fragile spaceship, Earth, we leave entirely in the hands of someone else. We give that huge power our complete trust and we naively believe that we are protected by the food laws of our government.
I say this. If you need to eat and be nourished you should be responsible enough to understand how this critical need is being met, what it costs and who pays. This book is the best I have ever seen on the subject and its effect on me was similar to the effect that "The Jungle" had when I first read that powerhouse of a book so long ago in my high school days. However, this book gave me a stronger feeling that I could do something personally to change the way things are. Written by the scion of the Robbins family of Baskin-Robbins icecream fame, this well-researched book not only exposes the vile conditions that "food" animals experience and the horrors of chemical farming but it draws a holistic picture about our place in the earth's future. You don't have to be an animal rights activist or a vegan or vegetarian to benefit from this book. You may think that bothering about the foods you eat when you have such a busy and complex life is a waste of your time, but one of the things that we all share, that is fundamental to life itself, is the fact that we have to eat. So why not take this opportunity to understand the repercussions and ramifications of an act that you probably do several times every day?
This book might make you angry, sad, disgusted, and worried, but it will also give you ideas on how to help and heal. I honestly feel that anyone who loves the children that they feed, who cherishes their own body through whose senses they enjoy life, or who calls themselves a friend to animals and the environment should read this book because it is a great aid in helping one to conduct oneself with dignity and responsibility and compassion in a world where many have become far too trusting of the corporate hand that feeds us. ( )

This book had a powerful effect on the way I think about food, nutrition and health. I highly recommend this for everyone who can read. Really. Not just about factory farms, but about what this food is doing to our bodies, how it makes us feel. Almost every health problem we have today can be cured or improved with changing to a whole natural diet. This book is amazing. ( )