I found the book hard to relate to despite having so many familiar touch points. Ok, don’t eat meat, but doesn’t that just make it cheaper and invite the next person to eat it? The author does not discuss the many ways one could tune meat eating into culture, only one and only one main view to the climate problem. Most of the ideas are first order, the complexity of the problem is not emphasised. ( )

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Reason to stop eating meat (well, would’ve been that back in the 70s … now, well, it’s reason to accept the blame, to feel the guilt for our demise … ):

“Globally, humans use 59 percent of all the land capable of growing crops to grow food for livestock.” (p79)

“One-third of all the fresh water that humans use goes to livestock, while only about one-thirtieth is used in homes.” (p79)

“Seventy percent of the antibiotics produced globally are used for livestock, weakening the effectiveness of antibiotics to treat human diseases.” (p79)

“Trees are 50 percent carbon. Like coal, they release their stores of CO2 when burned.” (p92)

“Forests contain more carbon than do all exploitable fossil-fuel reserves.” (p92)

“The cutting and burning of forests is responsible for at least 15 percent of global GHGs per year. According to Scientific American, ‘By most accounts, deforestation in tropical rainforests adds more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than the sum total of cars and trucks on the world’s roads.'” (p92)

“About 80 percent of deforestation occurs to clear land for corps for livestock and grazing.” (p92)

“in 2018, Brazil elected Jair Bolsonaro as president.” (p93)

“Bolsonaro campaigned on a plan to develop previously protected swaths of the Amazon (i.e., deforestation).” (p93)

“It has been estimated that Bolsonaro’s policy would release 13.2 gigatons of carbon—more than two times the annual emissions o the entire United States.” (p.93)

“Animal agriculture is responsible for 91 percent of Amazonian deforestation.” (p93)


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Another interesting bit:

“Every day, 360,000 people—roughly equal to the population of Florence, Italy—are born.”

(p80)


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And another:

“Just one hundred companies are responsible for 71 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.” (p150) ( )

This is what I want philosophical books to be like. Facts and examples synthesized into opinions meant to lead us to a better life. Agree or disagree with the conclusions, but the facts are indisputable. ( )

I must say that this book beat around the bush quite a bit. I wish that it had been more to the point.

I have been vegetarian for 45 years, and am actively against industrial farming, which is not only detrimental to the environment as stated in this book, but is absolutely cruel to the animals. My biggest wish would be that everyone could witness the treatment of the animals before they purchased the food. I know that there will be plenty of people who will be angry with me, but I have personally witnessed some of that treatment and it sickens me when I think about it. I don't like confrontation, but this is a cause worth it. ( )

The message Jonathan Safran Foer is trying to impart in this book is that people eating meat is a major cause of greenhouse gases and everyone should eat no animal products for breakfast or lunch. He doesn't say but I guess it's not a great leap to figure out that eating animal products for dinner/supper is allowed. I say he is "trying" to impart this message because, quite frankly, I don't think he succeeded. He throws in little bits of information to support his thesis but then he goes on a tangent about his grandmother or about the moon walk or about the astronomer Percival Lowell and all manner of other things.

One of the bits of information he gives can be found on page 100 where he sets out the pounds of CO2 associated with servings of different food. At the top of the list is beef responsible for 6.61 pounds of CO2 and at the bottom is potatoes which only contributes 0.03 pounds. He also says that nor eating animal products for breakfast and lunch has a smaller CO2 footprint than the average full-time vegetarian diet.

I don't dispute Foer's argument but I question whether his presentation would persuade most people who ate animal products. It certainly didn't persuade me. I prefer to eat animal products on a regular basis but pay attention to where and how those products are produced. Almost all the beef and pork and chicken I eat is pasture-raised which many people argue is at worst climate neutral and at best preserves valuable habitat for wildlife and plants. I also try to have legumes and fish and egg dishes each week but I am not about to give up my milk and yogurt. And that is what I plan to continue doing. ( )