The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter by Peter Singer, Jim Mason Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter
Book Review: Informative and fun to read
Summary: 5 Stars
Monitoring animal issues in the media daily, for DawnWatch, I have a fairly good knowledge of the ethical issues around our food supply, but still I learned loads from Peter Singer and Jim Mason's new book, "The Way we Eat." Those who know little about standard farming practices will learn much, as will those who already shun factory farming; they will read about the difference that organic and 'humane" farming makes, or sometimes doesn't make.
The section on fishing is an eye-opener -- and stomach turner.
Not only is this book packed with information, it is fascinating and easy to read. I highly recommend it.
Book Review: Life-Changing, Complex Look into a System Invisible to Most Americans
Summary: 5 Stars
While Peter Singer and Jim Mason's track the sources of three families' food shopping choices back to the farm, they have simultaneously had an enormous impact on the way I view food. This life-changing book breaks down the systemically-entrenched, nontransparent industrial farming practices in a balanced, complex, interesting and readable way. I already knew something about each of the topics that are touched on in this book, but they pull together the pieces of this puzzle that I have been gathering over time in such a compelling way that is inspiring me to modify what I thought was already a conscientious way of eating, and to fight for changes to this system.
In the first chapter, focusing on a family who shops at Walmart, you get an inside look into the inhumane, environmentally detrimental and unsustainable practices of the pig, cow and chicken farms that produce the inexpensive meat found in stores like Walmart. Meat and poultry, eggs and milk are as cheap as they are not because that's what the market will pay, but because corporations and consumers are not paying for the externalities to the environmental and animals that result in doing business this way.
Singer and Mason describe with much imagery the way mainstream industrial farms keep large amounts of animals pent up in cages or crates, unable to turn around or interact with one another. In such situations chickens start pecking at each other and pigs bite one another's tales off, leading the farmers to sear off the nerve-intensive end of the birds beak, and cut off the pigs' tails. Lighting conditions in hen houses are made to trick hens into laying more eggs then they naturally would, which their bodies can't sustain, and cows are genetically engineered to be big and meaty, while not making their bones any stronger, causing broken bones and immobile cattle. And that's only the tip of the iceberg.
The authors detail how such farming practices not only stresses the animals, but also the environment. For example, the large amounts of animals that can be raised through these methods produce more nitrogen-laden manure than the earth can absorb, which subsequently runs off into rivers and streams and greatly impacting fish populations down stream.
Proceeding chapters follow a family that shops at Trader Joes, Wild Oats and farmers markets, and a vegan family. The book goes in depth into fair trade, organic farming, genetically modified organisms, wild versus farmed fish, and seafood cultivation, among others. At each step, the authors unpack the ethical dilemmas we face with each decision we make on what to eat, where the food we buy should be produced and what brands to choose. For example, they evaluate the ethical choices in some peoples preference to "buy local," looking at it from an environmental perspective (how much gas gets used per fruit or vegetable to drive to the farmers market, versus flying or trucking the vegetables to the supermarket) and a humanitarian and economic perspective (is it necessarily ethically better to help the person in the next town, or to support people in third world countries who may be living on the equivalent of $1 or $2 a day?)
It is clear throughout, but especially in the last chapter, that the authors very strongly believe that veganism is the only ethical answer at the moment, given all of the unknowns in even the organic animal farming industry. My one concern with the book is that I don't feel like they truly weighed any potential cons to vegansim. They talk about what happens to the ecosystem when one organism is taken out; if we all stop eating meat, can that potential put our ecosystem out of balance? And is it healthy to eat a diet that seems to be so heavily rooted in soy products? The answers to these quesitons may still point to veganism, but I am not convinved of that until I see the full picture.
Book Review: A Superb Book on the Ethics of Eating
Summary: 5 Stars
Disclosure: Peter Singer and I corresponded extensively during his writing of _The Way We Eat_, and his new book favorably references both of my books.
Right now, Michael Pollan's _The Omnivore's Dilemma_ is already well on its way to becoming the top-selling book on food politics released this decade. Peter Singer and Jim Mason's new book, _The Way We Eat_ has the profound misfortune of being released just three weeks later, and this new title finds itself the grape to Pollan's steamroller.
This chance situation is a terrible shame, since _The Way We Eat_ is the better researched and more carefully thought-through book. Both of these titles are excellent, but if you're only going to read one I'd urge you to read Singer.
For two books that trace the origins of our food, these titles have surprisingly little overlap. Read both of these books and you'll know more about food than 99 percent of Americans -- and if you grew up eating the standard American diet it's almost inconceivable that you'll continue eating in this fashion.
If you decide to read both books, be sure to read Singer first. As I've noted in my Amazon.com review of _The Omnivore's Dilemma_, Pollan makes some ill-informed arguments in favor of including animal products in the diet. The trouble is that Pollan is such a gifted writer that he ends up being highly persuasive even when he's on very thin ice with his facts. Reading _The Way We Eat_ is a wonderful way to prepare for _The Omnivore's Dilemma_ --- you'll be in a prime position to critically analyze both the strengths and weaknesses of Pollan's flawed but vitally important book.
It's a shame that I can't write a review of _The Way We Eat_ without mentioning Pollan in the same breath, because Singer and Mason's book more than stands on its own. It's marvelously researched, and has a quality of critical thinking that few food writers could even aspire to. What's more, the writing flows beautifully.
If you want to advance your knowledge of where our food comes from, and understand more about the ethical implications of different diets, there's no better place to start than by reading _The Way We Eat._