Book Description
Peter Singer, the groundbreaking ethicist whom The New Yorker calls the most influential philosopher alive teams up again with Jim Mason, his coauthor on the acclaimed Animal Factories, to set their critical sights on the food we buy and eat: where it comes from, how it is produced, and whether it was raised humanely.
The Ethics of What We Eat explores the impact our food choices have on humans, animals, and the environment. Recognizing that not all of us will become vegetarians, Singer and Mason offer ways to make healthful, humane food choices. As they point out: You can be ethical without being fanatical.
Customer Reviews:
Ethical Consumption.......2007-07-25
There are several books lining the shelves that contain information on animal rights, vegetarianism, and organic and fair trade food items. However, none seem quite as well-rounded, or nearly as objective and succinct as Peter Singer and Jim Mason's The Ethics of What We Eat. These two authors have put together an incredibly well-crafted and unbiased argument regarding making ethical choices at the grocery store, and "voting" with one's diet and wallet.
The book begins by taking the reader to the grocery store on a routine shopping trip with a few different families. The first family is what one might consider your stereotypical "meat and potatoes" American consumers. The second family, in contrast, are "conscientious omnivores" who pay fairly close attention to their purchases, buying certified organic and fair trade items, and eat little meat. The third family is vegan. The authors even foray into "dumpster diving" with a few people who contend that ethical eating involves not letting disposed of edibles go to waste. The day-to-day purchases (or scavenges) of each of these families are dissected and analyzed. Which one of these families is truly making the most ethically sound decisions when it comes to their daily food choices? What lies behind that "Certified Organic" label? What does it mean when something is labeled "free range" or "fair trade?" Is it worth paying extra money for something with the aforementioned labels?
While focusing quite a bit on factory farming, this book also discusses the ethics of buying locally grown food, sustainability of marine ecosystems, environmental impacts of food production (including water and gas use), and the global economy. Pros and cons are given for each side of each argument, and, though they ultimately seem to side with a vegan diet as being the most ethically sound decision, they do note that this may be too drastic a decision for many and leave it up to the reader to come to their own conclusions about what to place in their shopping cart. The authors are never "preachy" with regards to the information presented, as many of the books found in this genre so often are.
As if this book itself weren't packed full enough with useful information itself, the back of the book provides several good books, websites, and stores where more information can be found on any of the included issues. Overall, this book is very highly recommended for those who want to put some thought and attention into what they put on their plates and into their mouths. The food industry does indeed try to keep consumers in the dark, and it's time everyone took some initiative to educate themselves on their dietary choices. This is a great place to start.
Well written, but the premise was a bit contrived.......2007-07-22
This book was very well written and well researched, but I felt that basing the whole book around the eating habits of these three families was a bit contrived. Also, although I figured (being familiar with Singers other books) the book was headed toward an advocation of a vegan lifestyle, I would have preferred that the authors be upfront about that and intersperse it throughout the whole book instead of waiting until the last 10 pages or so to get to their real point which was not to eat animals at all.
Still, it had a lot of good information and will hopefully make people more aware of what they are eating. However, I fear that they are probably just preaching to the choir.
Shopping with your mind.......2007-06-04
It's not much fun, sitting down to a meal and having your conscience nagging at you about what you're eating. Anybody on a diet can impart the agonies of decision-making when various foods are on offer. However, as Singer and Mason go to some length to point out, there's even more thinking involved in partaking of the foods offered today. The most important issue they argue is learning where the food originated, and how it was treated before reaching your table. "Ethical eating" has become a major consideration to an increasing number of US consumers. In this exhaustive study, the authors portray a trio of families, using their food buying habits as gateways to examining where the food comes from. The picture is generally grim, but they demonstrate how change is taking place.
The three families represent a troika of ethical choices. One follows the Standard American Diet [SAD], of high levels of meat consumption and fast food. Their primary consideration is availability and cost. The second, although aware of the ethical options behind food production, are constrained by available time and family demands. The third, a "vegan" family has managed to shun all animal foods. Their greatest problem is acquiring foods that meet their standards. They are fully aware of the ethical questions arising from modern farming methods.
Farming in North America has undergone immense changes in only a few years. Where the "family farm" was once considered an optimum lifestyle, "agribusiness" has concentrated land, and coalesced the production methods. Now, "barrage" animal housing has usurped the open paddock and "free ranging" livestock. Chickens, whether as egg producers or meat, are crammed in ranks of cages, unable to move. Beaks are clipped and forced moults are a practice achieved by starving the fowl. Cattle and pigs fare no better, as they are closeted in pens or "farrow crates" to maintain complete control over their condition. Many justifications are offered for these practices, but the ultimate one remains profit. Animal raisers claim that losses due to the enclosure techniques are more acceptable than would be the case in open living animals. Chicken raisers cite the threat of "avian flu" while the pig and cattle raisers deem grain feeding as better than grass or rooting. The result is huge concentrations of thousands of animals, all living in purely artificial situations.
The authors met with great reluctance by the major distributers when they sought to view food animal raising conditions. Through various means and with the cooperation of a few producers, they were able to see, but not film, barracks breeding establishments. They interviewed farmers and distributers, where possible, and toured retail stores with the subject families. Their investigations also reached to the new practice of "fish farming" and relate the impact of this practice on the remaining wild stocks. They also discovered how "renaming" some species to make them more marketable has become a common practice. Another ploy has been to simply overlook the source of some seafood, with shrimp arriving from the Far East and elsewhere.
They conclude the study with an examination of what is meant by the terms "ethical" in consuming and "organic" in producing. As they spell out the options and disputes surrounding these concepts, their scope is wide. Narrow definitions and rigid ideals have no place in a global food market. Is it more ethical to pay a local farmer directly, or pay for foreign produce that may spell the difference between subsistence and abject poverty for Third World producers? Is it actually cheaper to fly in New Zealand products than buy "US made"? Why should that be the case? The consumer is obviously caught up in these conundrums, and it takes a great deal of dedicated interest to make intelligent and proper decisions. Shopping shouldn't be a chore in our times and the retailer has as much responsibility in providing correct information as the consumer is in seeking it out. This book is an invaluable resource for all levels of food production and consumption. If you can read without flinching about the conditions under which your evening hamburger is produced, then this book should be high on your list of references. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
YES...inspired me again...very thoughtful.......2007-06-03
Great read...time to look at the way we eat and it's VERY important impact on the global community. Eating is an ethical act...this book offers insight and thoughtful discussion on this communal activity. Great read...
The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter
Eat Ethically.......2007-05-08
Find out where your food comes from and learn how to eat more carefully. This is a very eye-opening read.
Amazon.com
Thirty years after Frances Lappe's Diet for a Small Planet changed eating habits around the world, she and her daughter Anna bring us a new round of iconoclastic recommendations that break overwhelming issues down to a simple matter of personal choice. Hope's Edge presents many of the same issues of the original title, but it also provides a wealth of new discoveries and possibilities in this era of genetically engineered foods, worldwide famine, and growing rates of obesity-related health issues.
Beyond discussing a wide range of reasons to become a vegetarian (and that means no fish or chicken either, folks), the authors introduce you to a number of individual reasons for hope--Bob, the Wisconsin cheese maker; Jean-Yves, the farmer from Brittany who created the Sustainable Agriculture Network; and Muhammad Yunas, who has changed the lives of countless living in poverty with his remarkable microcredit programs. Along with these stories and the theories they're based on, you'll also find luscious recipes calling for grains, fruits, vegetables, and a handful of dairy products that will delight your taste buds and your conscience.
The Lappes firmly believe that the choices of low-level consumers have the potential to make positive changes, both in the world economy and in our physical health. By eating a vegetarian diet, shopping with care, and cooking with love, we might all brighten our future tremendously. --Jill Lightner
Book Description
Hope's Edge follows the author of the classic Diet for a Small Planet and her daughter as they travel the world, discovering practical visionaries who are making a difference in world hunger, sometimes one village at a time.
Thirty years ago, Frances Moore Lappé started a revolution in the way Americans think about food and hunger. Now Frances and her daughter, Anna, pick up where Diet for a Small Planet left off. Together they set out on an around-the-world journey to explore the greatest challenges we face in the new millennium. Traveling to Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe, they discovered answers to one of the most urgent issues of our time: whether we can transcend the rampant consumerism and capitalism to find the paths that each of us can follow to heal our lives as well as the planet.
Featuring nearly seventy recipes from celebrated vegetarian culinary pioneers-including Alice Waters, Mollie Katzen, Laurel Robertson, Nora Pouillon, and Anna Thomas-Hope's Edge highlights true trailblazers engaged in social, environmental, and economic transformations.
Customer Reviews:
2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner featured in the book.......2006-10-13
This is a very interesting book. It features in one part a detailed description of 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank, who used microloans to help Bangladeshis, especially women, get out of poverty and earn for themselves. By issuing very small loans, the people of Bangladesh are able to build their businesses or working conditions and change their lives. I recommend this book.
Hope Gained From Insight and Diligence.......2006-08-16
Thirty years after the publication of the highly acclaimed "Diet For A Small Planet", Frances and her daughter Anna Lappe have come out with a potent sequel and a beautiful statement of hope for a more equitable world through the world-wide spread of organic and sustainable agriculture techniques and locally controlled "fair" market modalities now challenging the status quo of chemical fed, toxic pesticide/GMO laden crops, and the lopsided "free" market capitalist WTO agenda that has been reaping havoc on the environment and small farmers everywhere.
The Lappes traveled to 5 continents while researching this book and their travels are both fascinating and uplifting as they report on people all over the world demonstrating that going organic and controlling their own markets are reaping major benefits in healthy, abundant food production while cleaning up the environment.
The Lappes do not reject world trade or capitalism, rather, they demonstrate how unregulated "free" markets monopolized by huge international corporations have been inadvertently causing food scarcity, bankrupting and polluting people all over the world, yet with an injection of regulation in the form ethics, strict fair trade measures, etc., they believe capitalism can "evolve" to a more sustainable, equitable, and healthy method of food distribution- a similar optimistic view shared by Lovins and Hawken in their book, "Natural Capitalism".
The inefficiencies of nutrient and food distribution is brought home in quantifying the huge amount of crops, water, and land required to feed cattle. The amount of energy necessary to produce an ounce of meat could feed hundreds of people on a much healthier vegetarian diet, hence, the myth of food scarcity and the need to grow more food to feed the world.
Every chapter finishes with a recipe and there are many more at the end of the book along with several pages of resources and contact information on a host of organizations advocating social responsibility.
Be gentle on the earth.......2006-02-22
Good copy. Excellent vegetarian recipes. Explains why we need to eat lower on the food chain. If we do, we can feed the world's hungry people.
Goes into my life's top 5.......2004-11-21
I won't say much here, because the other reviewers have described the book well. All I will say is that this is one of the very best books I have ever read. Not only does Lappe have an incredible way with words, but she summarizes her profound insights in such a way that really organizes one's thoughts for genuine reflection. Add to that a well-documented and researched approach, as well as fascinating stories of different communities around the world which they themselves visited.
Honest Hope.......2004-05-25
Hope's Edge is a Must Read for Everyone! The book puts it all together in an easy-to-understand, personal and honest fashion: the connection between consumerism, 'brainwashing', oppression, global economy, poverty, exploitation etc. etc. The concepts presented in this book are sophisticated and have depth. I liked the personal tone of the book, the story telling. The book is very honest, the stories told utterly inspiring. Frances and Anna never 'whitewash' the porlbmes the projects they are describing are facing. This truth-telling makes the stories even more impressive, more credible. The very existence of these projects defy the global systems as we know them. The way they do 'business' defies the global system of exploitation and competition. This book makes us take an honest look at ourselves, our values, the daily choices we make, what we consume, how we live. This is not just 'about food' or poverty or world hunger, this is truly food for thought and inspiration of how to create a better world."
Book Description
The nauseating truth from the producer, director, and guinea pig of the Academy Award-nominated documentary Super Size Me.
Just when you figured it was safe to scarf fries again comes the factpacked and funny new alarm bell from the man whose month-long McDonald's diet became the subject of an Oscar-nominated, box-office-bonanza documentary. Here Morgan Spurlock examines everything from school lunch programs and the marketing of fast food to the decline of physical education. He looks at why fast food is so tasty, cheap, and ultimately seductive-and interviews everyone from surgeons general and kids to marketing gurus and lawmakers, who share their research and opinions on what we can do to offset a health crisis of supersized proportions.
Customer Reviews:
Wow! This is a great book!.......2007-08-20
Morgan Spurlock is either a very good, honest, wholeheartedly courageous man, or he's just another fraud. I'd like to believe he is not the latter, because I'm so used to frauds nowadays. If anything, his book is nothing short of a masterpiece. That may seem rather dramatic a thing to say, but I truly think this book is one of THE most important books ever to be written in the history of modern mankind. Anyone who can argue with its points has to be evil in some ways; you just cannot justify all of these big companies who are influencing our nation (and children) to eat junky food without being evil. You also cannot justify the cruel "farming" or meat industries without having a touch of badness to you. As for the writing itself, Spurlock has a gift for words and sometimes occasional humour that is refreshing. I HIGHLY recommend this book!
Very Educational, and Very Funny........2007-07-26
In the summer of 1970, my doctor said I was overweight and needed to lose about 30 pounds. I was 35 and weighed 195. He prescribed diet pills to curb my appetite. It worked. In two months I was down 30 pounds, and the diet pills were a fun experience. Of course, when I went off the pills and back to my normal lifestyle my weight went right back up. At that point, I became interested in nutrition and fitness and started reading books along those lines. Adelle Davis and Carlton Fredericks pop into my mind. There were others. Later, I read "The Fat of the Land" by Michael Fumento. I had developed a taste for books that muckraked through the American way of life, particularly that part which centers on food, nutrition and physical fitness. It's been a worthwhile education.
A couple years ago, I greatly enjoyed Morgan Spurlock's wonderful documentary movie/DVD "Supersize Me." It should be required viewing for all Americans. Then about a month ago, while browsing through the bargain bins of a large bookstore, I stumbled upon Spurlock's "Don't Eat This Book" for only $5.98. It's well worth it at twice the price. I bought it in an instant. This book, of course, is the companion to the "Supersize Me" movie/DVD.
All of the books or DVDs say about the same thing, but they say it in very different ways. Americans eat too much and they don't get enough exercise. Thus 2/3 of Americans are significantly overweight and the problem is getting worse every decade. Just look around you. In addition, the typical American diet is overloaded in fats, sugars. salt and deficient in fiber, whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables. Everyone seems to know this but solving the problem is another matter. Morgan Spurlock dips his oar into the murky water. I don't know that he sets forth anything that's new and startling, but he comes across as an excellent spokesman and provides information of which every American should be aware.
It's a good book. It's well written. He has good knowledge of nutrition. Plus, he's very funny while being deadly serious. The book is very entertaining at the same time as very educational. It's an unusaul combination. Spurlock takes on "big food," "fast food," congress, the USDA, the FDA and a host of other organizations that tend to rule our lives in one way or another. Read his account and then think about what he says. It may change your lifestyle for the better. Then read it again and again over the years just to maintain your lifestyle in a reasonible direction.
As a major part of the movie/book, Spurlock spent a month eating at the "Golden Arches." Every meal. If anyone suggested supersizing, he went along. Then he and a group of doctors/nutritionists chronicled what happened to him over that month. If you eat in any fast-food restaurants, or any restaurants for that matter you should read this account. It's eye opening, plus it's funny. Mickey D comes in for most of the pointed criticism, but the same thing could be applied to all. Personally, I think he came down a little too hard on Subway. After all, if you're knowledgeable you can get a perfectly acceptable meal there. Plus, it you really have to have a hamburger now and then he could have mentioned that In-and-Out makes theirs out of all fresh ingredients. But he was an easterner, and that's mostly in California.
Ugh! I'm lovin' it.......2007-07-13
This book is entertaining and informative. If you enjoyed Supersize Me the movie, you'll be equally satisfied by Don't Eat this Book. It goes into gory detail on Spurlock's 30 day McDonald's binge, and includes a wealth of other information such as -
- the often creepy workings of the food industry and its lobbyists
- disturbing trends in eating habits, both in the US and internationally
- the obesity epidemic, most importantly the danger to children
- the incredibly pervasive influence of McDonald's on global eating habits and nutrition
I listened to Don't Eat the Book unabridged on audio, narrated by the author. Spurlock is incredibly funny in his tone, inflections and enthusiasm. He's the perfect reader for this material, bringing it to life in a way that underscores the serious danger of consuming too much fast food, while being upbeat and entertaining.
Look Out Mickey-Ds!.......2007-03-22
There was in recent years an attempt by some obese people to take McDonalds to court, along with Burger King, Wendy's, and many other fast food establishments. So in stepped "Big Brother", in this case our government to put a stopto this foolishness. The result the McDonalds law.
I am not sticking up for McDonalds, or any other fast food joint, but I do say that I believe it to be the basic responsibility of us as consumers to know what we are putting in our mouths, and what if anything said effects will results. There is no gun at our heads, but it has been reported some additives are placed in these fast foods to cause addiction. The biggest of these is "High Fructose Corn Syrup", which hides in everything from soft drinks, to ice cream, and because of the way this substance is processed, has become a number one cause of diabetes.
When they say "Have It Your Way", that is a death bell ringing loud, and clear. Obesity is out of hand, and food producers are railing aganist "Eat Less Exercise More". The deadly combination of white bread, and deep fried foods, fried by the way in "Hydrogenated Vegetable Grease", is a Cardiologist dream, because he/she can now buy that new Benz he/she has been eyeballing. Then there is the international 4 billion dollar a day 'diabetes industry', and wow.
First we go to Mickey-Ds, and then the doctor's office, and then the graveyard. How's that?
These companies have only one intent, their bottom line, no concern for you or your family. Seems we as individuals care little about our own well being, because few of us have taken the time to educate themselves. What this dead food is doing to our health, and just how much the existance of these fast food joints is costing our society as a whole. Instead of cheers when the report came out that Russia and China had opened fast food outlets in their nations, we should have been shedding tears.
This book is a good place to start to educate one's self, and how to improve the quality of one's life. Too many of us take for granted nursing homes must be in our futures, as a fact of life. Truth is we through our own actions, or inaction write that ticket. The information exists, we need to look for this life extention knowledge. Not to say we will live to be 100, but even when we do age, there can be quality to life in general.
Many facts exist here, and many lies in the media are passed on, and few of us question the print ads, or the commericals on TV and radio. Question everything the media presents, and read books such as the one here, there is a lot from both sides of the fence, and one side has never met a lie it would not tell on behalf of the bottom line.
This is a revealing book to say the least, and too many fast food outlets are selling death on a bun. If you have children, first read, and then share this book with your children. Help them to make good choices when it comes to food.
Talk About Muckraking!.......2007-02-04
A tragic-comic and enlightening account of the making of the filmmaker-author's McDonalds restaurant marathon, during which he ate every meal for a month at the fast-food giant, with deleterious health results. This grisly read inspired my husband to try to replicate the never-decaying cheeseburger experiment, which Spurlock describes in the book (a cheeseburger left on a high shelf will simply dessicate, not rot, because it is so full of chemicals). Baskin-Robbins' heir John Robbins wrote a similarly eye-opening, stomach-churning book "Diet for a New America", which throws bright light onto the corporatization of mega-farm, mega-food practices. Highly recommended.
Book Description
The United States is currently embroiled in a national debate over the growing public health crisis caused by poor diet. People are starting to ask who is to blame and how can we fix the problem, especially among children. Major food companies are responding with a massive public relations campaign. These companies, including McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Kraft, and General Mills, are increasingly on the defensive. In response, they pretend to sell healthier food and otherwise position themselves as "part of the solution." Yet they continue to lobby against commonsense nutrition policies.
Appetite for Profit exposes this hypocrisy and explains how to fight back by offering reliable resources. Readers will learn how to spot the PR and how to organize to improve food in schools and elsewhere.
For the first time, author Michele Simon explains why we cannot trust food corporations to "do the right thing." She describes the local battles of going up against the powerful food lobbies and offers a comprehensive guide to the public relations, front groups, and lobbying tactics that food companies employ to trick the American public. Simon also provides an entertaining glossary that explains corporate rhetoric, including phrases like "better-for-you foods" and "frivolous lawsuit."
Customer Reviews:
A great resource for those who want to protect themselves and their families.......2007-10-03
This book will teach you how to spot the PR, how to not be fooled, and how to organize, for example, to improve school food. The government and large corporations have a lot of big bucks at stake. They do not care about your health. They care about profits. This is true in all business.
So you, the consumer, must learn what is hype (PR) and what is real. You need to protect yourself and your family.
This book gives you a comprehensive guide to the public relations, front groups, and lobbying tactics that food companies employ to trick the American public.
Highly recommended.
No solution in sight.......2007-07-26
I agree with Michelle Simon that
(1) we cannot believe anything the corporate food giants tell us
(2) they haven't the slightest interest in promoting healthy eating habits, not even for our children
(3) they are in it for profit, pure and simple
(4) they are in part responsible for the obesity epidemic that is sweeping the country
(5) their reaction to criticism is to spin, not to change.
What I don't agree with is that they are to be condemned for their practices any more than corporations in other industries. As Simon points out in the first chapter, "Anatomy of a Food Corporation: Why We Can't Trust Them," their officers have a fiduciary responsibility under the law to look out for the interests of their stock holders. In making this point Simon is following Joel Bakan whose excellent book (and film documentary) The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power (2004), made it clear that corporations are, effectively speaking, pathological entities that externalize the costs of doing business whenever possible. Just as coal mining companies prefer not to clean up the mess they make, food companies prefer not to pay for the medical and other costs associated with the food they produce and sell.
I emphatically agree that it would be wonderful if there were some way we could make MacDonald's, PepsiCo, etc. foot some of the bills for obesity-related diseases. But that would require an enlightened Congress and White House, something we don't have, and are not likely to have for the foreseeable future.
What food corporations have is the power to invade our consciousnesses with their advertising. Because virtually all media is under corporate control, its central message to consumers and the public at large, like a pit inside a peach, is "Conform your behavior in a way that benefits the corporation." Corporations not only get us to eat what we shouldn't eat, and to eat more than we should, but they get us to vote for people we shouldn't vote for. The advertising is paid for by the corporations. The politicians are beholden to the corporations.
What we are experiencing is the power of the mass media on a mass population. No one could predict just how awesome that power would be. People are more easily indoctrinated than, say, Washington or Jefferson could have imagined. We live in a democracy by capitalism. An individual's vote is nearly meaningless compared to the votes that can be bought through advertising. Most Americans are too busy making a living and dealing with the day-to-day events of their lives to become knowledgeable about the secret agendas of the corporations and their servants in the Congress, and so few people know what is right and what is wrong regarding any complex issue.
Only education--knowledge about what is really going on--is going to change the direction in which this country is headed. It's going to take a sustained effort at the grass roots level over generations to stem the tide. One result of education would be to change the legal status of corporations to make them responsible for what are now "externalized" costs of doing business. If--and only if--that were done would they behave more nearly in the public interest.
However what knowledge and education are up against is the nearly irresistible lure of products--sugar, fats, salt, easily consumed and easily digested--that were prize products in the prehistory when our ingrained appetites were forged. Big Food is seducing the primordial human in all of us, and the seduction begins at an early age and never lets up.
So there are no easy solutions. The battle against the bulge, as it used to be called, is being fought in all industrialized societies and it is being lost. For myself and some of the people I know, it is not being lost because, like Michelle Simon, we know how to eat properly and how to avoid (most!) of the temptations. The problem is how to get that message to a greater percentage of the population.
Simon's book is a step in the right direction, but only a step. She focuses on the deceptions and lies of the food industry giants, how they spin the news, how they attack opponents, etc., and she gives a lot of information on just who the spinners and liars are, and she describes the tricks they use. But as for a solution... Well, if the knowledge in this book could somehow reach all Americans through their schools and religious organizations, that would be a giant step toward a solution.
Sad but true.......2007-06-18
This is a wonderful book covering more than you probably want to know about the collusion between our government and the food industry. This knowledge is essential, however, in understanding what you're actually buying when you buy fast food, or anything with high fructose corn syrup...any processed foods, really.
1. You're buying poison
2. You're paying for the continuation of a poisonous system...
hah, I sense no bitterness.......2007-05-29
Undoubtedly just one person is going through one five-star review after another and clicking "No" to "Was this review helpful to you?" judging by the patterns in the reviews below. Well, whoever he or she is, the person will just have to go through another. People can discredit Michele Simon all they want, but it doesn't change the fact that pretty much everything she's saying in "Appetite For Profit" is right.
There is nothing more American than what this book is trying to do: bring to light one of the toughest issues our society faces today (aside from the sustainability argument and climate change). While her views and frustration are evident, along with the massive scale of this problem, Simon successfully reframes the question with Big Food. All their cloying slogans, their favourite phrases, their dirty lobbying tactics and their endless pocketbook are exposed in "Appetite for Profit." All this hoopla about "personal responsibility" and "freedom of choice" coupled with the American "rugged individualism" are thrown out the window when we find out who's really calling the shots, and how they're managing to not get caught.
I simply cannot see how anyone can make a coherent argument for the goodness and harmlessness of Big Food after reading this book. Simon includes every false, manipulative, deceiving tactic employed by the food industry and presents a lucid counterargument. She covers all her bases; no issue is too small to go unaddressed. From vending machines in schools to the 30-year battle of making restaurants put out nutrition information, to Big Food blaming the lawyers to falsifying scientific evidence, Simon research shines.
Whoever the naysayer is on these Amazon review tabs, he or she
a) has not picked up the book and therefore has not read Simon's arguments
b) works for Big Food.
Please, anyone who can seriously debate Michele Simon's points addressed in this book, I welcome you to share them, for I would love to hear it. But if the first word out is "Energy balance" or "Personal responsibility", do us all a favour and read "Appetite for Profit."
Concise Truth-Telling: What a Concept!.......2007-01-24
This is an incredibly important book that finally explains why the answer to our food problems does not lie in the corporations themselves. We've all become so duped into believing the PR hype of the food INDUSTRY and have given away our power and our health. This isn't all gloom and doom, however. I especially like that Simon offers solutions for individuals who want to get on board and make a difference. Though they have the power and the money, our voices can still be heard, and I appreciate that Simon offers us that hope. (Oh - and do check out the Anti-Glossary. It's brilliant!) Highly recommended.
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Food Law: Policy & Ethics
Lauterburg
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Consuming Passions: Food in the Age of Anxiety
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ASIN: 1901341062 |
Book Description
Descartes is to blame. For centuries his tag "I think therefore I am" has dominated our notion of ourselves and the world; that the mind is what counts seems to be the message of Cartesianism, the body could fend for itself. What people thought has been central to academic study, what they ate was considered marginal and insignificant. But the picture is changing. Food, after all is fundamental. Critics in English literature are beginning to theorize about the significance of food in texts, "edible ecriture" as Terry Eagleton calls it. Historians chart the relationship between what we eat and how we live. Sociologists deconstruct the family meal. Psychiatrists ponder the inexorable rise of eating disorders. Philosophers construct the moral frameworks for ethical eating; and scientists work with social scientists as killer diseases, food borne, sweep the country. This book unites scientists, social scientists and those working in the humanities in a call for food to be studied more in universities across disciplines--and for those involved in its study no longer to be marginalized.
Book Description
Peter Kaminsky, one of the premier experts on fly-fishing, offers his unique worldview to fishermen and women everywhere in this fifth meaning of life guidebook. As any true fly fisherman knows, fly-fishing is more than a sport. Its an affirmation of life. This lyrical book muses on the philosophy of fly-fishing, rather than the hook and ballet aspect of the sport. Kaminsky calls up the greats of fly-fishing lore and his own profound experiences of early mornings, damp clothes, exuberant catches and releases, and peace. During the hardest times, times when the world seems all wrong, he fly fishes. In these 15 pieces, readers will be transported to another more joyful place where the bass and trout whisper a philosophy of life that makes sense.
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Food for Thought: Philosophy and Food
Elizabet Telfer
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Making Sense of Taste: Food and Philosophy
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Cooking, Eating, Thinking
ASIN: 0415133823 |
Book Description
The importance of food in our individual lives raises moral questions from the debate over eating animals to the prominence of gourmet cookery in the popular media. Through philosophy, Elizabeth Telfer discusses issues including our obligations to those who are starving; the value of the pleasure of food; food as art; our duties to animals; and the moral virtues of hospitableness and temperance. Elizabeth Telfer shows how much traditional philosophy, from Plato to John Stuart Mill, has to say to illuminate this everyday yet complex subject.
Book Description
Anthropologist Steve Striffler begins this book in a poultry processing plant, drawing on his own experiences there as a worker. He also reports on the way chickens are raised today and how they are consumed. What he discovers about America’s favorite meat is not just unpleasant but a powerful indictment of our industrial food system. The process of bringing chicken to our dinner tables is unhealthy for all concerned—from farmer to factory worker to consumer.
The book traces the development of the poultry industry since the Second World War, analyzing the impact of such changes as the destruction of the family farm, the processing of chicken into nuggets and patties, and the changing makeup of the industrial labor force. The author describes the lives of immigrant workers and their reception in the small towns where they live. The conclusion is clear: there has to be a better way. Striffler proposes radical but practical change, a plan that promises more humane treatment of chickens, better food for the consumer, and fair payment for food workers and farmers.
Customer Reviews:
4 stars for Chicken.......2006-11-10
This book is a must read for anyone who eats Chickens. You should know what you are supporting and the dangers of the product.
A readable informative look at a little-analyzed subject.......2006-09-06
A harsh indictment of the aggressive tactics of the poultry giants, Striffler's work gives a grim view of the consequences for farmer, worker, and consumer. This book can be enjoy equally by activist, academician, and voracious reader all equally. Imminently readable, Striffler's work not only conveys a sense of the author's ideology but more importantly, backs up his concerns with hard and fast statistics.
Even for those who don't wish to endure a frontal assault on Tyson Foods and other major agribusiness corporations, the discussion on how American consumerism around chicken has changed over the last 20 years. For those who are old enough to remember a world without McNuggets, its an interesting cultural retrospective.
the best available book on workers and the meat processing industry.......2006-04-03
I bought and read Striffler's book to gain a better understanding of the largely immigrant-filled workforce in the meat processing industry. This book more than satisfied me. It serves not only to introduce you to the growth of the chicken industry, but also to describe insightfully immigrant workers' experiences, in any industry.
It is a very timely book given this year's focus on immigration reform. This industry will likely be more affected than any other if any major legislation is enacted.
grisly and hazardous work.......2006-01-25
Striffler gives an inquisitive peek at an industry that most people have little awareness of. Much of his book studies the workforce that mans the chicken abbatoirs. The prose shows a somewhat grisly job, that is also repetitive, mind-numbing and dangerous. The ever sharp knives and scalding liquids give rise to the inevitable workplace injuries.
Yet hope shines through in portions of the book. Many of the workers are Mexicans, who more or less legally migrate to these factories, which are often located in the American South. To the Mexicans, the work offers a good income that can support entire families back home.
A Must Read!.......2006-01-10
Wow! An academic who can write! This is a great book from beginning to end. Striffler actually worked in poultry processing plants and lived to tell about it -- and tell about it he does! He really provides an excellent, if critical, look at not only the industry, but how we raise, cook, eat....food in general. And he is a great writer. It really makes you think.
One other thing. I noticed one reviewer on Amazon was critical of Striffler for caring more about poultry workers than chickens. Uhh? I hope he cares more about people than birds! Is this a bad thing? I am an animal rights activist, and I wish there was more on this subject in the book, but that would be a very different book for a very different audience. This is just not a book about animal rights; it is much broader in perspective. But I found the book to be very informative, and even suggestive for those of us interested in animal rights....because Striffler provides the whole picture. The fact is that most people eat chicken, and will do so for some time -- so the question is how do we make the system better for everyone, including the birds. On this, Striffler is very critical of the industry; his analysis is superb and his ideas suggestive. Let's not lose perspective!
Book Description
Illustrates how the Bible and Christianity have understood eating practices such as vegetarianism and explores the role of diet as it relates to Christian discipleship.
Customer Reviews:
Life, the Dinner Plate and Everything.......2007-05-30
Members of all religious backgrounds will enjoy this humorous in-depth study of the theology of food. Looking from the Christian perspective, Webb studies a number of subjects ranging from the modern "meat and potatoes" meal to Christian justification for vegetarianism, from whether or not pets go to Heaven to Biblical dietary restrictions in the Old Testament. While it is a bit academic for bedtime reading, it's certainly worth the read for anyone seriously interested in the Christian theology behind a human activity that unites us all - eating.
Wow, great stuff man.......2004-10-02
This is a really great book, fun to read, and inspiring as well. There is more information here about the early church and biblical view of animals than in any other book I know of. This is a great read. The chapter on whether there will be animals in heaven is a classic. Definitely a must read.
Rather academic.......2002-06-15
Although well written, this book was a bit too academic for me. It read like a text book/essay.
Read this--before you take another bite!.......2002-05-13
Stephen Webbýs Good Eating is an immensely important contribution to the discussion of eating and ethics, love of God and care for the world. In his very readable, engaging, and thoroughly enjoyable book, Webb takes up the difficult task of reclaiming the discourse and practice of vegetarianism from secular or non-Christian movements such animal rights, health consciousness, New Age or Eastern religions, in order to frame them in an authentic and Biblically-based Christian context. After discussing his own conversion to meatlessness as an integral part of his faith, Webb, a prominent theologian and professor, delves deeply into Biblical narratives and Christian history to examine teachings and practices of consumption. From the creation of animals as helpers in Eden to the dietary laws of Judaism, the Last Supper and the Eucharist to the fasting of the early Church Fathers, the abstention of heretics to the loss of the Biblical ideal of meatlessness, Webb problematizes conventional readings which assume a rationale for the eating flesh as an acceptable Christian practice. In their stead, he proposes a serious, provocative, and convincing theology of a truly compassionate and nonviolent stewardship of all of Godýs creatures.
Yet even more compelling than his readings which demonstrate vegetarianism as intrinsic to the Christian tradition is his argument that not eating meat is a practice wholly consistent with living a Christian life and ýone concrete way for Christians to experience and practice Godýs graceý (41). In going beyond selfish, personal, or even health reasons for avoiding meat, Christian vegetarianism as ýa way, gradually and humbly, of looking forward to Godýs restoration of creation, the fulfillment of Godýs promise to complete history by returning the whole world to Godýs original intentions. This diet of hope can be one way of witnessing to the good news ofJesus Christ.ý (13).
Unlike many books intended for Christian audiences, Webbýs does not preach to the choir. His critique of secular or non-Christian vegetarianism is matched by his critique of the complaceny of many contemporary Christians with regard to the suffering of animals and their willingness to conform to the status quo and biddings of the corporate world. His last chapter and appendices, however, provide a range of helpful theological and practical alternatives for consideration, and begin the work of restoring harmony between humans and the rest of creation.
Good Eating should be required reading not only for sincere Christians--but for everyone concerned with the welfare of animals, and a reflective and compassionate way of being in the world. Highest recommendation.
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