The Meat Business: Devouring a Hungry Planet
Author: Geoff Tansey, Joyce D'Silva
List Price: $59.95
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ISBN: 0312226861
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (November, 1999)
Sales Rank: 841,399
Average Customer Rating: 3.33 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 1 out of 5
Not worth a second look
I am usually very conservative about giving very high or very low ratings, but this book surely deserves it more than anything else I've read. I got this book thinking that it would be a lovely introduction to some reasonable explanations for becoming vegetarian. Boy, was I wrong. Supposedly, this book gives the two sides of the vegetarian debate (i.e. hippies and meat industry moguls) a chance to meet and talk about the differing reasons they believe they are right. It is a wonderful idea which loses everything in the execution. In the entire first half of the book (whose second half I declined to read) there were all of two footnotes. Not a single claim of either side's evidence had any substantial (read, non-partial) support. This book is aimed at idiots who cannot tell the difference between what other idiots say and a well-thought out argument citing researched statistics. Unfortunately, neither side was up to the task of actually founding their arguments in anything other than propaganda. Naturally, as a result we end up with the most biased and unfounded set of arguments as possible. No wonder so many people steer clear of this argument--with twats such as these authors on either side, I would too (that is, if I didn't already know which side is right).
Rating: 4 out of 5
terrifying account of the dangers of anthropocentrism
This is a horribly depressing book for anyone who cares about the future of this planet. In one of the most optimistic essays, it's argued that the world faces 3 choices: grow GM crops en masse, destroy the world's remaining wildlife, or convert the entire population of the US to veganism. It's then pointed out that only 0.2% of American's are currently vegan. Another essay points out, even more terrifyingly, that third world countries are seeking to emaulate western patterns of meat consumption, with all the horrifying consequences this has for their environments and spiritual lives. Other essays provoke a Becketian laughter at the absurdity of the human condition; in one it's pointed out that the US spends more on weight loss products than any other nation does on food. The reasons for this anomaly are pointed out elsewhere; massive subsidies for the agribusiness industry which produce the illusion of "cheap" meat and global trade agreements that prevent countries from introducing animal welfare laws. The only possible cause for optimism is the hope that this book's ideas may be widely dissiminated and cause people to realise the danger that eating meat poses to their own health and to the future of the planet.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Well written multidisciplinary overview
This book gives an interesting multidisciplinary overview of the food / environmental / wealth problems we're facing which will probably only exacerbate, and possible solutions -- including a proponent of GenMod crops. No, this book isn't some extremist book stating "let's all become vegetarian!" (as the title may suggest), nor does it seriously draw on "sentimental" arguments. I feel this book makes us reflect on the whole issue, leaving us to decide ourselves. Recommended for anyone interested in "why it is necessary to reduce meat consumption" and a good overview anyway for the current state of affairs in this field.
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