Foer's two novels (Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) are two of my favourite books. I was excited to read his take on a factory farming/meat eating ethics book. Foer researched factory farming and small scale farming techniques, looking at both the treatment and well being of the animals being slaughtered and eaten, but the people who worked in the industry as well. I think of this book as a modern day version of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, as Foer takes on the role of an investigative journalist, interviewing workers, owners, eaters and exploring different areas of the factory farm model. He presents no argument for or against vegetarianism, he simply asks that one begin to question the reasons that one consumes animal products. Foer had been an on/off vegetarian throughout college, and while beginning his research, he and his wife ate a mostly vegetarian diet with occasional meat and fish. When they decided to have a child, they wondered whether they should raise their child as a vegetarian or a meat eater, and 3 years of research later, this book presents his findings and eventual decision. I enjoyed this book very much, Foer writes and explains very clearly facts (along with about 40 pages of citations on the back cover), and he explores a view often ignored by most pro-vegetarian and animal rights books (because this is not a pro-vegetarian book, Foer explains), which is that of the factory farm worker. The plight of the underpaid workers doing some of the most dangerous jobs in America made me feel sicker than the reality that most animals are still conscious when they're slaughtered.
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