The Way We Eat

Why Our Food Choices Matter

By: Peter Singer, Jim Mason

Narrated by: Rick Adamson

Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Eating is about more than satisfying our hunger. It's also about the environment, social justice, personal development, and sustainable living. Many Americans already know this. We're eating less red meat and more organically produced foods, and most restaurants offer vegetarian options. But do we really know the truth about mechanized animal farming and slaughterhouses, herbicide and pesticide use, and labels that promise "Certified Humane"?

In this revolutionary look at food and the future of life on earth, Peter Singer and James Mason examine the diets of three typical families and track down the sources of their food to see how humanely it was produced. They identify six empowering ethical principles that conscientious consumers should consider when shopping for groceries or eating out. They name names, of companies that are voluntarily instituting more humane systems, and of those that continue to offend. Recognizing that not all of us will become vegetarians, they explore ways to make the most ethical choices within the framework of a diet that includes some animal products. The bottom line is: You can be ethical without being fanatical, and here's how.

©2006 Peter Singer and Jim Mason (P)2006 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"A no-holds-barred treatise on ethical consumption, this is an important read for those concerned with the long, frightening trip between farm and plate." (Publishers Weekly)

This book will make you think

I have never put much thought to what I eat and how it affects the animals, the environment, workers, neighbors to farms, myself, essentially the world around me. This book will definitely make you think and reconsider how and what you choose to eat.

Guilt throwing vegans

There are many good points made in this book, particularly about factory farming and the "unseen" costs of our food production to the environment and the lives of people who live and work or or near these farms. They also allude to some regulatory issues, mosty here in the US. The authors are also fair in their discussion of how buying from nearby sources may not in fact be as environmentally or ethically sound as buying imported foods, and raise some questions about "organic" and the extent to which we can trust that label. And of course they do remind us that eating lower on the food chain has unquestionable value. It's just that they really have a totally one-sided view toward killing of any animal for food, and make sure to paint the ugliest picture possible. Yes, many of the practices they menion are abhorrent, but I didn't hear any good suggestions from them about how it could/should be done differently .. except that they tell us to buy Tofurkey for Thanksgiving. They push their "moral" views so hard that I felt my back going up. I noticed myself surprised when they made a statement that was apolitical or didn't seem to serve their point, but I had the feeling that they put those in just so they could say "see, we're showin both sides." I think this book might guilt a small number of people into becoming vegans, but I don't see it having the kind of influence needed to change the way food is produced in the US. I think it should have been entitled "The Way You Eat" as they claim to be exempt. And about waste of "outdated" food from groceries, they did not address whether stores, made by law to discard outdated food, are able to give that food away.

Read it with the understanding that this is a sales job.

ANOTHER GREAT LISTEN FOR THOSE WHO EAT FOOD!!

great listen for people who really don't have a clue what they are consuming as "food" and why they choose and why their choice of food is actually a "vote" for bad or good government and health. mandatory reading for everyone!

Very good

I like Singer a lot as his Animal Liberation book is excellent and this book is no different. Every meat eater, should listen!

Life-changing

I never would have thought I would ever go vegetarian, but this book convinced me to do just that. The writing and voice performance were both fantastic, and I can't recommend this book enough

Ridiculously dramatic

If you listened to this book you wouldn't eat anything. Oh, wait, they did say it was ok to eat mussels, clams and scallops if you HAD to. Everything else, though, is off the table. I stopped listening to this book when they said eating local was less environmentally friendly than eating something that had been shipped from half way across the world. Their one sided arguments were self serving and ridiculous. The fact that they compared this book to the Omnivore's Dilemma is a joke.

Started well but ended poorly

The first half of this book was well written, balanced in viewpoint, and informative. I learned things about the industrial animal production system that previously I didn't know.

Unfortunately, it turned into a miss guided guilt-fest as the authors blatantly started pushing their vegan agenda. When they started bashing on Joel Salatin's Polyface farm aligning it with the likes of a confingnment farm, and trying to discredit the writings of Michael Pollan, I had just about had enough. It was really hard to even finish listening to this book. Save your time and money, don't buy this book!

I did NOT want this much information!

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

This is for those who really WANT to know the behind-the-scenes graphic details of what happens to their food (especially meat -- how it's killed, etc) before it gets to you. I was wanting more useful information -- the ABC's of vegetarianism, not the "why's" of veganism. Very disappointed.