Eating - Softcover

Mason, Jim; Singer, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099504022 ISBN 13: 9780099504023

Publisher: Arrow, 2006

Synopsis

Written with investigative vigour, provocative and controversial but always accessible, Eating is a hard-hitting exploration of our eating habits, making us look at what we eat as a moral issue.

Organic foods are the fastest growing section of the food industry, and it is estimated that vegans are now almost as common as vegetarians. Veal consumption in the US has fallen by more than 75% since 1975, and in the UK, sales of free-range eggs have now passed in value sales of eggs from caged hens. Evidently we are concerned. But how concerned should we be about where our food comes from? Does the food we buy really affect the world around us? And what can we do?

In Eating, philosopher Peter Singer and environmentalist Jim Mason follow three families with varying eating habits, from fast-food eaters to vegans, to explore how the food we eat makes its way to the table, and at what expense. The authors peel back each layer of food production, and examine how they ought to factor into our buying choices. Recognising that we are not all likely to become vegetarian or vegan, they go on to offer ways to make the most ethical choices within the framework of a diet that includes animal products.

About this title

Review:

"In their new book - commonsense in its approach, easy to read, packed with information - Peter Singer and Jim Mason show how market forces inexorably drive farmers toward cruel practices. But their overall message is not bleak. Factory farming is under pressure to justify itself. The day may not be far when we will return to a more ethical treatment of fellow animals, and there are many practical things that ordinary consumers can do to bring that day nearer." (J. M. Coetzee)

"An absolutely indispensable book for anyone who thinks about what they eat. Eating is that rare combination of lively read and thorough research and investigation. It is a masterpiece, and I cannot recommend it highly enough." (Jeffrey Masson)

"In this well-researched and deeply troubling book, Peter Singer and Jim Mason paint a devastating portrait of the meat industry that is bound to change the way you eat." (Michael Pollan)

"It has changed the way i think about food." (Audrey Niffenegger Guardian)

"Vital, urgent and disturbing" (New York Times)

From the Publisher:

By leading philosopher Peter Singer and environmentalist Jim Mason, a hard-hitting and thought-provoking exploration of the ethics of our diets.

About this edition

• Publisher: Arrow
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0099504022
• ISBN 13: 9780099504023
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352