"The Way We Eat" reviewed by DJ Mounga

The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter

By: Peter Singer & Jim Mason

            Hello LPF Book Club members!  I hope that my report finds for some interesting findings and encourages you to explore it as well.  I will be honest and say that I did not complete the book reading in its entirety and will suffer the consequences, but I believe I have enough to make an accurate account of my findings as I review, although I will finish reading as to keep my commitment to the cause!

             A little background on the two authors is that their first book, Animal Factories came out in the 80s and focused on factory farming which was part of the initial movement of exposures to the treatment of animals and the impacts on the environment. Jim is the farmer, born and raised in Missouri and brought the farming perspective and the ins and outs of the industry, while Peter was professor and a writer and brought about the ethical stand points.  The two together make a great duo in my opinion offering the most informative information while keeping a steady focus on the realities that are out there about food justice issues and how to truly make an impact.  Like many social justice issues, food justice is no different with its compacting issues that need to be viewed in a holistic manner, rather than detailed nit-picking.

            The book is broken into three parts and the point they wanted to make with this book is to give a well rounded look at food issues, rather than focusing on one particular issue or point like they discuss in their other books.  So I liked it because it offered a snapshot into the realm of food and what is happening on the multiple levels and it gives you a lot of “food for thought” (no pun intended).  The book focuses on three families.  One that eats the typical “American diet,” the second is a family that focuses on organics, and third a family that is vegan.  The way the authors tell their stories is through their food choices.  Where they buy, why they buy, and what is the mentality that goes into those purchases.  While those questions are being answered, the authors offer insight into the food world and issues that go along.  Below is what that breakdown would look like.

Jake and Lee: The American Diet

• Shop at Wal-Mart Supercenter
• Purchases primarily based on cost and convenience
• Issues discussed: cost of cheap chicken, meat factories, and Animal Care Certified

Jam and Mary Ann: The Conscientious Omnivores

• Shop at Trader Joes or local to get fresh produce…organics when available
• Purchases are made based off of health, ethical standards, and impacts on the environment
• Issues discussed: “Organic” and “Certified Humane” labels, seafood (scarily interesting), fair trade and workers rights

JoAnn and Joe: The Vegans

• Purchases are made at local grocery stores or Wild Oats (national chain) and food co-ops
• All choices are ethically based, purchase organically when possible
• Issues discussed: health concerns for vegans, raising children on a vegan diet, and ethics of why vegans choose to not eat meat

Here are some facts and things I found interesting from the book-

• The Vegan Society in Britain was the world’s first vegan society founded in 1944 by Donald Watson
• Although there is the arguments about cheap food being offered because that is what consumers want, the idea of free market still stands.  If people don’t like the way animals are treated or the way their food is being grown…take your money elsewhere.  That is the strongest way you can make an impact and directly fix the problem.  No profit coming in for the product…the product will have to adapt
• I liked this.  Gandhi has remarked that the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treat its animals.  Ouch.
• Want to know about your eggs?  Let me give a little excerpt from the book.

“…American egg-producers typically keep their hens in bare wire cages, often crammed eight or nine hens to a cage so small that they never have room to stretch even one wing, let along both.  The space allocated per hen, in fact, is even less than broiler chickens get, ranging from 48 to 72 square inches.  Even the higher of these figures is less than the size of a standard American sheet of typing paper.  In such crowded conditions, stressed hens tend to peck each other – and the sharp beak of a hen can be a lethal weapon when used relentlessly against weaker birds unable to escape.  To prevent this, producers routinely sear off the ends of the hens’ sensitive beaks with a hot blade – without an anesthetic.”

• The European Union.  I don’t know what they are doing there, but they seem to be doing something right when it comes to their food.  I’d be interested if anyone knows more about this.  The standards for food are much higher than Americans.
• United Egg Producers…bad!  Europe changes their standards, UEP makes minor changes…simply to save face in front of the public
• Male chickens.  Sad.  They are considered no good so they are often thrown away…alive!
• “Animal Care Certified” stamp…lies, lies, lies
• Meat stats
• The average American eats more than 200 pounds of red meat, poultry, and red fish per year
• Beef consumption has fallen, but poultry consumption has doubled
• Pork=51 pounds per person…and that’s third place behind chicken, and beef
• 60 percent of the pork eaten is processed (sausage, hot dogs, bacon etc.)
• Studies have shown that pigs are intelligent animals that feel just like humans, but wording is often used to create a gulf between human and animal
• “farrowing” rather than “giving birth”
• “feeding” rather than “eating”
• Gestating” rather than “being pregnant”
• Europe…feeding cattle meat is a no no!  U.S.-eh, it’s okay!  WHAAT!?!
• Yes organic and cage free/field raised meat products you will pay more for your cuts BUT what you don’t pay (cheaper cuts) we as a society are paying on our environment…air pollution, sewage seeps into creeks and rivers, and health concerns for living in towns with animal factories.
• We are seeing the affects of fish farming have the same effects like we are in the animal factories…but in the sea.  Which is worse because their aren’t as much restrictions put on yet and the cross breeding between fishes are killing off entire populations
• Is buying locally always the best?  Could we do better by supporting other local communities abroad through fair trade?  Is it actually economically and environmentally safer to take that approach?  These are questions posed by the authors and things that I found interesting to ponder.

What I appreciated about this book is that there was a lot of information and the authors did a good job to stay middle lane.  It offered some interesting points that I never considered.  Like if it is truly better to eat completely locally or if we have an obligation to help other country farms?  Which is right or which is more right?  I’m not 100% sure where I stand on that but it is interesting to think about.  How about the cost of shipping food to and from place to place?  Those are the compares and contrasts that the authors looked at because in some instances the family that shopped at Wal-Mart was actually being better activists with some of their purchases than the family that shopped at Trader Joes!  Interesting you think?

            I will say that for a first time book clubber of any kind, I really did and still am enjoying this book.  I’m enjoying the bits of knowledge I’m getting from all over the food world.  I’m enjoying the take on the set up with the families and looking into their personal lives and analyzing food from that respect, because I think it is easy to look from a wishful thinking point of view, but these are real people.  What I will take from the book for sure is that a change for good no matter how small is a change for the better.  An example is Henry Spira.  He pressured McDonald’ to change the way the treated animals.  Even by implementing animal auditing and changes to the area space of chickens, believers thought that Spira was fighting a lose/lose battle.  But Spria had other thoughts in mind.  He knew that if McDonalds moved a millimeter then the entire industry would.  Since those small changes, all restaurants will only buy from chicken farms that meet these standards.  A small act with a huge impact and I would say in such a tough battle, we need to accept and be thankful for the small victories.

Grade: B+

DJ