Eating Animals

Eating Animals is the third book by the American writer Jonathan Safran Foer, published in 2009. It is a work of non-fiction.
Foer explores the topics of factory farming and commercial fisheries. He examines topics such as by-catch and slaughterhouse conditions, saying that Indonesian shrimp trawlers kill 26 pounds of sea creatures for every 1 pound of shrimp they collect, and that in American slaughterhouses, cows are consistently "bled, dismembered, and skinned while conscious." Foer claims that factory farming possibly accounts for more than 99% of all animals used for meat, milk or eggs. He also explores the health risks which pervade American factory farming, including the claims that H1N1 originated in a North Carolina factory farm, and that 98 percent of American chicken is infected with campylobacter or salmonella at the time of consumption.

Foer also examines the cultural meaning of food, beginning with the experience of his own grandmother, who survived the Holocaust, with a lifelong obsession over food. Foer mentions childhood stories, like spending Thanksgiving dinners at his aunt and uncles' home. He builds on and ultimately criticizes the work of Michael Pollan on our relationship to the food we eat.

Finally, Foer examines humane agricultural methods, and the divide between animal rights and animal welfare. He provides information on the environmental effects of factory farming, and the changes in agricultural methods over time.