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Farmagedon. Rzeczywisty koszt taniego mięsa
Za wszystkim, co jemy, kryje się jakaś historia.
Właśnie teraz, gdzieś na świecie, zabitych zostaje 4 tysiące zwierząt. W ciągu ostatnich dziesięcioleci zwierzęta hodowlane znikały z naszych łąk i pastwisk, bo rozrastający się przemysł hodowlany zamknął je w klatkach i boksach. Rocznie pochłania on dziesiątki miliardów niewinnych istot, hodowanych na mięso, mleko i jaja, które codziennie zjadamy.
Przez 3 lata Philip Lymbery podróżował po świecie i przyglądał się temu, jak wygląda "od kuchni" przemysłowa hodowla zwierząt i jak wpływa na ludzi, zwierzęta i planetę. Lymbery odwiedza m.in. fabryki w Usa, Peru, Chinach, Meksyku, pokazuje, jak umyślnie pogarszana jest jakość jedzenia, które trafia na nasze stoły: od sztucznego przyspieszania wzrostu zwierząt, poprzez używanie ogromnych ilości środków chemicznych, antybiotyków, leków hormonalnych, po nadprodukcję zboża na paszę.
Farmagedon jest wołaniem do naszego sumienia, wezwaniem do ujrzenia w hodowli przemysłowej jednej z najbardziej przerażających przyczyn marnowania żywności, cierpienia zwierząt, wymierania zagrożonych gatunków zwierząt, zanieczyszczenia wód oraz rosnącej liczby chorób cywilizacyjnych. Autor nie zostawia jednak czytelnika wyłącznie z bulwersującym obrazem przemysłu żywieniowego – pokazuje, jak w prosty sposób każdy konsument może uchronić się przed jedzeniem mięsa, jajek i mleka pozyskiwanych w tak skandaliczny sposób.
Oto bulwersujący obraz produkcji jedzenia, które ląduje na naszych talerzach – obowiązkowa lektura dla wszystkich, których obchodzi, czym karmią siebie i swoich bliskich na co dzień.
Właśnie teraz, gdzieś na świecie, zabitych zostaje 4 tysiące zwierząt. W ciągu ostatnich dziesięcioleci zwierzęta hodowlane znikały z naszych łąk i pastwisk, bo rozrastający się przemysł hodowlany zamknął je w klatkach i boksach. Rocznie pochłania on dziesiątki miliardów niewinnych istot, hodowanych na mięso, mleko i jaja, które codziennie zjadamy.
Przez 3 lata Philip Lymbery podróżował po świecie i przyglądał się temu, jak wygląda "od kuchni" przemysłowa hodowla zwierząt i jak wpływa na ludzi, zwierzęta i planetę. Lymbery odwiedza m.in. fabryki w Usa, Peru, Chinach, Meksyku, pokazuje, jak umyślnie pogarszana jest jakość jedzenia, które trafia na nasze stoły: od sztucznego przyspieszania wzrostu zwierząt, poprzez używanie ogromnych ilości środków chemicznych, antybiotyków, leków hormonalnych, po nadprodukcję zboża na paszę.
Farmagedon jest wołaniem do naszego sumienia, wezwaniem do ujrzenia w hodowli przemysłowej jednej z najbardziej przerażających przyczyn marnowania żywności, cierpienia zwierząt, wymierania zagrożonych gatunków zwierząt, zanieczyszczenia wód oraz rosnącej liczby chorób cywilizacyjnych. Autor nie zostawia jednak czytelnika wyłącznie z bulwersującym obrazem przemysłu żywieniowego – pokazuje, jak w prosty sposób każdy konsument może uchronić się przed jedzeniem mięsa, jajek i mleka pozyskiwanych w tak skandaliczny sposób.
Oto bulwersujący obraz produkcji jedzenia, które ląduje na naszych talerzach – obowiązkowa lektura dla wszystkich, których obchodzi, czym karmią siebie i swoich bliskich na co dzień.
380 pages, Paperback
First published January 30, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews
October 30, 2017
This is a moderate book about the harm caused by factory farming on the planet, people's health, and the animals. I say it is "moderate" because the author is not a vegetarian or a vegan, and advocates for purchasing meat from more sustainable, local sources. He does also suggest, although very little, eating less meat. So this is a book for people who don't know much about this topic, and I think it would be a great help to them.
As for me, I know a great deal about this topic, and I do not eat any animals or their bodily secretions (dairy, eggs, etc). To me, this solution is so obvious and I can't understand not being willing to even try it, say, for a month. Just try it. It's not that hard. You form new habits. Then you don't have to worry about spending a fortune on "sustainable" animal body parts and you can be sure that you're causing the minimal amount of suffering to animals that is possible in this imperfect world. But such sane suggestions are for a different book. This book is not made for people as principled as myself.
That said, it's a good book. Do you want to know about pig excrement and the enormous amount of it in poisonous lagoons all over the world? Do you want to know how chickens suffer from not being able to stretch and being made to stand on their sensitive feet in wire cages so their eggs can fall through and roll down to factory workers who are practically slaves? Do you want to know about how animal agriculture is using cloning technology to create even more grotesquely miserable and unhealthy but profitable animals? Do you want to know about how animal agriculture is a main driver of both droughts and floods? Do you want to know about how the outrageous overuse of antibiotics to prevent sickness from sweeping through overcrowded sheds full of animals is creating antibiotic-resistant bacteria that may very well decimate the human population? You should want to know. These topics are no joke. You have a responsibility to learn about them, as an educated, literate person.
The book is very British. Its moderateness and human superiority complex is very British. Just as the British are only somewhat increasingly embarrassed about thier colonial past and how they treated places around the world as their personal playground while simultaneously occasionally taking up some social justice issue or other, they talk about animals very similarly. It's basically, "We're better than animals, we can breed them to use their bodies as though they belonged to us and not them, but perhaps we shouldn't do it in such a horrific manner." Well, OK. That's the attitude of a lot of people, and I suppose it's better than the "Who gives a fuck? Fuck the animals, fuck the planet, fuck my grandchildren, I want a cheeseburger" attitude that is also extremely common.
I did like hearing about some of the activism the author was a part of in order to enact changes for animals in England and in the EU. I think it's important for activists to know about each other and what we've done and what has worked and what hasn't.
As for me, I know a great deal about this topic, and I do not eat any animals or their bodily secretions (dairy, eggs, etc). To me, this solution is so obvious and I can't understand not being willing to even try it, say, for a month. Just try it. It's not that hard. You form new habits. Then you don't have to worry about spending a fortune on "sustainable" animal body parts and you can be sure that you're causing the minimal amount of suffering to animals that is possible in this imperfect world. But such sane suggestions are for a different book. This book is not made for people as principled as myself.
That said, it's a good book. Do you want to know about pig excrement and the enormous amount of it in poisonous lagoons all over the world? Do you want to know how chickens suffer from not being able to stretch and being made to stand on their sensitive feet in wire cages so their eggs can fall through and roll down to factory workers who are practically slaves? Do you want to know about how animal agriculture is using cloning technology to create even more grotesquely miserable and unhealthy but profitable animals? Do you want to know about how animal agriculture is a main driver of both droughts and floods? Do you want to know about how the outrageous overuse of antibiotics to prevent sickness from sweeping through overcrowded sheds full of animals is creating antibiotic-resistant bacteria that may very well decimate the human population? You should want to know. These topics are no joke. You have a responsibility to learn about them, as an educated, literate person.
The book is very British. Its moderateness and human superiority complex is very British. Just as the British are only somewhat increasingly embarrassed about thier colonial past and how they treated places around the world as their personal playground while simultaneously occasionally taking up some social justice issue or other, they talk about animals very similarly. It's basically, "We're better than animals, we can breed them to use their bodies as though they belonged to us and not them, but perhaps we shouldn't do it in such a horrific manner." Well, OK. That's the attitude of a lot of people, and I suppose it's better than the "Who gives a fuck? Fuck the animals, fuck the planet, fuck my grandchildren, I want a cheeseburger" attitude that is also extremely common.
I did like hearing about some of the activism the author was a part of in order to enact changes for animals in England and in the EU. I think it's important for activists to know about each other and what we've done and what has worked and what hasn't.
January 23, 2022
A very thought provoking and in some ways depressing book. The author gives us a rundown of factory farming practices and the negative impact on animal welfare and the environment. I wouldn't recommend this book for vegetarians and vegans, the author ultimately advocates for reduction of dairy/meat rather than eliminating it altogether, and places a small emphasis on making ethical choices
I think this book has given me a shove in a direction I was already leaning in.
I think this book has given me a shove in a direction I was already leaning in.
June 23, 2017
I was hesitant to read this book because I figured it would be an anti-meat screed from a radical animal rights activist, ala PETA. As an omnivore and someone who has raised and eaten her own chickens, I don't care if someone else is vegan, but I have no sympathy for those who oppose "violence against animals" by violently imposing their own views on other humans. I also believe in listening to people who are different to myself, so I gave Lymbery's book a go. And I am so very, very glad I did.
Despite my early misgivings, Lymbery is no radical vegan activist. He's an activist for humane treatment of animals, to be sure, but he's also even-handed, logical, and extremely cogent in his presentation. The essential argument of the book is that farm animals need not be raised in inhumane conditions and that the current system of doing so (concentrated animal feeding operations, vast battery-cage chicken "farms," intensive sea farming of fish, etc.) is neither good for human health nor effective in providing reasonably-priced food for a sufficient number of people. Lymbery demonstrates, step by devastating step, how truly expensive our current methods of raising meat truly are. By the time one adds in monoculture crops of GMO grains for animal feed, transportation, chemical fertilizers, medications, and growth agents, industrial infrastructure and its maintenance--never mind the decreased nutritional value of the food and the increased risk of super-bug creation and infection--it is shockingly clear that without the subsidies that keep food cheap, none of us would be able to afford meat at all under the current model.
Lymbery is not just criticizing, however. He offers concrete suggestions for alternate ways of producing and consuming meat, as well as steps readers can take right now both to improve their own health and enjoyment and to support sustainable, humane husbandry of food animals. This hopeful, can-do approach is a welcome change from all the "meat is murder" negativity and absolutist rhetoric one so often finds in books on this topic.
There is a ton of information in this book, but the facts and figures never become overwhelming because Lymbery incorporates them into narrative accounts of his own travels and the lives of real people from countries all over the world. He has a knack for making statistics into stories that connect to the reader in a very human and even personal way. In the end, the reader feels not lectured to, but rather like s/he's had a very intense, very interesting conversation with a friend.
Despite my early misgivings, Lymbery is no radical vegan activist. He's an activist for humane treatment of animals, to be sure, but he's also even-handed, logical, and extremely cogent in his presentation. The essential argument of the book is that farm animals need not be raised in inhumane conditions and that the current system of doing so (concentrated animal feeding operations, vast battery-cage chicken "farms," intensive sea farming of fish, etc.) is neither good for human health nor effective in providing reasonably-priced food for a sufficient number of people. Lymbery demonstrates, step by devastating step, how truly expensive our current methods of raising meat truly are. By the time one adds in monoculture crops of GMO grains for animal feed, transportation, chemical fertilizers, medications, and growth agents, industrial infrastructure and its maintenance--never mind the decreased nutritional value of the food and the increased risk of super-bug creation and infection--it is shockingly clear that without the subsidies that keep food cheap, none of us would be able to afford meat at all under the current model.
Lymbery is not just criticizing, however. He offers concrete suggestions for alternate ways of producing and consuming meat, as well as steps readers can take right now both to improve their own health and enjoyment and to support sustainable, humane husbandry of food animals. This hopeful, can-do approach is a welcome change from all the "meat is murder" negativity and absolutist rhetoric one so often finds in books on this topic.
There is a ton of information in this book, but the facts and figures never become overwhelming because Lymbery incorporates them into narrative accounts of his own travels and the lives of real people from countries all over the world. He has a knack for making statistics into stories that connect to the reader in a very human and even personal way. In the end, the reader feels not lectured to, but rather like s/he's had a very intense, very interesting conversation with a friend.
Read
January 9, 2022Eta: 2022
Go Vegan! Much better books are Think like a Vegan: What everyone can learn from vegan ethics and This is Vegan Propaganda
Lymbery doesn't ask the world to go vegan what he asks is that the farm animals are raised (and eventually slaughtered) with care and compassion. There are no such thing as humane slaughter. There are no need to eat animals. Seriously. How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease & Becoming Vegan: The Complete Guide to Adopting a Healthy Plant-Based Diet
He also speaks about environmental, economic, ethical and health problems that conventional farming causes.
I wonder why the authors or the publisher didn't add some pictures of modern factory farms and animals. Could it be because often these pictures are distressing to view? Then it's really dumb move as one picture is worth a thousand words. I don't wonder anymore. I think the author is selling comfortable lies about organic and free range food ( read animal flesh)
Here's a link to one of the many videos about the meat industry on YouTube.
Go Vegan! Much better books are Think like a Vegan: What everyone can learn from vegan ethics and This is Vegan Propaganda
Here's a link to one of the many videos about the meat industry on YouTube.
March 20, 2018
This book has some useful details for the cautious beginner concerned with factory animal farming; however, it has some major limitations. The primary oversight is the economic factors (for-profit, ownership that is private and abstracted from local social accountability) that perpetuate the global issues raised:
-why are edible crops (grain, corn, soy) and fish being fed to factory animals for diminishing returns when they could go to feed the hungry globally?
-why is so much land appropriated for corporate farming, and vulnerable farmers so heavily dependent on corporations (loans, seeds, artificial fertilizers, pesticides, machinery)?
-why has environmental sustainability declined so significantly since traditional locally-owned farming was replaced with corporate intensive factory farming? Is the environment an externality, something that is outside "the market" so can be exploited to cut costs and raise profits? The same question applies to animal welfare.
-what are the economic drivers behind corporate food waste?
This book reminds me of Bill McKibben's "Eaarth", which addresses the environment, in particular climate change (another major externality of the Capitalist market), without diving into the economic drivers of the crisis.
It's worth exploring Arundhati Roy's "Capitalism: A Ghost Story" about Capitalism in India, to get a sense the global impact. Capitalism has a global commodity chain after all; the countries that have their minerals and oil extracted by multinational corporations, or grow cash crops for the global market, these are all very much Capitalist countries.
Until people take seriously the priority of local ownership/autonomy and reconstruction of corporate behemoths, we will continue to have books that reveal some surface phenomenon and offer non-solutions like check your label before buying.
-why are edible crops (grain, corn, soy) and fish being fed to factory animals for diminishing returns when they could go to feed the hungry globally?
-why is so much land appropriated for corporate farming, and vulnerable farmers so heavily dependent on corporations (loans, seeds, artificial fertilizers, pesticides, machinery)?
-why has environmental sustainability declined so significantly since traditional locally-owned farming was replaced with corporate intensive factory farming? Is the environment an externality, something that is outside "the market" so can be exploited to cut costs and raise profits? The same question applies to animal welfare.
-what are the economic drivers behind corporate food waste?
This book reminds me of Bill McKibben's "Eaarth", which addresses the environment, in particular climate change (another major externality of the Capitalist market), without diving into the economic drivers of the crisis.
It's worth exploring Arundhati Roy's "Capitalism: A Ghost Story" about Capitalism in India, to get a sense the global impact. Capitalism has a global commodity chain after all; the countries that have their minerals and oil extracted by multinational corporations, or grow cash crops for the global market, these are all very much Capitalist countries.
Until people take seriously the priority of local ownership/autonomy and reconstruction of corporate behemoths, we will continue to have books that reveal some surface phenomenon and offer non-solutions like check your label before buying.
May 26, 2022
January 1st, 2021. This is my 5 Star review for, 'Farmageddon, The true cost of cheap meat,' by authors Philip Lymbery and Isabel Oakeshott.
If you are worried about the quality of the meat you are eating, this book explains it all, in a factual no-nonsense way. A must read for everyone.
Even though I am a supporter of Compassion in World Farming, and have been for many years, this book has been a real eye-opener for me. A powerful, if somewhat disturbing read.
You will discover this book is well-written and informative with no frills attached.
With the emergence of new chemicals and pesticides the assault on the countryside began and farm animals started to disappear off the land. You will read about the companies around the world who have adopted the technology for agricultural use and intensification. We are informed of the appalling life on the thousands of Mega Farms where millions upon millions of incarcerated farm animals are housed inside vast 'windowless' concrete hangars, or languish on bare earth feedlots, their dung creating mountains of waste, or cows forced to stand within barren dairy carousels. This sustained abuse is utterly shocking.
The over use of fertilisers smothering the soil, not to mention the copious amounts of antibiotics added to animal feed to combat the filthy conditions inside these places. The blatant over-use of hormones to make animals grow abnormally quicker so ready for slaughter much sooner. The pollution created from these vile places, is far-reaching. Local communities suffer in their shadow, and often have no choice but to live alongside these unnatural factory farming methods. Misguided management who don't give a damn about anything but themselves, revel in huge profits because of our ignorance.
Find out what is happening!
We as consumers have the power to change all this. Rethink your diet, eat less meat, or none at all, be consistent whatever you decide. Read the labels as Philip says; buy organic, free-range and the like. Search, don't be fobbed-off. You will feel healthier for it, and in doing so will help bring an end to factory farming for good.
If you are worried about the quality of the meat you are eating, this book explains it all, in a factual no-nonsense way. A must read for everyone.
Even though I am a supporter of Compassion in World Farming, and have been for many years, this book has been a real eye-opener for me. A powerful, if somewhat disturbing read.
You will discover this book is well-written and informative with no frills attached.
With the emergence of new chemicals and pesticides the assault on the countryside began and farm animals started to disappear off the land. You will read about the companies around the world who have adopted the technology for agricultural use and intensification. We are informed of the appalling life on the thousands of Mega Farms where millions upon millions of incarcerated farm animals are housed inside vast 'windowless' concrete hangars, or languish on bare earth feedlots, their dung creating mountains of waste, or cows forced to stand within barren dairy carousels. This sustained abuse is utterly shocking.
The over use of fertilisers smothering the soil, not to mention the copious amounts of antibiotics added to animal feed to combat the filthy conditions inside these places. The blatant over-use of hormones to make animals grow abnormally quicker so ready for slaughter much sooner. The pollution created from these vile places, is far-reaching. Local communities suffer in their shadow, and often have no choice but to live alongside these unnatural factory farming methods. Misguided management who don't give a damn about anything but themselves, revel in huge profits because of our ignorance.
Find out what is happening!
We as consumers have the power to change all this. Rethink your diet, eat less meat, or none at all, be consistent whatever you decide. Read the labels as Philip says; buy organic, free-range and the like. Search, don't be fobbed-off. You will feel healthier for it, and in doing so will help bring an end to factory farming for good.
February 8, 2014
Excellent, lucid account of how modern factory farming harms animals, humans and the environment alike.
It's full of data and anecdotes and very readable. Much of the information will be familiar to people who take an interest in the subject though I learned new things as well.
Some of the stuff in there is truly shocking...like an account of 5 people who drowned in a pool of pig excrement, and how Chinese farmers pumped steroids into pigs rather than give them space to walk around.
It ends on a note of optimism that a combination of geo-engineering and a return to a more balanced diet and way of farming can solve the enormous problems factory farming has caused.
It's full of data and anecdotes and very readable. Much of the information will be familiar to people who take an interest in the subject though I learned new things as well.
Some of the stuff in there is truly shocking...like an account of 5 people who drowned in a pool of pig excrement, and how Chinese farmers pumped steroids into pigs rather than give them space to walk around.
It ends on a note of optimism that a combination of geo-engineering and a return to a more balanced diet and way of farming can solve the enormous problems factory farming has caused.
November 15, 2018
Farmageddon In Pictures - The True Cost of Cheap Meat - in bite-sized pieces is a confronting read with a very important message to consumers.
Philip Lymbery shines a light into the darkest corners of mega farming and I was shocked to learn just how dire it all is. I think the average consumer is aware of issues like caged animals, the overuse of antibiotics and pesticides, water shortages and the decline of bees around the world. But there's so much more wrong with the factory farming industry I wasn't aware of or hadn't considered.
- Factory farmed animals consume 1/3 of the world's cereal harvest. (Pg 10)
- Waste from mega-dairies and factory-farms is ruining the environment and polluting the water.
- Industrialised pollination is now a 'thing', where bees are commercially bred and transported elsewhere to pollinate crops.
- Approximately 100 billion farmed fish are produced around the world each year, but it takes 3 tonnes of wild fish to produce 1 tonne of farmed salmon. (Pg 46 & Pg 81).
- Trout farms don't give fish enough space to swim around and they're packed in so tight, it's the equivalent of 27 trout sharing the same bathtub.
- Today's chickens have a lot more fat because they can't move around, and you'd have to eat 4 whole factory farmed chickens to get the same nutrients you would have got from a single chicken in the 1970s. (Pg 84)
Farmageddon In Pictures is full of shocking statistics and pictograms to help the reader digest the information while some of the photos used appeared amateurish and too dark. The author subtly encourages the reader a few times to alter their diet to consume less meat and I can't blame him when he's seen the problems first-hand, but it did ruffle my feathers a little. I guess I don't like being told what to do and would prefer to reach my own conclusions and initiate change on my own.
Farmageddon In Pictures is a slightly depressing read due to the nature of the content, but optimistic in encouraging consumers to change their buying and usage habits with a chapter at the end focussing on solutions and positive change. It's also an important read and more consumers need to know where their food comes from and the cost it has on the environment.
* Copy courtesy of Bloomsbury *
Philip Lymbery shines a light into the darkest corners of mega farming and I was shocked to learn just how dire it all is. I think the average consumer is aware of issues like caged animals, the overuse of antibiotics and pesticides, water shortages and the decline of bees around the world. But there's so much more wrong with the factory farming industry I wasn't aware of or hadn't considered.
- Factory farmed animals consume 1/3 of the world's cereal harvest. (Pg 10)
- Waste from mega-dairies and factory-farms is ruining the environment and polluting the water.
- Industrialised pollination is now a 'thing', where bees are commercially bred and transported elsewhere to pollinate crops.
- Approximately 100 billion farmed fish are produced around the world each year, but it takes 3 tonnes of wild fish to produce 1 tonne of farmed salmon. (Pg 46 & Pg 81).
- Trout farms don't give fish enough space to swim around and they're packed in so tight, it's the equivalent of 27 trout sharing the same bathtub.
- Today's chickens have a lot more fat because they can't move around, and you'd have to eat 4 whole factory farmed chickens to get the same nutrients you would have got from a single chicken in the 1970s. (Pg 84)
Farmageddon In Pictures is full of shocking statistics and pictograms to help the reader digest the information while some of the photos used appeared amateurish and too dark. The author subtly encourages the reader a few times to alter their diet to consume less meat and I can't blame him when he's seen the problems first-hand, but it did ruffle my feathers a little. I guess I don't like being told what to do and would prefer to reach my own conclusions and initiate change on my own.
Farmageddon In Pictures is a slightly depressing read due to the nature of the content, but optimistic in encouraging consumers to change their buying and usage habits with a chapter at the end focussing on solutions and positive change. It's also an important read and more consumers need to know where their food comes from and the cost it has on the environment.
* Copy courtesy of Bloomsbury *
November 20, 2018
Generalnie metodologia i wybór źródeł pozostawia w tej książce sporo do życzenia. Bardzo bym chciała żeby książki o tematyce praw zwierząt były bardziej evidence-based zamiast przytaczać rzeczy tylko pod swoją tezę i krytykować GMO.
July 4, 2014
horrifying what happens to create so called food. go vegan!
October 13, 2017
4.5 ⭐️ firstly this isn’t a pro veggie/vegan book or a read solely focussed on animal welfare, albeit welfare can’t be ignored when it comes to factory farming, this is a book that exposes the eye opening reality of industrial farming and the perils of how we are currently feeding the world and ultimately starving it. If this continues we won’t have enough food to feed the world (we’re already running out) by 2050!
It’s pretty much a wake up call for the need to change our current food production which is no longer sustainable for feeding the global population, our environment or our health.
Lymbery’s investigative journey through this industry is downright remarkable. Exposing each and every truth about how our current food production is killing our planet, health and the quality of our food. With fascinating insights on every page e.g did you know that 50% of the world’s antibiotics is routinely given to industrial farmed animals (the means by which most meat, dairy and eggs enter our food chain) which in turn is resulting in the emergence of antibiotic resistant superbugs! This is one of the many mind blowing facts I learned with each turn of the page, in this punchy fast read.
This delivers the kind of information that many people prefer not to know, but when we no longer know for certain what we are eating and the impact our food consumption is having on the world, ignorance is no longer bliss. This book, as was quite rightly said, “demands reading and deserves the wisest possible audiences” (Joanna Lumley)
Only when we know the truth can we make informed choices as a consumer and use our power as the consumer to stop the ecological meltdown that’s taking place.
It’s pretty much a wake up call for the need to change our current food production which is no longer sustainable for feeding the global population, our environment or our health.
Lymbery’s investigative journey through this industry is downright remarkable. Exposing each and every truth about how our current food production is killing our planet, health and the quality of our food. With fascinating insights on every page e.g did you know that 50% of the world’s antibiotics is routinely given to industrial farmed animals (the means by which most meat, dairy and eggs enter our food chain) which in turn is resulting in the emergence of antibiotic resistant superbugs! This is one of the many mind blowing facts I learned with each turn of the page, in this punchy fast read.
This delivers the kind of information that many people prefer not to know, but when we no longer know for certain what we are eating and the impact our food consumption is having on the world, ignorance is no longer bliss. This book, as was quite rightly said, “demands reading and deserves the wisest possible audiences” (Joanna Lumley)
Only when we know the truth can we make informed choices as a consumer and use our power as the consumer to stop the ecological meltdown that’s taking place.
July 18, 2019
3.5/5
Farmageddon is a comprehensive collection of horror stories about the way in which food is produced -unfortunately modern food production is an insanely complicated, destructive and cruel system. One that all of us need to know something about, as all of us eat and will probably want to continue eating and existing in this planet that the messed up food industry is spoiling before our eyes. I do, however, feel like the structure could have been a bit more clear for those not familiar with these matters, and the ending annoyed me with its dismissal of veganism.
Farmageddon is a comprehensive collection of horror stories about the way in which food is produced -unfortunately modern food production is an insanely complicated, destructive and cruel system. One that all of us need to know something about, as all of us eat and will probably want to continue eating and existing in this planet that the messed up food industry is spoiling before our eyes. I do, however, feel like the structure could have been a bit more clear for those not familiar with these matters, and the ending annoyed me with its dismissal of veganism.
March 10, 2016
Farmageddon was a informative, scary and inspiring read. There's much to get one's teeth into here. But I also had criticisms, particularly I thought the book failed to challenge the major problem with agriculture in the 21st century - that the system is geared towards profit, not feeding people. My full, critical, but supportive review is here: http://resolutereader.blogspot.co.uk/...
January 31, 2015
It gives you hundreds of reasons to go organic and think twice about food choices… Very well written.
December 31, 2019
I am a vegan and I support the idea of a vegan future. But I'm also aware that it's an utopic thought. Humans are unfortunately very self-centered and wouldn't give up on what they like even if it destroys their kind. Therefore introducing them the truth of producing the animal products for a cheap price is essential. It's all-consuming, brutal, inhumane, violent and not only for animals but for us humans as well. This is a very well-written book for fulfilling that aim. The author Philip Lymbery is the CEO of an animal welfare organisation called Compassion in World Farming. I don't believe that such thing as compassion exists when it comes to farming non-human animals to feed human animals. But I hope people would benefit the information in this book and find a more respectful way to live on this planet we call "home".
[Read in Finnish.]
[Read in Finnish.]
May 13, 2014
Farmageddon came along at exactly the right time for me, when I was reassessing my diet and exercise habits with the goal of increasing my health and fitness levels. One thing that was frustrating me was how little information there is about the food we buy every day in the supermarkets. Though you sometimes know where it came from, there isn't any detail on how it was made, or explanations about what all those terms and ingredients really mean. Farmageddon confronts this knowledge gap face on, discussing how the intensified farming practises that are behind a significant amount of the food on shop shelves is damaging the environment, animals and us.
I already knew how horrendous the meat industry can be, and thought I was reasonably well informed. Reading Farmageddon revealed details that I wasn't aware of, and covered other areas of the farming process not related to meat. Discovering people have died from falling into vats of pig excrement, that vast amounts of antibiotics are fed to animals packed together for profit margins and that companies own the patent on GM seeds so farmers can't reuse the seeds their crops naturally drop; all of this was logical but things I had never consciously considered before.
It also offered a historical perspective on how all this intensified farming came to be, demonstrating how sensible it seemed at one time. By no means does it make farmers the bad guys, but instead shows they are as much a victim of intensified farming practises as consumers. It also does not claim that just because a farm is small or not intensified that it will treat the animals any better. Lymbery makes no bones about the fact that some of the worst places he's seen are small farms.
Written by the now CEO of the charity Compassion in World Farming, it takes a global view but inevitably focuses more on the USA, where farming practises are particularly intensified compared to Europe. The charity have long campaigned for farm animals to be treated respectfully and for their suffering to be as limited as possible, and I like that at no time in the book did I feel that I was being criticised for choosing to eat meat.
Understandably the work of the charity is also a feature of the book but it doesn't feel like an attempt at self promotion or a self-congratulatory monologue. Instead it's a demonstration that no matter how bad practises may be right now, they can get better. Campaigns, consumer pressure and government action can all prevent the disaster that awaits us if we continue to give animals large doses of antibiotics, if we continue feeding crops suitable for humans to animals instead, if we continue to chop down rainforests to make way for those same crops. It's hard not to be convinced by the end of the book that our current push for intensified farming is not sustainable and ultimately self-destructive.
If you care at all about animal welfare this is a must-read. If you care at all about what the food you eat could be doing to you or your family, this is a must-read. The truth is hard to swallow (sorry, couldn't resist) but this is vital information for everyone to know.
I already knew how horrendous the meat industry can be, and thought I was reasonably well informed. Reading Farmageddon revealed details that I wasn't aware of, and covered other areas of the farming process not related to meat. Discovering people have died from falling into vats of pig excrement, that vast amounts of antibiotics are fed to animals packed together for profit margins and that companies own the patent on GM seeds so farmers can't reuse the seeds their crops naturally drop; all of this was logical but things I had never consciously considered before.
It also offered a historical perspective on how all this intensified farming came to be, demonstrating how sensible it seemed at one time. By no means does it make farmers the bad guys, but instead shows they are as much a victim of intensified farming practises as consumers. It also does not claim that just because a farm is small or not intensified that it will treat the animals any better. Lymbery makes no bones about the fact that some of the worst places he's seen are small farms.
Written by the now CEO of the charity Compassion in World Farming, it takes a global view but inevitably focuses more on the USA, where farming practises are particularly intensified compared to Europe. The charity have long campaigned for farm animals to be treated respectfully and for their suffering to be as limited as possible, and I like that at no time in the book did I feel that I was being criticised for choosing to eat meat.
Understandably the work of the charity is also a feature of the book but it doesn't feel like an attempt at self promotion or a self-congratulatory monologue. Instead it's a demonstration that no matter how bad practises may be right now, they can get better. Campaigns, consumer pressure and government action can all prevent the disaster that awaits us if we continue to give animals large doses of antibiotics, if we continue feeding crops suitable for humans to animals instead, if we continue to chop down rainforests to make way for those same crops. It's hard not to be convinced by the end of the book that our current push for intensified farming is not sustainable and ultimately self-destructive.
If you care at all about animal welfare this is a must-read. If you care at all about what the food you eat could be doing to you or your family, this is a must-read. The truth is hard to swallow (sorry, couldn't resist) but this is vital information for everyone to know.
March 18, 2016
I can't fault the quality of writing but I did feel the book was way too long and didn't really deliver on the sub title the true cost of meat... I mean sure it did if you think of the true cost being welfare and environmental impacts but I was hoping for more into the actual agribusiness side of cheap meat, there was actually very little on cheap meat at all more of an expose on all the badies in agriculture, and it read like more of an autobiography of this guys career which I felt also made it fail to deliver on my expectations.
June 18, 2017
A very level-headed description of the modern factory farming juggernaut, covering both land and sea (bet you didn't know about aquaculture!). Lymbery thankfully leaves out exhortations to go vegan, being content to advise us all to simply become more conscious of what we put into our mouths everyday.
____
With indiscriminate spraying of pesticides and destruction of varied habitats by monocultures, local bee populations have gone into decline, leading to the rise of industrialised pollination, with millions of bees shipped to California from across the country, or even across seas (Australia).
Around 100 billion farmed fish are produced globally each year, about 30 billion more than pigs cows and chickens and other terrestrial farm animals combined. By volume of flesh aquaculture produces 70% of the 80 million tonnes of chicken produced worldwide.
"It is hard to see how this would be acceptable to Western consumers (feeding chicken muck to farmed fish). I suppose it would depend how much they were allowed to know."
"It is a true saying that when you buy a Scottish salmon you pay for bullets to shoot seals."
Fishmeal is one of the dirtiest secrets of the factory-farming industry, an environmental catastrophe that involves sucking millions of tonnes of small fish out of the sea and crushing them into fish oil and dry feed for farmed fish, pigs and chickens. The process deprives millions of larger wild fish, birds and marine mammals of their natural prey, drastically depleting stocks of important species. It also diverts what could be a highly valuable source of nutrition for people to industrially farmed animals.
There is a darker side to the veterinary profession, rarely seen by those working outside the industry. A growing army of vets work on factory farms to ensure the animals are kept alive long enough for profitable slaughter or ensure they continue churning out enough milk or eggs to justify their existence, then dispatch them with as little ado as possible.
It seems there is an inbuilt bias towards intensive farming in the vet profession, hardly surprisngly, perhaps, given that it provides so much employment.
In the complex moral maze presenting by farming on land or at asea, it is easy to get lost in the profit bottom line: to lose sight of the patients (animals) when dealing with the customer (farmers).
It is not the scale of the operation, but the nature of the operation. Small backyard farms in China can be as awful as any mega-operation. It is when farming becomes divorced from the land that problems are far more likely to arise.
Rather than take the one-dimensional view that business is the cause of the problem, the author sees business as a key component in achieving change from the industrial model that has gone too far down the track of putting profit before feeding people properly.
The National Health Service is the largest publicly funded health service on the planet and employs a staggering 1.7 million people. said to be second only to the massed ranks of employees of Walmart, the Chinese army and the Indian railway.
A key element in the spread of diseases originating on farms is long-distance transport of animals for fattening and slaughter. As well as being a major welfare issue, it allows diseases to hitchhike their way to new places and populations.
Any protection animals get from being reared indoors is far outweighed by the health risks associated with being in such a confined and artificial environment.
"The intensification of animal farming has virtually destroyed the nutritional quality of our food." The amount of fat found in a serving of meat is highly dependent upon the feeding regimen. There is strong evidence that animals kept in higher-welfare conditions provide more nutritious food.
The conversion of potential human food into meat in factory farms remains fundamentally inefficient, more go in than come out. Previously, when ruminants like cows ate grass the conversion rate didn't matter, because the animals weren't competing with humans for food. Similarly, pigs and poultry ate scraps and leftovers to forage.
A third of the world's cropland is devoted to growing feed for animals. Whatever space 'saved' by intensive farming is countered by the expansion of farmland to feed those animals which can't feed themselves.
"I don't think the rancher we met was a bad man. Like so many of the people I have met in the factory-farming business, he struck me as just another enterprising but ultimately misguided individual trying to make money from a bad system."
Conventional crop production in America swallows up the equivalent of 6.3 barrels of oil per hectare. 2/3 of this is used for petrochemicals like fertilisers, pesticides and other inputs. That is why farmers at often at the forefront of fuel protests. Oil price rises hit them hard.
Food poverty is largely found in rural areas, while factory farming is geared towards feeding cities. In developing countries it provides the poor with a double whammy, failing to provide them with affordable food and denying them the opportunity to grow food to sell to their urban cousins.
The trouble with consumer power is that it is limited by lack of information, and vested interests work hard to keep people in the dark, shielding them from the often ugly truth about how meat and dairy products are produced. Of course many prefer not to know, but an increasing number want to make informed choices, which is why labeling remains so important.
____
With indiscriminate spraying of pesticides and destruction of varied habitats by monocultures, local bee populations have gone into decline, leading to the rise of industrialised pollination, with millions of bees shipped to California from across the country, or even across seas (Australia).
Around 100 billion farmed fish are produced globally each year, about 30 billion more than pigs cows and chickens and other terrestrial farm animals combined. By volume of flesh aquaculture produces 70% of the 80 million tonnes of chicken produced worldwide.
"It is hard to see how this would be acceptable to Western consumers (feeding chicken muck to farmed fish). I suppose it would depend how much they were allowed to know."
"It is a true saying that when you buy a Scottish salmon you pay for bullets to shoot seals."
Fishmeal is one of the dirtiest secrets of the factory-farming industry, an environmental catastrophe that involves sucking millions of tonnes of small fish out of the sea and crushing them into fish oil and dry feed for farmed fish, pigs and chickens. The process deprives millions of larger wild fish, birds and marine mammals of their natural prey, drastically depleting stocks of important species. It also diverts what could be a highly valuable source of nutrition for people to industrially farmed animals.
There is a darker side to the veterinary profession, rarely seen by those working outside the industry. A growing army of vets work on factory farms to ensure the animals are kept alive long enough for profitable slaughter or ensure they continue churning out enough milk or eggs to justify their existence, then dispatch them with as little ado as possible.
It seems there is an inbuilt bias towards intensive farming in the vet profession, hardly surprisngly, perhaps, given that it provides so much employment.
In the complex moral maze presenting by farming on land or at asea, it is easy to get lost in the profit bottom line: to lose sight of the patients (animals) when dealing with the customer (farmers).
It is not the scale of the operation, but the nature of the operation. Small backyard farms in China can be as awful as any mega-operation. It is when farming becomes divorced from the land that problems are far more likely to arise.
Rather than take the one-dimensional view that business is the cause of the problem, the author sees business as a key component in achieving change from the industrial model that has gone too far down the track of putting profit before feeding people properly.
The National Health Service is the largest publicly funded health service on the planet and employs a staggering 1.7 million people. said to be second only to the massed ranks of employees of Walmart, the Chinese army and the Indian railway.
A key element in the spread of diseases originating on farms is long-distance transport of animals for fattening and slaughter. As well as being a major welfare issue, it allows diseases to hitchhike their way to new places and populations.
Any protection animals get from being reared indoors is far outweighed by the health risks associated with being in such a confined and artificial environment.
"The intensification of animal farming has virtually destroyed the nutritional quality of our food." The amount of fat found in a serving of meat is highly dependent upon the feeding regimen. There is strong evidence that animals kept in higher-welfare conditions provide more nutritious food.
The conversion of potential human food into meat in factory farms remains fundamentally inefficient, more go in than come out. Previously, when ruminants like cows ate grass the conversion rate didn't matter, because the animals weren't competing with humans for food. Similarly, pigs and poultry ate scraps and leftovers to forage.
A third of the world's cropland is devoted to growing feed for animals. Whatever space 'saved' by intensive farming is countered by the expansion of farmland to feed those animals which can't feed themselves.
"I don't think the rancher we met was a bad man. Like so many of the people I have met in the factory-farming business, he struck me as just another enterprising but ultimately misguided individual trying to make money from a bad system."
Conventional crop production in America swallows up the equivalent of 6.3 barrels of oil per hectare. 2/3 of this is used for petrochemicals like fertilisers, pesticides and other inputs. That is why farmers at often at the forefront of fuel protests. Oil price rises hit them hard.
Food poverty is largely found in rural areas, while factory farming is geared towards feeding cities. In developing countries it provides the poor with a double whammy, failing to provide them with affordable food and denying them the opportunity to grow food to sell to their urban cousins.
The trouble with consumer power is that it is limited by lack of information, and vested interests work hard to keep people in the dark, shielding them from the often ugly truth about how meat and dairy products are produced. Of course many prefer not to know, but an increasing number want to make informed choices, which is why labeling remains so important.
February 24, 2018
This book has changed the way I think about eating food. It is not pro-vegan/vegetarian, but focuses more on sustainability and thinking about where you get your food from and how it impacts the present and the future. This is the type of thing that should be taught in schools, it's just so fricken important!!! It's well written and full of real-life stories and experiences which make it a fun read.
May 9, 2014
It is amazing how much I can tell you about computers but when it comes to things that go through my mouth ... very little. I took so much for granted till I read the book. For the most part it is a depressing read but you cannot stop as, i guess it is human nature, i wanted to know how bad does it get. Read this book, you will never look at food the same again.
September 10, 2014
some great insights into the book, and some horrible things I never knew about corporate fish farming. It's a collection of insights gathered over a decade or so I was constantly wondering how up to date the information is. Nevertheless, it's a great overview of the factory farming system and a great companion to the Michael Pollan books.
April 21, 2014
Good book - makes you think more carefully about what you eat but there us a lot of repetitive facts in this book and I think it dies not flow easily. Quite hard to pick back up once you have put down for a while.
February 15, 2020
Farmageddon documents the myriad negative effects that industrial farming causes globally. Lymbery considers the damage to the environment, the animal welfare costs, the negative impact on health and more. His writing is clear and engaging but the subject matter is vast and depressing.
In terms of answers, I like that Lymbery did not simply go with "we should all go vegetarian, duh" as might have been tempting but counsels that we need to 1) put people first 2) reduce food waste; and 3) farm as if the future mattered. He advocates for mixed farming rather than intensive farming, for reducing food waste at all points in the process, eating less but high quality meat and so on.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Julian Elfer. The narration was OK but occasionally irritatingly posh, for example pollution being pronounced as poll-yewww-shun.
In terms of answers, I like that Lymbery did not simply go with "we should all go vegetarian, duh" as might have been tempting but counsels that we need to 1) put people first 2) reduce food waste; and 3) farm as if the future mattered. He advocates for mixed farming rather than intensive farming, for reducing food waste at all points in the process, eating less but high quality meat and so on.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Julian Elfer. The narration was OK but occasionally irritatingly posh, for example pollution being pronounced as poll-yewww-shun.
March 21, 2021
Raskaasta aiheesta on hyvä lukea, kun kirjoittaja on tehnyt vakuuttavaa taustatyötä, tutkimusprosessi on läpinäkyvä, kirjoittajalla on paljon kokemusta siitä mistä puhuu ja osaa myös kirjoittaa. Maailmanlaajuisesti ja silti myös yksilökohtaisesti tehomaataloudesta koostava teos, mitä suosittelen luettavaksi kaikille sekasyöjästä vegaaniin.
January 29, 2025
I would recommend this book to anybody interested in modern agriculture, industrialized farming and food production. This is not a book that tries to turn you vegan by picturing endless suffering of animals - it doesn’t skip through this part, it pays the justice to the subject, but it doesn’t make you feel like going vegan is the only way to save the world. It shows that by small actions you can really make an impact. And also that industralised farming influences much more than just animal welfare. Although it’s more than 10 years old, I think it still brings many valuable insights.
November 4, 2018
Farmageddon presents a global overview of factory farming today and why it is dangerously problematic. The books discuss and draw connections between, for instance:
• Animal welfare – the intensive confinement of farm animals
• Health concerns – antibiotic resistance, flu viruses
• Wildlife endangerment – the cycle of pesticides, genetically modified crops, and monocultures destroys habitats for birds, bees, and butterflies
• Environmental issues – the entire factory farming system is an example of a waste of limited resources; in addition, manure pollutes soil and water
In conclusion, Mr. Lymbery lays out how we can all be a part of the solution by eating more conscientiously and encouraging better farming practices. I recommend the book highly for all who are interested in animal welfare and food sustainability.
• Animal welfare – the intensive confinement of farm animals
• Health concerns – antibiotic resistance, flu viruses
• Wildlife endangerment – the cycle of pesticides, genetically modified crops, and monocultures destroys habitats for birds, bees, and butterflies
• Environmental issues – the entire factory farming system is an example of a waste of limited resources; in addition, manure pollutes soil and water
In conclusion, Mr. Lymbery lays out how we can all be a part of the solution by eating more conscientiously and encouraging better farming practices. I recommend the book highly for all who are interested in animal welfare and food sustainability.
March 8, 2018
Imagine travelling from urban China to the Gulf of Mexico just by turning the page of a book. Farmageddon in Pictures takes you around the globe without even having to leave the comfort of your cosy armchair. Before getting into all the horrific facts I was about to read, I was excited to be taken on a journey through many of the countries on my top 10 places to visit before I die Now, I’ve learnt that intensive factory farms in many of these places have completely ruined the area. So instead, my list of top 10 places I’d never want to visit has grown quite drastically as chemical-ridden waterways and endless clouds of pollution don’t actually appeal to me in quite the same way as mile-long sandy beaches and sparkling lakes!
Farmageddon in Pictures explores the major global issues surrounding our food choices and their consequences without bombarding you with endless facts and figures you’d need a master’s degree and several PHDs to understand. This is occurring due to farm animals being taken off the land to be reared indoors to fuel the West’s demand for cheap meat. On page after page you are hit with both the prettiest of pictures and the most shocking, just so your mind doesn’t wander too much when thinking about the effects growing soya and feeding it to animals instead of humans can have. For example, 500,000 acres of forests in Argentina are bull-dozed annually to make way for soya plantations! 65% of the agricultural land in Argentina is already used to grow soya anyway… Soya that’s used to feed animals kept in barns away from the light of day rather than being allowed to forage and make the most of the elements.
Compassion in World Farming CEO and author, Philip Lymbery, (claim to fame, I met him once) also takes the reader through the disastrous impact that factory farming can have on humans. Not only does factory farming make us all vastly more susceptible to another major viral outbreak, like swine flu, but it’s also having a devastating effect on the planet, ruining it for future generations to come. Do we really want the millennials in the year 3000 to look back in anguish as they are left with a huge lack of food with any kind of nutrients due to the soil being so depleted? Is that the kind of legacy you want to leave? I don’t.
Quite honestly I didn’t realise how much I cared about this issue until I sat down and read this book. It’s completely changed the way I think about food and how my personal actions can affect the planet we live on. Now, I could probably recite to you most of the facts that are in it as they are seriously shocking!
I don’t want to give you too much of a spoiler alert, so I’ll keep them simple…
50 billion out of the 70 billion animals reared for food worldwide each year were raised on factory farms
½ of the world’s antibiotics are fed to farm animals
If all human edible crops grown to feed animals kept in factory farms were instead fed to humans, 4 billion more people worldwide would be fed
Trust me, you have to read the book to find out more but it’s honestly shocking what you’ll find out – I’ll be hugely surprised if reading Farmageddon in Pictures doesn’t make you drastically re-think your meal plans, more carefully taking into account your own health, the welfare of animals and the uncertain future of the planet.
Farmageddon in Pictures excellently captures the disheartening reality of the devastation we will cause to the Earth unless we all act now – all because of our desire for cheap meat at unsustainable prices.
August 26, 2021
Full Notes here https://mangkupret.notion.site/Farmag...
Aku menemukan buku ini ketika sedang kepo Instagram pak Gita Wirjawan, sebuah postingan bertahun-tahun yang lalu.
Ada stereotip bahwa aktivis perlindungan hewan, apalagi yang berkaitan dengan hewan ternak akan selalu berujung pada ajakan untuk menjadi vegetarian. Buku tidak mengajak kita untuk menjadi vegetarian.
Penulis buku ini adalah CEO dari Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), sebuah yayasan yang fokus pada perlindungan hewan ternak dari metode-metode yang menyiksa binatang ternak. Yayasan ini tidak anti industri, namun lebih banyak mengadvokasi cara-cara beternak yang sustainable dan Dilihat dari profilnya sih ketertarikan kepada alam sudah ada sejak penulis remaja, meskipun seluruh karir profesionalnya dihabiskan bersama CIWF dari 1990-Sekarang. Isabel Oakeshott, adalah jurnalis politik yang menjadi co-author buku ini. Ada kemungkinan kualitas tulisan yang baik dan data yang memadai berasal dari pengalamannya sebagai jurnalis.
Buku ini memberikan gambaran yang cukup baik tentang bagaimana Factory Farming bekerja dan efeknya bagi lingkungan dan masyarakat. Tentu saja karena judulnya "Farmageddon" ada banyak efek negatif yang ditimbulkan terutama dari sisi Ekologi, kerugian dari sisi ekonomi sendiri sulit untuk dihitung karena selalu berakhir sebagai eksternalitas. Pertanian monokultur seperti kedelai dan jagung adalah industri yang paling banyak disubsidi dengan anggapan bahwa barang konsumsi ini adalah kebutuhan pokok manusia, kenyataannya setegah dari produksi jagung dan kedelai diserap oleh factory farming. Harga daging yang rendah disebabkan tingginya subsidi dari sisi pakan. Buku ini memberikan gambaran kompleksnya jaringan rantai pasok factory farming dengan baik, sehingga keberadaan factory farming di inggris memiliki andil dengan kemeranaan warga di argentina dan peru.
Isu utama yang diangkat adalah Animal Welfare, ternak diperlakukan dengan kejam untuk memenuhi kebutuhan manusia. GMO dan pembiakan selektif juga mendorong varietas yang tahan banting sebenarnya adalah varietas yang tahan didera derita sepanjang hidupnya untuk berakhir dikonsumen. Isu lain adalah hilangnya keanekaragaman hayati dengan adanya pembukaan lahan untuk monokultur serta penggunaan bahan-bahan kimia untuk menjaga suplai pakan tetap produktif menyebabkan hilangnya habitat yang berefek pada limbungnya keseimbangan ekosistem. Terakhir adalah produtifitas tinggi tidak selalu berakhir dengan penyerapan tinggi, rantai pasok yang panjang juga menghasilkan produk-produk yang terbuang sia-sia.
Di Indonesia model Factory Farming masih sangat jarang, industri ternak memang fokus pada intensifikasi namun belum mencapai skala Factory Farming yang digambarkan di buku ini. Meskipun begitu maraknya all you can eat, variasi ayam geprek yang tak ada habisnya, dan jajanan dengan bahan dasar hasil ternak yang juga disertai dengan kenaikan jumlah kelas menengah, kedatangan Factory Farming hanya tinggal menunggu waktu. Berdasarkan pengamatanku hampir semua peternakan ayam di Indonesia sudah mengadopsi model factory farming. Kesadaran terhadap isu ini penting agar kita lebih aware dan mindful terhadap makanan yang kita konsumsi.
February 9, 2016
‘Farmageddon’ is a thought-provoking and very readable account of what is going on in the farming industry worldwide and how that not only has consequences for the animals but also for all of us. I have to be honest, I have a lot more respect for livestock farmers than I do for the majority of meat eaters who pop into the supermarket, buy a £2.99 chicken for dinner and don’t for one second think about how that chicken was raised and killed so cheaply. The type of people who put their fingers in their ears and don’t want to know where their food comes from. People seem to still believe that pigs and cows and sheep and chickens all live on Old MacDonald’s farm, happily chomping away at grass in the fields or pecking in the farmyard, despite all the evidence that’s now available to the contrary.
The consequences of humanity’s reliance on meat are far-reaching and potentially devastating. This book explores in a thoughtful and intelligent way the disasters that have already been caused by our appetite for cheap meat - the decline in the number of birds, for example (in the last forty years the population of tree sparrows, grey partridges and skylarks, among others, have plummeted), the threat to bees, and the pollution caused by the need to get rid of the huge amounts of waste produced by the millions and millions now being farmed.
I know from experience that people don’t want to be preached at - and this book isn’t preachy at all. The author isn’t trying to make you vegan - he is just telling you what he has seen, from China to the US, to South America and though Europe, and gives options and alternatives that could see an end to the suffering of those millions of animals (and they do suffer) and better health and a better environment for everyone.
This book is, in my opinion, an absolute must read. It isn’t always comfortable reading, but it’s time we pulled our fingers out of our ears.
The consequences of humanity’s reliance on meat are far-reaching and potentially devastating. This book explores in a thoughtful and intelligent way the disasters that have already been caused by our appetite for cheap meat - the decline in the number of birds, for example (in the last forty years the population of tree sparrows, grey partridges and skylarks, among others, have plummeted), the threat to bees, and the pollution caused by the need to get rid of the huge amounts of waste produced by the millions and millions now being farmed.
I know from experience that people don’t want to be preached at - and this book isn’t preachy at all. The author isn’t trying to make you vegan - he is just telling you what he has seen, from China to the US, to South America and though Europe, and gives options and alternatives that could see an end to the suffering of those millions of animals (and they do suffer) and better health and a better environment for everyone.
This book is, in my opinion, an absolute must read. It isn’t always comfortable reading, but it’s time we pulled our fingers out of our ears.
July 30, 2021
2.5/5
Eh, no dobra, zacznijmy bez zbędnych wstępów.
Na początku autor oznajmia, że to nie jest książka o biednych zwierzątkach (chociaż cały czas wspomina przez jakie piekło muszą przechodzić) oraz, że nie jest wymierzona przeciwko spożywaniu mięsa. Serio, mając tyle informacji on dalej nie jest pewny swojego stanowiska?
Ciężko się to czyta, między innymi dlatego, że strony są bardzo duże, przez co mieści się na nich więcej tekstu, a to prowadzi do wrażenia, że stoi się w miejscu. Również jest ciężko przez niepotrzebne opisy, szczerze, mało mnie obchodzi jakie widoki z hotelu ma bohater, jakiego koloru ma zasłony albo jakie miał przygody z pijanym kierowcą (które do niczego nie doprowadziły). Podczas jednego wieczoru, który spędzałam z tym tytułem, natknęłam się na scenę prawie 1:1 jak z Niekończącej się opowieści. Bez spoilowania – była to TA scena z koniem :( Chciałam o tym wspomnieć, bo wydawało mi się to bardzo dziwne.
Oprócz tego wszystkiego książka jest niezła. Znajduje się tu wiele przykładów jakie skutki niosą ze sobą przemysł mięsny, mleczarski i inne. Najwięcej jest o środowisku, jak swoimi codziennymi wyborami niszczymy planetę, marnujemy wodę, zabijamy foki, czym są karmione zwierzęta, jakie warunki mają pracownicy, co przeżywają lokalni ludzie, jest też trochę o zdrowiu, ale wiele rzeczy to totalne bdury (np. promowanie suplementów), więc lepiej przeznaczyć dodatkowy czas na inne, lepsze publikacje na temat zdrowia.
Przechodząc powoli do zakończenia (zarówno książki jak i recenzji) zdaję sobie sprawę, że największym problemem jest tutaj sam autor. Próbuje znaleźć rozwiązanie dobre dla wszystkich, ale z jego pomysłami to nigdy się nie uda. Wybierając organiczne mięso/jajka/mleko NADAL zaśmiecamy nasz organizm oraz zabieramy życie zwierzętom, które nie chcą być zamordowane!
Może zakończę to wszystko cytatem, który znalazłam kiedyś u kogoś innego: „Nie można obudzić osoby, która udaje, że śpi.”
Eh, no dobra, zacznijmy bez zbędnych wstępów.
Na początku autor oznajmia, że to nie jest książka o biednych zwierzątkach (chociaż cały czas wspomina przez jakie piekło muszą przechodzić) oraz, że nie jest wymierzona przeciwko spożywaniu mięsa. Serio, mając tyle informacji on dalej nie jest pewny swojego stanowiska?
Ciężko się to czyta, między innymi dlatego, że strony są bardzo duże, przez co mieści się na nich więcej tekstu, a to prowadzi do wrażenia, że stoi się w miejscu. Również jest ciężko przez niepotrzebne opisy, szczerze, mało mnie obchodzi jakie widoki z hotelu ma bohater, jakiego koloru ma zasłony albo jakie miał przygody z pijanym kierowcą (które do niczego nie doprowadziły). Podczas jednego wieczoru, który spędzałam z tym tytułem, natknęłam się na scenę prawie 1:1 jak z Niekończącej się opowieści. Bez spoilowania – była to TA scena z koniem :( Chciałam o tym wspomnieć, bo wydawało mi się to bardzo dziwne.
Oprócz tego wszystkiego książka jest niezła. Znajduje się tu wiele przykładów jakie skutki niosą ze sobą przemysł mięsny, mleczarski i inne. Najwięcej jest o środowisku, jak swoimi codziennymi wyborami niszczymy planetę, marnujemy wodę, zabijamy foki, czym są karmione zwierzęta, jakie warunki mają pracownicy, co przeżywają lokalni ludzie, jest też trochę o zdrowiu, ale wiele rzeczy to totalne bdury (np. promowanie suplementów), więc lepiej przeznaczyć dodatkowy czas na inne, lepsze publikacje na temat zdrowia.
Przechodząc powoli do zakończenia (zarówno książki jak i recenzji) zdaję sobie sprawę, że największym problemem jest tutaj sam autor. Próbuje znaleźć rozwiązanie dobre dla wszystkich, ale z jego pomysłami to nigdy się nie uda. Wybierając organiczne mięso/jajka/mleko NADAL zaśmiecamy nasz organizm oraz zabieramy życie zwierzętom, które nie chcą być zamordowane!
Może zakończę to wszystko cytatem, który znalazłam kiedyś u kogoś innego: „Nie można obudzić osoby, która udaje, że śpi.”
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