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The CAFO Reader: The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories
The CAFO Reader is possibly the most powerful indictment of factory farming ever compiled, with essays from 30 of the world's leading experts. It also offers a vision for a food system that leaves behind the horrific 20th century model of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations.
The CAFO Reader brings the tragic world of industrial food production into sharp focus with essays on every facet of factory health, environment, animal welfare, labor, politics, economics, and so on. This affordable reader is a companion book to the larger photo-essay volume, The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories . It is sure to become a relied-upon resource for activists, food policy makers, academics, the media and the general public for many years. This project is a follow-up to the highly successful project Fatal Harvest , published in 2002. It is being supported by an extensive outreach campaign with events around the country.
The CAFO Reader brings the tragic world of industrial food production into sharp focus with essays on every facet of factory health, environment, animal welfare, labor, politics, economics, and so on. This affordable reader is a companion book to the larger photo-essay volume, The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories . It is sure to become a relied-upon resource for activists, food policy makers, academics, the media and the general public for many years. This project is a follow-up to the highly successful project Fatal Harvest , published in 2002. It is being supported by an extensive outreach campaign with events around the country.
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
18 people are currently reading
333 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 30, 2012
CAFO belongs in every public library, and I was pleased to donate it to mine. It's one thing to read about factory farms, it's quite another to see a mile of battery cages or a manure lagoon laid out in color in a large-scale oversize book. While many people choose to ignore the problems of factory farming, will be very difficult to close this book without concluding there's something deeply wrong with our food system.
The only quibble I have with this book is that a rather garish "STOP factory farms" icon appears on the back cover. Not only is it displeasing to the eye, but it gives the book an agenda that might be a turnoff to the casual reader. Best to let them look at the photos for themselves and come to their own conclusions.
The only quibble I have with this book is that a rather garish "STOP factory farms" icon appears on the back cover. Not only is it displeasing to the eye, but it gives the book an agenda that might be a turnoff to the casual reader. Best to let them look at the photos for themselves and come to their own conclusions.
February 15, 2011
A CAFO is a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation, better known as a factory farm. These industrial-scale farms produce most animal products consumed in the U.S. today.
CAFO collects essays from a variety of voices condemning the factory farm from animal welfare, humanitarian, environmental, and economic perspectives. Along the way, we absorb devastating little tidbits about what this out-of-control industry hath wrought: The states of Iowa and North Carolina each administer more antibiotics for livestock production than the entire human population of the US uses for medical purposes, editor Daniel Imhoff informs us. And in the brave new world of genetically engineering the hoped-for “perfect” production animal, GE goats are referred to as “transgenic production platforms” by one biotech company. In the factory farm, an animal is not a living creature, but rather a piece of biological machinery.
Although it includes veg*n writers, CAFO is not a vegan or animal rights book. Most of the authors explicitly support the raising of animals for food as long as it is done in a more natural, humane fashion. (Dan Barber’s fetishization of eating pasture-raised lamb bordered on the nauseating.) However, absent as it is of a vegetarian agenda, CAFO may be more palatable to skeptical omnivores.
Despite the increasing exposure the CAFO system is receiving, the quantity of meat eaten in the US has been steadily on the rise. In 2007, meat and poultry consumption hit an all-time high of 222 lbs per person, Erik Marcus notes in another essay. Convincing omnivores to make some changes in their food choices is essential if we wish to see the most egregiousness abuses end.
CAFO is an important contribution to the literature on food and factory farming.
CAFO collects essays from a variety of voices condemning the factory farm from animal welfare, humanitarian, environmental, and economic perspectives. Along the way, we absorb devastating little tidbits about what this out-of-control industry hath wrought: The states of Iowa and North Carolina each administer more antibiotics for livestock production than the entire human population of the US uses for medical purposes, editor Daniel Imhoff informs us. And in the brave new world of genetically engineering the hoped-for “perfect” production animal, GE goats are referred to as “transgenic production platforms” by one biotech company. In the factory farm, an animal is not a living creature, but rather a piece of biological machinery.
Although it includes veg*n writers, CAFO is not a vegan or animal rights book. Most of the authors explicitly support the raising of animals for food as long as it is done in a more natural, humane fashion. (Dan Barber’s fetishization of eating pasture-raised lamb bordered on the nauseating.) However, absent as it is of a vegetarian agenda, CAFO may be more palatable to skeptical omnivores.
Despite the increasing exposure the CAFO system is receiving, the quantity of meat eaten in the US has been steadily on the rise. In 2007, meat and poultry consumption hit an all-time high of 222 lbs per person, Erik Marcus notes in another essay. Convincing omnivores to make some changes in their food choices is essential if we wish to see the most egregiousness abuses end.
CAFO is an important contribution to the literature on food and factory farming.
September 18, 2011
be warned. this book is very Graphic. it changed my appetite for meat. i could not eat the meat that i had in my fridge. i could not bring myself to buy meat at the market for weeks.
I have read all about CAFO before, but pictures speak a lot louder than words. i'm forever changed because of this book.
I have read all about CAFO before, but pictures speak a lot louder than words. i'm forever changed because of this book.
October 12, 2011
Great resource with the most comprehensive information on this topic!
January 4, 2020
This was a long and difficult read, although I knew about all the major issues already from works as varied as The Ethics of what we Eat by Peter Singer, Everything I want to do is Illegal by Joel Salatin, Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, Meat: the benign extravagance by Simon Fairlie and others. This book took me some time to finish, by it's nature it's difficult to sit down and stomach it's contents, however it's also a little hard to look away, like the ever-present train wreck scenario. It's a hard read, but a necessary one. Not a book I can say I enjoyed reading, because it turned my stomach and incensed me, but a book that, should you read in (in part or in whole) will open your eyes to an endemic problem with our industrial food system, and hopefully inspire you to make changes large or small in a more ethical, environmentally responsible, and humane way.
Whenever I read something like this it simultaneously lights a fire in me (or rekindles it, in this case) and drags me down. It's especially frustrating to read through this series of essays (grouped helpfully by tragic topic) that was published ten years ago and feel like we have made little to no progress in improving the CAFO situation.
This book is a collection of essays on the topic of Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) and is organized into 7 sections. Each section begins with a short introduction which outlines the subject of that section, and subjects vary from discussing the mindset behind a CAFO to the myths and misinformation spread about CAFOS to the dangers posed by CAFOs, culminating in a section devoted to moving beyond the CAFO model and into a future where animal husbandry is more humane and emits less pollutants.
Due to the nature of an essay collection the voice and tone can vary quite a bit, many well-known figures contributed to this book, including Wendell Berry, Joel Salatin, Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser, Anna Lappe, among others. Some essays are brief and to the point, some sound like a pitch, some are more reserved and others more combative. They all bring serious concerns about CAFOs to the table.
Whenever I read something like this it simultaneously lights a fire in me (or rekindles it, in this case) and drags me down. It's especially frustrating to read through this series of essays (grouped helpfully by tragic topic) that was published ten years ago and feel like we have made little to no progress in improving the CAFO situation.
This book is a collection of essays on the topic of Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) and is organized into 7 sections. Each section begins with a short introduction which outlines the subject of that section, and subjects vary from discussing the mindset behind a CAFO to the myths and misinformation spread about CAFOS to the dangers posed by CAFOs, culminating in a section devoted to moving beyond the CAFO model and into a future where animal husbandry is more humane and emits less pollutants.
Due to the nature of an essay collection the voice and tone can vary quite a bit, many well-known figures contributed to this book, including Wendell Berry, Joel Salatin, Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser, Anna Lappe, among others. Some essays are brief and to the point, some sound like a pitch, some are more reserved and others more combative. They all bring serious concerns about CAFOs to the table.
March 4, 2023
I purchased this from an antiques mall in Oregon while on vacation, and while it’s far from a mindless “beach read,” it’s one of the most important books you can read for a window into the atrocities of our modern meat factories. There’s no getting around the cold, hard facts: factory farms are a living hell for the poor sentient beings born into them. Miserable lives followed by agonizing deaths. There are pictures to accompany the graphic descriptions of life on the farm, but it’s certainly not the worst expose I’ve ever read, and it’s balanced by a fair amount of expert opinion about alternatives to corporate farming and family farms that practice sustainable agriculture. The book is about a decade old at this point, so I can only imagine how much things have worsened since then. But it’s important to read if you’re at all conflicted about eating meat and want to know the truth about where it comes from.
September 9, 2023
Unhappy animals existed in Bible times. Humans can rape animals. It is known as bestiality. Rape victims should not be eaten. Sometimes an animal can be raped by other animals. Rape victims tend to be unhappy and unhealthy.
CAFO food comes from oppressed animals. The Bible says that oppression can drive a wise person crazy. The same is true of feedlot (factory) animals. If you eat an oppressed animal that will increase the likelihood that you will develop some type of craziness such as depression. You are also more likely to develop physical health problems as well.
1 Corinthians 10 talks about the table of demons and the table of Jehovah. It's not just modern food ingredients that are part of the table of demons. It is also animals that are unhappy because of rape, bestiality, or some other reason.
I read about a female duck that was gang raped by a bunch of male ducks. These males were possessed by Satan and his angels. Some people are guilty of raping animals. It's called bestiality in English. These animals may or may not be wild or pasture raised.
Revelations said that certain angels shouldn't destroy the vegetation of the earth until a certain event happens. Jesus cursed at least two fig trees.
I have not read this book yet, if at all.
CAFO food comes from oppressed animals. The Bible says that oppression can drive a wise person crazy. The same is true of feedlot (factory) animals. If you eat an oppressed animal that will increase the likelihood that you will develop some type of craziness such as depression. You are also more likely to develop physical health problems as well.
1 Corinthians 10 talks about the table of demons and the table of Jehovah. It's not just modern food ingredients that are part of the table of demons. It is also animals that are unhappy because of rape, bestiality, or some other reason.
I read about a female duck that was gang raped by a bunch of male ducks. These males were possessed by Satan and his angels. Some people are guilty of raping animals. It's called bestiality in English. These animals may or may not be wild or pasture raised.
Revelations said that certain angels shouldn't destroy the vegetation of the earth until a certain event happens. Jesus cursed at least two fig trees.
I have not read this book yet, if at all.
January 21, 2016
A very thought provoking and difficult read. More a selection of essays than an actual book but does read well as competently set out.
Does really make you think about your food choices and buying cheap meat. The long term costs of buying meat processed in a CAFO far outweigh the short term saving. The demise of the small farming community. The pollution of acres of land and waterways adjacent thereto.
I am in no way a environmentalist but I didn't realise the damage these factory farms cause to the environment so it needs to stop.
Raising public awareness of money being king over the well being of our race and the husbandry of animals is always very important and this book does it well. It is difficult to read as the cruelty to the animals is heartbreaking but it is worth going through the experience.
Does really make you think about your food choices and buying cheap meat. The long term costs of buying meat processed in a CAFO far outweigh the short term saving. The demise of the small farming community. The pollution of acres of land and waterways adjacent thereto.
I am in no way a environmentalist but I didn't realise the damage these factory farms cause to the environment so it needs to stop.
Raising public awareness of money being king over the well being of our race and the husbandry of animals is always very important and this book does it well. It is difficult to read as the cruelty to the animals is heartbreaking but it is worth going through the experience.
January 3, 2013
It took me 5-6 months to finish it, but there is so much interesting and important information. I love the fact that it cites sources well, which is one of my pet peeves with books written for general audiences - they so often do not cite any sources.
I'm sure I'll loan it and recommend it a lot.
My only real criticism is that it can be a bit repetitive because it is a compilation of essays from multiple authors.
I'm sure I'll loan it and recommend it a lot.
My only real criticism is that it can be a bit repetitive because it is a compilation of essays from multiple authors.
March 22, 2011
TOTAL BUMMER Y'ALL
February 13, 2016
It was a long hard read at times and a lot of is was information I already knew, but it was very good.
May 2, 2012
So many of the critical issues our society faces converge in this topic. This book is simply essential reading.
May 3, 2017
I am a fan of the Foundation for Deep Ecology, the organization that put out The CAFO Reader, and I have read several of their books. This one was disappointing.
The best essays in the book are at the beginning and the end. In part one, "The Pathological Mindset of the CAFO," the authors provide insight into how we got to the point of creating enormous animal factories that treat people and livestock animals like machines and inflict massive environmental damage on our planet. At the end of the book, essays by Joel Salatin and Daniel Imhoff offer hope that we can change for the better.
There was a lot of overlapping information in many of the essays, with the same ground being covered over and over. This made me want to stop reading the book, but I felt somehow honor-bound to slog through to the end, which I did. At 439 pages, this book is too long.
The best essays in the book are at the beginning and the end. In part one, "The Pathological Mindset of the CAFO," the authors provide insight into how we got to the point of creating enormous animal factories that treat people and livestock animals like machines and inflict massive environmental damage on our planet. At the end of the book, essays by Joel Salatin and Daniel Imhoff offer hope that we can change for the better.
There was a lot of overlapping information in many of the essays, with the same ground being covered over and over. This made me want to stop reading the book, but I felt somehow honor-bound to slog through to the end, which I did. At 439 pages, this book is too long.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews