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224 pages, Paperback
First published November 15, 2009
“The paradox is that the very reason we resist bearing witness to the truth of carnism is the same reason we desire to witness: because we care. This is the great truth that lies buried beneath the elaborate, labyrinth mechanisms of the system. Because we care, we want to turn away. And because we care, we feel compelled to bear witness. The way to overcome this paradox is to integrate our witnessing: we must witness the truth of carnism while witnessing ourselves.”
“There is something beautiful in seeing the poor accept their lot, to suffer it like Christ’s Passion. The world gains much from their suffering,” - Mother Teresa
"I cannot bear to look at Ba's face. The expression is often like that on the face of a meek cow and gives one the feeling as a cow occasionally does, that in her own dumb manner she is saying something." - Gandhi about his wife, Kasturba.
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I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to make an informed decision on whether to eat animals or not. It not only addresses the many incongruences of this belief system called Carnism, in which consuming certain animals is considered ethical and appropriate, but also (and most importantly) points to its invisibility. Since it its the norm, most people don't realise that eating meat is a choice, and that by choosing to do so, one supports a violent system that exploits and kills billions of animals every year. There are so many interesting topics in this book, but I particularly appreciated how the author connected the mythology surrounding Carnism to the basis of other exploitative systems in human history such as slavery and Nazism. Basically, all of these violent ideologies were justified at a point in time by three principles: that doing so was normal, natural and necessary.
This book invites you to question these myths surrounding meat to understand we were all conditioned into habits and practices that do not resonate with our core beliefs. A truly transformative read!