Meatonomics: How the Rigged Economics of Meat and Dairy Make You Consume Too Much—and How to Eat Better, Live Longer, and Spend Smarter Kindle Edition

What would make a free-market Republican go vegan? This book. The false economy of meat cannot be sustained in an age where meat is being linked with all of our leading fatal diseases and disorders, animal agriculture emerges as not only a leading cause of climate change but a sector not to be reduced but eliminated, and a cultural awakening that human consumption has driven us to a holocaust of bred-for-suffering-and-slaugher animals. Animal agriculture is sustained on the lies of nutrition that drink the money of our taxpayers.

“Each year, American tax payers dish out $38 billion to subsidize meat, fish, eggs, and dairy.” Because of the artificially low prices of food from animals, as a nation, Americans eat more meat per person than any other country on the planet.In the nonfiction book Meatonomics, David Robison Simon lays out the economic impact of factory farming while also noting the environmental, nutritional, and ethical impacts.Two world bank scientists say animal agricultural systems is the single greatest cause of climate change.“Compared to plant protein, raising animal protein takes up to one hundred times more water, eleven times more fossil fuels, and five times more land.”The USDA and FDA, which are theoretically supposed to guard American’s health, are largely staffed by people with ties to the meat and dairy industries. This is why antibiotics and steroids are commonly used to make farm animals grow faster. With all the subsidies, eating a meat-heavy diet is inexpensive in this country.See the documentary Merchants of Doubt and the fictional film Thank You for Smoking for how lobbyists and “experts” are used to promote unsavory industries like oil and tobacco.This is a downer of a book. He points out that organic farming is more efficient for pig production, but less efficient for dairy and egg production. Even buying locally may not be a good idea. Texas, for example, went through an epic drought, but still consumed unbelievable amounts of water to raise cattle.The solution is to eat fewer animal products. Ask yourself why you could buy a burger from McDonald’s for $1 in 1991—and it still costs $1 today in 2017. It actually costs $11 to produce that (very disgusting, poor quality) hamburger. Altogether, when you add up the health and environmental costs of our heavy meat consumption, Americans spend $414 billion dollars in subsidies and higher insurance rates.

This book is amazing, eyeopening, disheartening and, sigh, so true that it is overwhelming. How does this system get changed? It seems too big to tackle. I am astounded by the dedication of Mr. Simon and others who try to enlighten the public, offer solid proof and recommendations and accomplish change. This book should be a must read for every college student, maybe even high school students and anyone who wants to know how "the system" works. reading it is enlightening, educational and demonstrates that the time to change is now. Not tomorrow, but today and every day thereafter.

I want to start by saying that I was an omnivore for most of my life. I was born and raised in the US Heartland. (Iowa, to be specific.) For a long time I thought the issue of eating meat was simply an issue of ethics and morals. Consequently, I had no problem consuming meat and dairy because, in principle, it seemed entirely ethical. And I thought, incorrectly, that the industrialized reality of the industry was much, much smaller than the 99 percent it actually is. I personally know small families that have their own cows, chickens, and hogs. It can't be that bad, can it?Man, I have never been so wrong and had my moral core so shattered than when I stumbled upon the truth."Stumbled" is the perfect word in this instance. Like a growing number of people lately, I've been trying to keep myself informed on whatever I can. This has been a burgeoning effort on my part in recent years because, like many Americans, I find myself becoming more and more disillusioned with my government's ability to actually govern effectively. Then, in a surprising turn some several months back, I found myself falling over article after article and study after study about the catastrophically terrible model of the meat and dairy industries. It seems this is true the world over, but the US is on an entirely other level of corrupt, so bad that it must be put in a category all its own.After a couple of months of finding nothing but heart-wrenching data about how bad this industry is, I decided that I would no longer participate, at least on the retail side. (Unfortunately, my tax dollars still go to this government-sponsored disaster.) I no longer consume meat or dairy, and while I don't aggressively encourage others to do so, I have tried to inform those who ask (people who have known me all my life and would thus notice such a drastic change) and have certainly reaped some immediate benefits, including lowering my food expenditure and improving my health.The reason I mention any of this is because Meatonomics serves as a very handy, one-stop shop when it comes to this issue. Simon, a lawyer, is incredibly thorough in his findings and provides a bevy of sources that would make an encyclopedia blush. It was exactly the thing I was looking for to bring everything together. It no doubt took a great effort to write, and I will be sharing it with everyone I know since it serves as the succinct catalog of information that I had been looking for.The good news is that, as stark as the situation is currently, we CAN change it, and Simon does a good job outlining alternatives and what you can do. This is a book that every American should have to read. Don't be afraid of your ignorance, and don't be afraid of Big Business that tries to jam consumerism down your throat; this book is well worth your time. I only wish I had come across something like this years ago.

Very informative. If more Americans knew just how much big meat and dairy were hurting the USA and our economy, they would respond. But it's hard to get the word out in a world full of TV ads for fast food and the taxpayer funded marketing of the USDA and FDA. We all know the slogans: "Beef it's what's for dinner" "Milk, it does a body good" "Pork, the other white meat" But did you know you pay for those slogans, and everything we thought we knew about nutrition is not true and in fact is a big part of the diseases that needlessly claim so many American lives. It is time for the USA to wake up and take charge of our nutrition and health, and Meatonomics sheds light on the problem and offers some solutions.