March Book Reviews
The month of March offered two different animal centered books: Farm Sanctuary; Changing Hearts and Minds about Animals and Food by Gene Baur and Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism" by Melanie Joy PhD.
Farm Sanctuary; Changing Hearts and Minds about Animals and Food by Gene Baur, 2008, 304 pages. (NOTE: There is a different design on the hardcover, but I wanted the cute pig one so I went softcover) Sicne attending the Zoop! II music weekend at Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY, I have been a huge fan of the place and non-profit. I am a volunteer with them and go to monthly ACTivist meetings so I can be up to date with current farm animal activism. It seems silly that it took me so long to pick up this book, and it actually took the chance to meet personally with the author, Gene Baur, to get me into the book store to purchase it.
Farm Sanctuary is a heart warming story of the events, progress and effort that has gone into creating and maintaining the largest Farm Animal Sanctuary in America. Being so involved with the organization, I had heard many of the stories and anecdotes before, but I didn't mind reading them again. If you are unfamiliar with Farm Sanctuary and their work to remove downed animals and restrictive measures on farm animals, I suggest checking out this book and visiting the website and checking out what you can do to help the stop some of the suffering and cruelty.
Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism" by Melanie Joy PhD, 2009, 208 pages. This book I stumbled upon while browsing different books on Amazon.com and was intrigued. I decided to pick this one because I have always been fascinated by the cognitive dissonance of people when it comes to pets vs. meat. The book focuses on the way people delude themselves that eating meat is natural and necessary for people. Dr. Joy also shares stories of personal conversations and reactions she has with her students when she teaches this information (which has become the book) in some of her college classes. Coming from a psych education, I loved the clear cut definitions and scientific examples Joy uses in the text, though sometimes I feel the use of historical quotes is misleading and takes away from the main pull of the knowledge within the text. The book was a short read and offers many great debate points that can be used in defense of veg*nism.
Farm Sanctuary; Changing Hearts and Minds about Animals and Food by Gene Baur, 2008, 304 pages. (NOTE: There is a different design on the hardcover, but I wanted the cute pig one so I went softcover) Sicne attending the Zoop! II music weekend at Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY, I have been a huge fan of the place and non-profit. I am a volunteer with them and go to monthly ACTivist meetings so I can be up to date with current farm animal activism. It seems silly that it took me so long to pick up this book, and it actually took the chance to meet personally with the author, Gene Baur, to get me into the book store to purchase it.
Farm Sanctuary is a heart warming story of the events, progress and effort that has gone into creating and maintaining the largest Farm Animal Sanctuary in America. Being so involved with the organization, I had heard many of the stories and anecdotes before, but I didn't mind reading them again. If you are unfamiliar with Farm Sanctuary and their work to remove downed animals and restrictive measures on farm animals, I suggest checking out this book and visiting the website and checking out what you can do to help the stop some of the suffering and cruelty.
Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism" by Melanie Joy PhD, 2009, 208 pages. This book I stumbled upon while browsing different books on Amazon.com and was intrigued. I decided to pick this one because I have always been fascinated by the cognitive dissonance of people when it comes to pets vs. meat. The book focuses on the way people delude themselves that eating meat is natural and necessary for people. Dr. Joy also shares stories of personal conversations and reactions she has with her students when she teaches this information (which has become the book) in some of her college classes. Coming from a psych education, I loved the clear cut definitions and scientific examples Joy uses in the text, though sometimes I feel the use of historical quotes is misleading and takes away from the main pull of the knowledge within the text. The book was a short read and offers many great debate points that can be used in defense of veg*nism.