Eating Animals Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Factory Farm Alternatives and our BookBrowse Review of Eating Animals.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

Discussion Guide & Resource Guide

Questions and topics for discussion

1. Conversations about Eating Animals - and the reasons behind the decisions we make - can be polarizing and often alienating. In "All or Nothing or Something Else," Jonathan Safran Foer writes, "We need a better way to talk about Eating Animals. We need a way that brings meat to the center of public discussion in the same way it is often at the center of our plates" (page 33). What does Foer mean by this? Do you agree with him?
2. Why do you think that something as essential as what we put in our bodies is so often disregarded or not thought through carefully? What is the potential convenience of such nonchalance and what problems can it lead to?
3. What are some of the challenges of being a vegan or a vegetarian? Does where you live matter? To what extent do you think economics play into the decision of eating responsibly or of supporting local farms?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Back Bay Books. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.