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Food
Labour + Industry

Weekend Listening: 'High Steaks'

A free audiobook chapter from a chewy read on the cost of meat production today.

Eleanor Boyle 13 Apr 2013TheTyee.ca

Eleanor Boyle is the author of High Steaks: Why and How to Eat Less Meat.

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The audiobook sample you are about to listen to is the first chapter of Eleanor Boyle's High Steaks: Why and How to Eat Less Meat, narrated by Ann M. Richardson.

Boyle's timely book takes on an important and often polarizing topic -- the consumption of meat -- in a reasonable and informed fashion. Rather than arguing for a complete abstinence from meat consumption, Boyle seeks to educate all of us on the real cost of meat production today.

Some commentary: "It addresses a key component of our climate troubles, and it does it by addressing people where they actually are, and offering some realistic, attractive, and compelling options for changing deep-rooted habits" (Bill McKibben). Boyle "reconnects our fragmented view to reveal the ecological, social, health and economic costs of a diet rich in meat" (David Suzuki).

Hélène Meurer (Alive.com), wrote "I don't think anyone could have wrangled this important and delicate subject better than Canadian author Eleanor Boyle. The highly accredited educator specializes in food policy, food systems, and sustainability. But expertise alone is not enough. Boyle is also a highly organized facilitator, adept at communicating hard truths."

A "modern omnivore's guide to cutting meat," Boyle presents a balanced perspective, free of hysteria and meticulously researched, which makes her message digestible and far easier to hear. She analyzes our society's meat industry practices and their effects on our health and the health of our environment -- from deforestation, petroleum and chemical use, meat waste management, to antibiotics and growth hormones in livestock that end up on our plate -- and presents a clearly laid out rationale for lowering our meat consumption.

We are creatures of habits, but habits can change, and Boyle asks us to do just that, but not in a harsh, haranguing manner. She offers a careful, considered argument for the intelligent consumption of meat.

Thanks to friends at Post Hypnotic for allowing us share this excerpt with you. Enjoy.  [Tyee]

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