Pigs and Stuff

There was a complicated Supreme Court oral argument this month about pigs. California passed a measure that limits sale of pigs (including those raised outside the state) to those raised in somewhat more humane conditions. For those who want to learn about our history with pigs, Lesser Beasts: A Snout-to-Tail History of the Humble Pig was pretty good. It says little about Africa and Asia (if some about China), but covers a lot of history.

The author of that book has a background in history. The background of the author of Once We Ate Animals: The Future of Food is in research not really focused on the history she covers. It shows. Plus, with this title, I assumed it would be a whole lot more about the actual "future" of food. It really just covers a lot of basic ground you would read in a pro-vegan book. Again, at times not that well. I basically agree with this take.

The book includes a couple snapshots of a possible future. One is basically a young character on a tour of a former slaughterhouse. Another is a rather depressing sounding snapshot of life in the not too distant future at home. It again does not really tell us too much about the so-called "future of food." The whole thing comes off as false advertising. It's okay as a whole, but the basic stuff is better told elsewhere.