Meatonomics: How the Rigged Economics of Meat and Dairy Make You Consume Too Much―and How to Eat Better, Live Longer, and Spend Smarter (Men Birthday Gift, for Readers of Comfortably Unaware)

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.

The meat, dairy and egg industries do not want you to read this book. Nor does the government. And the reason is clear: Many of the carefully documented revelations in Meatonomics are truly shocking. We have been badly betrayed by many of those we elected to represent our interests. For example, while the government recommends we eat less saturated fat and cholesterol, it subsidizes mightily the very products which contain them. Not only does it subsidize the meat (including fish), dairy and egg industries, it actively promotes these cruelly produced and harmful products. In his book, David Simon details the corporate influence of the meat, dairy and egg industries on public policy. Truly, we have "the best democracy money can buy." The books and websites of vegan physicians such as John Mcdougall, have educated us about the horrendous damage to our health caused by animal products. From PETA, Mercy for Animals and other organizations, we have learned about the horrible suffering inflicted on farm animals. Authors John Robbins and Richard Oppenlander have made clear the massive environmental and climate damage resulting from animal product consumption. And author Will Tuttle made us aware of the spiritual damage caused by our tragic and disrespectful relationship to the billions of animals slaughtered yearly to be eaten. It was not until I read Meatonomics that I truly understood the economic consequences of our meat-centric diet. This book is highly readable, elucidating and well-documented. It is also a disturbing and infuriating read. Don't miss it.

There have been plenty of books and documentaries lately promoting a plant-based diet, so I almost didn't bother with this one. But the Kindle price was right, and I wanted to try out the Kindle app for my iPhone. I wasn't expecting much that I hadn't already read or heard, but this book surprised me. The author is a lawyer who gives succinct but well-reasoned and well-backed arguments for abandoning meat--and the many government interventions that deflate its prices--and going veggie. The economic angle is one that tends to be neglected in similar books and documentaries, overshadowed by animal-rights, health, and environmental angles. All of those are still in Simon's book, but his economic arguments add an extra punch that should even raise the eyebrows of people who aren't the typical target audience. This is worth picking up!

[This review is copied directly from my review of Greta Thunberg's, The Climate Book, to which I added an editorial update today,3/30/23, having now gotten well into reading this book, Meatonomics, by David R. Simon. At a little past 6/10s of this review, my review of David's book proper begins. But both parts are to be taken as a whole.] I am only up to page 50 of 436, as I write this. But with some 85 essays written by legitimate climate authorities, and each section punctuated with one of 18 rallying-calls written by Greta, '"telling it like it is," this is a book we need to read slowly, like a new standard edition of the bible. With due respect for the effort required then, and intending to leave no leaf unturned, I checked with Amazon about the page margins. According to the Amazon fellow I spoke to, who was talking to me from South Africa, nobody has yet said anything about them. See the image of an open book attached to this review. What you will see, and throughout the book, is that every even-numbered page has its margins skewed to the right. A pointed statement calling out the reason why our world is in so much trouble? In any event, the left margin is 1 1/2 inches from the left side of the page. The right margin is a little less than 1/4 inch from the seam, so close to the seam that you have to make considerable effort to keep the right edge of the text in view where you can read it. The fellow from South Africa and I, all we could think, is that this was not likely just a bookbinder’s oversight. But seems more to be perhaps a nicely suggestive way to say that this book is meant to ‘put us on edge,’ nevertheless. That we might be provoked to take action! That we must pay greater attention now to what’s really going on as far as the climate is concerned, and in fact to everything else that is connected to it. Also as the book cover graphically suggests, with its red-hot letters perilously close to the right edge, or perhaps just one step further and we’re at ‘no man’s land?’ Where all life on earth could disappear, all burned up, and every species gone extinct? Yet, not to fret. We’ve got this. All we need do is to summon up our best selves, wherever we may have misplaced them, shake ourselves into waking mode, read this most important book cover-to-cover, and make every effort humanly possible to save this planet, and all our lives living on it. Call this God’s will, and this book our newly revised ‘climate bible,’ and we wouldn’t be wrong. As let’s say, maybe this is the way His kingdom is supposed to come. And our world finally owned by everyone. I cannot recommend this book more highly. Share it with everyone you know. I would only add, at this late date (3/30/23) beyond having read The Climate Book about a month ago, and based on my further reading so far up to page134 in another great book, Meatonomics (2013) by David R. Simon, that Greta could have gone further. I have counted in the index at the end of her book, only eight citations referring to the plant-based diet that several of her contributors and she mention as important, but it would seem only in passing. While in Simon's book, the underlying problem with our climate is clearly, and with his lawyer’s hand, shown to be all about the impact of animal agriculture that has morphed into a monster sickness affecting all aspects of our daily lives and society. Though the USA is the home of the "American dream," as we are seeing, it has fast turned into our "worst nightmare," well on its way to upsetting the whole world with its same sickness, its penchant for animal agriculture gone wild with factory farming (CAFOs) and its shameless, shady politics so far kept out the public’s eye. While all along, the perfect solution, as Simon and many others have effectively proved, is for us all to just stop buying and consuming meat, dairy, cheese, eggs, even fish, all animal products of any kind. The science has been known for decades that plants, plus a Vitamin B-12 supplement and flaxseed meal for you Omega 3s, have all the protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals that we need to live supremely healthy, productive lives. That, as we switch to an exclusively plant-based, organic diet, as I did eight years ago, the rest of the world around us will relax, with more than plenty of nutritious plant-based foods to go around, as everyone quietly wakes up into a brand new day, living life on our earth as it is absolutely meant to be lived.

Purchased this book after hearing about how our food choices greatly affect the economy (and my wallet). Understanding econ doesn't come easy to me, but the author did an excellent job at laying the information out in a way for the average person to understand. My husband is a doctor and double-majored in econ, and he enjoyed the reading as much as I did. We've bought the book ten-times over for friends who all enjoyed it equally as much. FIVE STARS!

This well-researched provocative book make clear how the Government subsidizes the meat industry, then supports marketing which promotes the consumption of meat and dairy products which is known to be unhealthy, then laments the incidence of poor health and obesity among Americans. There is reason to believe, and David Simon makes this clear, that we would be healthier if we made better food choices, which would be easier to do if the US Government weren't in cahoots with Big Food, practically shoving red meat and eggs down our throats. Simon's proposal that we subject animal products to a tax to make a more level playing field for consumers is optimistic at best, but it's a good idea none the less. There are good, funny quotes sprinkled throughout that lighten the serious nature of the book. Meatonomics is compelling and convincing.

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.

This book was eye-catching. I recommend it to every human being on the planet. I was 95% plant based before this book and now I am 100%. Originally, as an animal lover I thought it would be for the welfare of all animals. And it is and so much more. Our overconsumption of meat is inhumane to the animals, terrible for our planet and is a significant contributing factor in our country being the most unhealthy country in the history of our planet. We must change now because there are consequences to our overconsumption of animal product and we are destroying our planet with every bite we take. We must wake-up now!!! In order to do so this is a must read because as Jim Rohn taught me and millions of people, life change doesn't begin with inspiration. It begins with education. Grab this book right now and begin your transformation today!!!

I wish stuff like this was more widely available to the public. This is an important read and unfortunately not enough people are going to read this.

eye opening, and about time somebody said it - we eat way too much meat!

Worth every single penny. I got a supposedly 'used' book but it looks brand new. Very informative and well written.

Full of interesting info. Perfect for people who want to wake up and stop pretending killing animals is ok

Everyone needs to read this book to understand the full impact of continuing to consume animal products.