This is a book about the people who make their living putting food on our tables. In it, you’ll see how some of them struggle to do it well, while others are willing to do it any way at all if it will help them get ahead. You’ll be glad to have seen them all with Sonia Faruqi’s eyes.
Following the lead of other sharp critiques of the food industry, such as David Kirby’s Animal Factory (2010), Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma (2006), and Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals (2009), newbie author Faruqi does a commendable job spotlighting the ways animals are mistreated around the globe in order to make their milk and flesh available in our stores. Written with a dry wit and an inspiring dose of crusader’s zeal, resulting in a work that will compel health-conscious and environmentally aware readers as well as those concerned about animal rights.
An extraordinary triumph of narrative nonfiction. A seminal work of investigative journalism.
Into an engaging account of the adventures of a young city dweller among the factory farmers, Sonia Faruqi manages to smuggle a body of useful—and disturbing—information about this most secretive of global enterprises.
Everybody who is interested in food policy and animal welfare should read this book. Project Animal Farm will make you think long and hard about problems with intensive diary farms and egg production.
A poignant work of depth and clarity. An accessible and educational examination of our food system. Highly recommended.
Written in the most vivid and engaging way, this remarkable book demands to be read by anyone who cares about where their food comes from.
An eyes-wide-open view of industrial animal farming and its effect on farm animals and consumers. A compelling and thoughtful work, a clarion call for acknowledgment.
Brave, captivating, enlightening, and impossible to put down, this remarkable true story pries open hearts and minds and exposes the travesty of industrial farming like none other.
Project Animal Farm is an original and thought-provoking exploration of where our food comes from.
Every so often a book comes along that has the power to alter the course of history. Project Animal Farm is that potent. It is so inspiring, so moving, so deeply personal and yet also has such profound cultural implications, that it will change the lives of everyone who reads it. People will be talking about this book for decades.
Warning: This book might change your life!
Following the lead of other sharp critiques of the food industry, such as David Kirby’s Animal Factory (2010), Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma (2006), and Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals (2009), newbie author Faruqi does a commendable job spotlighting the ways animals are mistreated around the globe in order to make their milk and flesh available in our stores. Written with a dry wit and an inspiring dose of crusader’s zeal, resulting in a work that will compel health-conscious and environmentally aware readers as well as those concerned about animal rights.
★ 07/13/2015
After being laid off from her job as an investment banker in New York City, Farqui decides to volunteer on an organic dairy farm in Canada. But what she expects to be an uplifting, bucolic reconnection with nature turns out to be the opposite. She is shocked and sickened at the treatment of the cows and their filthy living conditions in an "organic" environment (a term she generously describes as nebulous), but that is nothing compared the harsh commercial environments in which chickens and pigs are raised and slaughtered. She learns that cramped conditions and a cruel indifference to the animals' basic needs are de rigueur on such farms, as is the vicious nonchalance with which they are slaughtered. Equally alarming, Farqui observes complicit indifference by the government inspector who was tasked to oversee (and then paid by) a sheep processing firm. Even more disheartening is the revelation that this approach is hardly confined to North America—she encounters similar conditions in Malaysia and Indonesia. Farqui thoughtfully explores the way in which this brutality and disregard of animal welfare is endemic in the industry on a global scale, and provides suggestions for realistic actions that readers can take to encourage change. The book begs a comparison to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, but Farqui's effort is not precisely a call to arms, as she takes a more studious approach—which doesn't lessen the impact of her findings. (July)
An engaging expedition that exposes both the animal suffering and the urgent public health threats posed by factory farms.
Sonia Faruqi shines a brave light on what, by many estimates, is the most pressing issue of our time. It is required reading for anyone who eats food.
An engaging, penetrating tour. Insightful.
Project Animal Farm is amazing. Written with sparkling narrative and infectious passion.”
A work of unrelenting passion, Project Animal Farm is a very compelling and informative read.”
Faruqi's bold, critical, and ultimately hopeful quest for ideal animal agriculture reminds us that how we treat our fellow beings is a deeply moral matter.
Compassionate, engaging, and wise, Sonia Faruqi guides readers through a polarizing subject—the lives of farm animals—and takes us to places that challenge our ideas, shed light on complexities, and propel new thinking.
Compelling, fascinating, empowering and hopeful, Project Animal Farm will forever change the way you look at farm animals and will help you become a part of the dramatic and long overdue change the book demands.”
A perfect combination of excellent writing and in-depth understanding.
Filled with deeply personal stories and facts about food production, Project Animal Farm is a game changer.”
07/01/2015
Former investment banker Faruqi left Wall Street behind in order to explore farming practices in Canada and the rest of the world. In her travels, she quickly became disgusted by the industrial practices used by even organic farms and searched for more humane and sustainable ways to produce meat products. The author has a precise point of view and sometimes treats her subjects with scorn but successfully brings to light less-than-optimal living conditions of farm animals. This title flourishes when highlighting the humanity and well-intentioned nature of farmers, even when they are utilizing horrific practices professionally. Despite Faruqi's oft-referenced background in economics, it is disappointing that she rarely approaches these issues or her suggested solutions from that perspective, which might have strengthened her case. As a result, the narrative is heavy on humanitarian concerns and generalities but light on economic evidence to support her proposed resolutions. VERDICT Despite a tone that may turn off the nonconverted, this intriguing and accessible debut may find a niche with readers of popular nonfiction in a society increasingly concerned with how our food is produced and where it comes from.—Ben Neal, Richland Lib., Columbia, SC
2015-04-01
A searing exposé of the brutal treatment animals receive on their ways to our dinner plates. Following a whim, debut author Faruqi decided to take a break from the hectic pace of Wall Street and volunteer for two weeks on an organic dairy farm a few hours outside Toronto. That decision proved to be both eye-opening and life-changing. Her lifelong plan to establish a career as an investment banker was put on hold due to the 2008 recession, and her goal shifted from earning lots of money to exposing injustice. Despite the fact that the farm was certified as organic, her introduction to the on-the-ground reality was far from the charming pastoral scene she had imagined. Faruqi was horrified by the cramped quarters in the shed where 65 cows lived, "shackled to stalls by neck chains" and forced to stand in their own excrement. With her interest whetted, she visited commercial farming operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Asia. Investigating "organic" poultry farms, egg warehouses, and cattle, pig, and sheep farms, she found widespread force-feeding, unsanitary conditions, and confined living space. She began to realize that the bottom line was maximizing profit without regard to animal welfare, product purity, or even rudimentary sanitation. Since organic products command a higher price—in 2013, sales reached $35 billion in the United States—and the regulatory system is lax, organic has become a desirable alternative to traditional farming. Even small, family-run operations often use the methods of factory farming, which set the standards and control the supply chain—e.g., by calibrating weight gain to profitability. Faruqi contrasts this with a visit to a successful pastoral farm to demonstrate a humane alternative at only slightly higher consumer prices. The author's expertise in finance provides an extra dimension to this well-documented report. Not for the fainthearted, but a good wake-up call for those concerned with decent treatment of animals and healthy food on the table.
