Superb, factual, laden with research

This is written by a vegetarian - yes, she is still a vegetarian, but she sees complete justification in humans eating meat, particularly beef. But there is a big BUT: this beef must be from cattle grazed on grass/rangelands. She is justifiably against intensive/confined animal farming and she provides much evidence as to how damaging this is to the planet. She gives a comprehensive history of grazing, before land was taken over for mass agriculture. Much land is only suited to grazing and thus can only be used to generate food for humans by having grazing animals convert the grass to meat. What I found astounding was the evidence that grazing by animals could be a necessary saviour of the planet's soil! Their impact on soil is beneficial and necessary - causing the soil to be rich in nutrients and better at dealing with rain than soil that has become more like desert after years of modern agriculture. She also spends time looking at the health impact of humans eating beef versus grain and sugar - the evidence is strongly for beef and against grain as a healthy diet. She describes the damage to the environment caused by the growth, transport and processes required to feed grain to the intensively farmed animals - they are certainly gobbling resources. I am sure many will criticise her book - this is a emotive subject. But I believed her - she quoted so much extensive research that it seemed utterly crazy that we are now being sternly told we must stop eating anything from animals. The evidence is that this is a complex subject and that if we all stopped eating animal products, this would create more (and bigger) problems than it would solve, leaving a planet totally unable to grow the food it requires.

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2 people found this helpful

this book change my mind I now get meat

this book was very hard for me to read been a vegan. how ever after read it twice I came to the conclusions that it is the best interest of the natural world that I eat well rise grass feed beef

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Fabulous Book

Nicolette has done an incredible job gathering so much information and delivering it so clearly to help the world come to terms with the destruction of modern industrial agriculture. She explained that not only is eating beef okay, but that cattle and other remanence are essential parts of a mixed farming future. Small-scale local farming involving plants and animals is the only thingWhich is going to protect the human race from destroying itself through soil erosion.

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Better when she sticks to her areas of expertise

The writer is very convincing when she talks about environmentalism and farming. Where it falls apart are the long passages on diet, evolutionary biology and history. For instance, she buys into the idea that pre industrial tribes eat lots of meat in their "natural" states, where they also don't get cancer, heart disease etc. Neither are true, and the latter is a racist idea that lead to colonial and missionary doctors not treating obvious cancers.

People with historical knowledge know that diets through history have varied enormously, and involved far less meat than the author assumes. She also equates carbs and sugar in a very sneaky way. I did find myself wondering who, exactly, is saying that sugar is *good*. People don't obey the food guidelines!

The shame is that the bad parts suffocate the better parts, and make me doubt the better parts. In many ways, it comes across as one part of the food industry taking shots at a rival part.

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To beef or not to beef

Which herd to belong to if you must ? Presumably she couldnt help herself from being suc h a lawyer presenting a case to a judge. The "forensic" style confuses the arguments as there is no true independent rigorous and comparive science behind her conjectures. She might get to "win" the case for the moment but it will readily be overturned as more understand and report the real and measured affects. The proof is in the pudding and not the many words and postures whirling about. As a carnivore who loves beef I wish I could be convinced that munching on munching cows is environmenrally acceptable. But in the light of all the other ravages we continue around this one planet ?

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