Book Review on Slaughterhouse: A Preview.

For my book review, I chose to read Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment inside the U.S. Meat Industry by Gail A. Eisnitz. The author is the chief investigator for the Humane Farming Association and her book gives readers a very startling and disturbing inside look to U.S. slaughterhouses. She began her investigation at Kaplan Industries where she found, through endless interviews with staff and the public, that animals were being slaughtered fully conscious. She also visited John Morrell & Company in Iowa and Carolina Food Processors to confirm the notion that animals and the company employees are both being abused. This is the first book to explore the impact that changes such as industry consolidation, increased line speeds, and deregulation in the meatpacking industry, over the last twenty-five years, have had on workers, animals, and consumers. It is also the first time workers have spoken publically about what is really happening behind the closed doors of America’s slaughterhouses.

However, the public doesn't really know what is happening in these slaughterhouses because workers could lose their jobs if they spoke out and employers don't want to welcome the chance of receiving more standards and regulations in the slaughterhouses which would decrease profits. Animals are transported hundreds of miles in harsh conditions just so their lives could end for our desire to have meat for dinner. Eisnitz still manages to remain objective during her research and is able to describe and investigate the treatments of cows, pigs, chickens, horses, sheep, goats, and so on. Once I finished reading the book, my desire to ever eat meat again was gone because the author describes in such detail what happens to these animals through the voices of the workers and the consumers who have suffered illnesses and who even have had family members or friends die because of unhealthy conditions and carelessness in the industry.

I won't go any farther because I want to keep your interest for when I present. I do think everyone needs to read this book in order to know the truths behind the industry. Even though some of it may be hard to get through, being aware of what is happening behind our backs is enough of an incentive for me. I guarantee you will not believe what you are reading at first but the author makes sure to have enough evidence from a variety of sources as to how such an industry can control and full our country.

My question: I was wondering what views students have about the meat industry currently? When you hear the word "slaughterhouse" or the meat industry, what conditions and practices do you imagine? What do you already know?