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23rd out of 139 books
—
212 voters
Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, And Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry
With a New Afterword by the Author
Slaughterhouse is the first book of its kind to explore the impact that unprecedented changes in the meatpacking industry over the last twenty-five years—particularly industry consolidation, increased line speeds, and deregulation—have had on workers, animals, and consumers. It is also the first time ever that workers have spoken publicly...more
Slaughterhouse is the first book of its kind to explore the impact that unprecedented changes in the meatpacking industry over the last twenty-five years—particularly industry consolidation, increased line speeds, and deregulation—have had on workers, animals, and consumers. It is also the first time ever that workers have spoken publicly...more
Paperback, 328 pages
Published
November 1st 2006
by Prometheus Books
(first published 1997)
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I highly recommend it but this is a very disturbing book. One would have to have no ability to empathize with humans or animals to not feel devastated after reading this book. It’s about the completely horrible conditions for both the farm animals who are killed and for the slaughterhouse workers also.
Mar 08, 2008
pinktheory Ⓥ
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
EVERYBODY!!!!! except maybe little kids due to its graphic nature
Shelves:
vegan,
non-fiction
If everyone read this book, they would go vegan or at least vegetarian. But of course, many won't read this book. Why? I don't know. Because they like steak, because ignorance is bliss, or because they just don't care. This book chronicles the author's altruistic efforts to expose the inhumane treatment in slaughterhouses across the country. Her book covers 3 main aspects of slaughterhouses: (1) the inhumane treatment of animals (2) the terrible working conditions for slaughterhouse workers and...more
This book was ok.. I am glad that I read it. This book went into detail about the cruelty animals face at the slaughterhouse, torture, brutatlity..and in some instances just down right pure evil! I just don't know how people could think of such horrible things to do to animals. Ms. Eisnitz goes on to also discuss (in detail) the high level of conatmination our meat is packed and shipped with, pus, maggots, feces (human, rodent and animal) just to name a few. Ms. Eisnitz goes on to say that not o...more
This one's a life changer. If it were required reading in highschool I'm fairly certain we'd have a nation of vegetarians. I tend to read a lot of books dealing with animal welfare, and many of them are dry and factual. This one reads like a thriller while simultaneously informing.
For anyone who does not know anything about what happens in slaughterhouses (spoiler: animals are slaughtered) this book would represent a strong and much needed dose of reality. Reading this book would be a good start, but should not be the last one a sincere, thinking and moral human being should read.
For anyone who already has some notion of what happens in slaughterhouses (spoiler: it really is worse than you thought) this book will most likely end up being avoided. Willful ignorance is mora...more
For anyone who already has some notion of what happens in slaughterhouses (spoiler: it really is worse than you thought) this book will most likely end up being avoided. Willful ignorance is mora...more
this book wasn't as graphic as I thought it would be. It was well written. What shocked me more than the the torture mammals must endure was the diseases contamidated meat consumption can cause and how filthy the industry is. I immediately stopped eating eggs after reading this book and I was going to let JT try turkey on Thanksgiving but 'chickened' out because of this book.
Go Veg!
Go Veg!
I read an earlier version of this book, back in 2004 I think. I believe it is one of the most important books that anyone will ever read and something everyone should read. Every person I have ever loaned it to has come back with the same feelings. It is a disgusting, disturbing industry. I couldn't eat chicken for 2 weeks after reading this book and still cry when I see a pig truck pass me on the highway. I am not a vegetarian (though I will NEVER eat veal), and never will be, but I feel that t...more
I had hoped to learn a bit more about the process behind turning animals into products, not an instruction guide, but just so I would have a better understanding of what goes into all the meat and animal products out there. It mainly just described all the problems that go on with workers and their own injuries and lack of benefits, the author was very emotional, almost to a fault. Even after reading it, there's still a lot I don't know about the process, like I wonder if slaughterhouses sell ch...more
So painful to read...but also so necessary. Go vegan and quit making excuses!!!!
If you are concerned about the safety of the food on your plate or about the suffering of animals used in the meat industry, you need to read this book. "It is the first time ever that workers have spoken publicly about what's really taking place behind the closed doors of America's slaughterhouses." I read this after I was a dedicated Vegan, but I was appalled at what it reveals. If not for the sake of our own health, we need to read this book to realize what we are exposing our children to by...more
This was a horrific tale of what is really going on in our country's slaugherhouses. I recommend that everyone read this, and to bu farm-raised beef and poultry only!
I didn't realize this book was written over 10 years ago. I wonder if the state of our slaughterhouses has changed since then. My guess is not much. Very disturbing and reinforces why I try to buy the majority of my meat directly from farmers that raise and slaughter their animals humanely. After reading the stores about the kids who got sick from e.coli, etc. it makes me wonder how anyone can eat fast food or frozen processed meat products. I also wish the author would have mentioned how the an...more
This was a fantastic book. Gail Eisnitz has produced an outstanding and irrefutable account of the truth behind America's meatpacking industry. One can only wonder what, if anything, has changed since her book was published; an updated edition would be much appreciated. Gail Eisnitz has done a terrific job of balancing what some might regard as an agenda (she was employed by the Humane Farming Association during her research for this book) with the reporting of meticulously documented facts. Any...more
Powerful. Thanks to Gail A Eisnitz for her bravery and determination in exposing this disturbing reality to the public, I could only imagine the hardships of having written this book because as a mere reader it was extremely difficult to have read it. Possibly more daunting will be the task of re-examining my life choices as a consumer. I like eating meat, poultry and dairy, but I have to say after reading this book my stomach has gone sour with the idea anymore. This read makes it harder to swe...more
Modern day look into slaughterhouses, not only what is done to the animals, but how the workers are treated as well. This modern day true to life version of The Jungle is a must read, for those that truly wish to be informed of what is going on and where their food comes from and how animals are treated in factory farms and slaughterhouses. Think the USDA and government has your best interests in mind? This book will change that for you, it's all about production and profit, screw the consumer,...more
This is not an easy read. Although it is on my top 5 list of books that have touched me the most, it is also the book that changed my life. I do not recommend it unless you're truly prepared for what the book is about. When I think about the day I finished reading it, I realize how much I appreciate the hardships Gail A. Eisnitz had to go through to make this book happen. Although it is a hard read, it was a necessary read for me to understand what really goes behind the doors of the U.S. Meat I...more
Hard to read, but eye opening and bizarre.
If you read only one book about the meat industry, make it this one. Slaughterhouse is a book about the other reality behind our demand for cheap meat, and lots of it: horrifically abused animals, permanently disabled workers, and dangerously dirty product. While animals are a point of focus of this book, I wouldn’t call Slaughterhouse an animal rights or vegan work. Rather, it’s an overall study of the modern day meat-processing factory—but don’t be surprised if the animal rights and vegan argu...more
May 24, 2007
Elizabeth
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone who is interested in animal rights or government corruption
I had a rude awakening very recently concerning the health hazards as well as the immorality of eating meat, and as a result, i've been seeking out information on the meat industry and animal rights. This book is more or less the top of the stack as far as I'm concerned, being a new convert to vegetarianism. It exposes the gross crimes committed against animals every day by the thousands as they're drug through the slaughterhouse, being skinned, mutilated, tortured, beaten, shocked, and scalded...more
Everyone who thinks of themselves as an "educated consumer" should read this book. It details not only the cruelty inherent in factory farming but also the absolutely disgusting and unnecessary brutality to which animals up for slaughter are subjected. Oh yes, this book goes in to "humane" slaughter and animal rights. But it also covers many other aspects of the corrupt meat/poultry industry -- public health concerns, worker safety, and a failure to regulate a system that continually fights (fro...more
This book is mostly about the slaughter practices that exist in the US. The cruelty to animals at big slaughterhouses is absolutely despicable and embarrassing for an industrialized country like the U.S. WARNING: Might cause you to become a vegetarian. The U.S. has gradually lowered its standards for meat quality, and the trend will not reverse any time soon. Would have liked to see more concrete statistics, but still informative. Also check out the movie Food Inc.!
It isn't an easy read because it's repetitious. Perhaps because the author visited so many factories and documented similar inhumane treatments everywhere. I didn't know abt. how the animals died on their trip to the factories - how they froze to the sides of the metal trucks in the winter and were ripped off even though they were still alive. Conditions have changed just a teeny bit for the better. We still have much work to improve this whole industry.
Jan 11, 2009
Cathy
marked it as to-read
I became a vegan after watching Meet Your Meat, the video. I really want to read this book. Everyone should read this. We have to face reality and open our eyes to the horrendous suffering of animals in factory farms. This is the story of those animals. We can't deny their pain nor should we turn a blind eye to their suffering just so we can eat. We do not have to eat animals to survive.
Interestingly, the author never mentions anything about "what can be done" to stop the animal abuse, worker abuse, and contamination of meat products that are so common in today's slaughterhouses. At the end of the book, she says that she is so happy that she got a job at the Humane Farming Association (HFA), which enabled her to write this book, which enables us to learn the facts so we can take action. But she doesn't offer even one suggestion for what kind of action should be taken. In a way,...more
This book is informative, but on an interesting level. The author tells descriptive interviews from people working in slaughterhouses around the U.S. She describes everything from the people, the settings, and of course their comments and complaints. The book seemed to repeat itself with the "same ol" thing, which did get old, and pretty sickening to read over and over. However, the author made a clear point that animals and workers in the slaughterhouses are not being treated well, especially t...more
The meat industry's ruthless, cruel, inhumane tactics affect people and animals alike. From the kill floor where quotas are placed at a higher priority than human safety, to the supermarket case where meat tainted with feces and urine (animal and human), bile, teeth, hide, roaches, and more...know what you're consuming and at what price.
Meh. Food is a complex issue, and the book fails to get past long descriptions of slaughterhouses. We dip into a little bit of public health, a little bit of labor conditions, but it just never really forms itself into a clear, full argument. I gave it two stars because, if we are to believe the writing, she at least did her homework.
This book is truly life-changing. I don't see how anyone can read this and continue to support the meat industry guilt-free. I was aware of abuse of animals in slaughterhouses, but not to this extent. And it's not only the abuse that is shocking -- the way the workers are treated and the quality of meat that is being sold to the public is abhorrent. I literally felt sick to my stomach as I was reading the way the meat is handled and "inspected." The USDA should be ashamed -- if I had little trus...more
An eye-opening exposé into factory farming practices in America. The book is not just about the incredibly cruelty inflicted on animals during the line process, but delves into the extent to which the industry will go to make a profit -- even at the cost of employee safety or consumer health. A definite must read.
An eye opener about the people who work insie the slaughter houses you will never see. They tell the stories of what really happens in there....not all the sugar coating the media nd or advertisers want you to believe. These essentially are the Troops on the front line and they see it all.
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Feb 01, 2010 08:47am