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The Carnivore's Manifesto: Eating Well, Eating Responsibly, and Eating Meat
One of The Atlantic's Best Food Books of 2014: fifty ways to be an enlightened carnivore, while taking better care of our planet and ourselves, from the founder of Slow Food USA.
We have evolved as meat eaters, proclaims Patrick Martins, and it's futile to deny it. But, given the destructive forces of the fast-food industry and factory farming, we need to make smart, informed choices about the food we eat and where it comes from.
In 50 short chapters, Martins cuts through organize zealotry and the misleading jargon of food labeling to outline realistic steps everyone can take to be part of the sustainable-food movement. With wit, and insight, and no small amount of provocation, The Carnivore's Manifesto is both a revolutionary call to arms and a rollicking good read that will inspire, engage, and challenge anyone interested in the way we eat today.
We have evolved as meat eaters, proclaims Patrick Martins, and it's futile to deny it. But, given the destructive forces of the fast-food industry and factory farming, we need to make smart, informed choices about the food we eat and where it comes from.
In 50 short chapters, Martins cuts through organize zealotry and the misleading jargon of food labeling to outline realistic steps everyone can take to be part of the sustainable-food movement. With wit, and insight, and no small amount of provocation, The Carnivore's Manifesto is both a revolutionary call to arms and a rollicking good read that will inspire, engage, and challenge anyone interested in the way we eat today.
- GenresNonfictionFoodAudiobook
272 pages, Hardcover
First published June 10, 2014
28 people are currently reading
587 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Martins
10 books2 followersPatrick Martins was born in New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital on February 10th, 1972 and has lived in the city ever since. Patrick received a Masters' Degree in Performance Studies at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Patrick is a founder of Slow Food USA, Heritage Foods USA, Heritage Radio Network and the New York City Trivia Game.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 5, 2014
The Carnivore's Manifesto: Eating Well, Eating Responsibly, and Eating Meat really is a manifesto. The author, Patrick Martins, has been instrumental in founding the Slow Food movement and is passionate about clean, sustainable, eating and farming. He uses words and phrases like 'complicit in their crimes' and talks about the extinction of heritage pigs and turkeys. He wouldn't be out of place in Berkeley, yelling on Sproul Plaza about his cause.
The book is a series of short essays on a topic ranging from the food supply chain, breeding conditions, artisan producers and vignettes told from the perspective of a cow, pig and turkey. I'd read a few at night before going to bed.
Like other books I've read, this book does not take the stance that being a meat eater is good and vegetarianism isn't. This isn't a foil to the vegetarians, but to the Concentrated Agriculture Feeding Organizations. His view is that if you're going to eat meat, give the animal the best life, rather than constrain it to some dark, fume filled barn. The activist in Patrick wants people to make decisions that get food production out of the big corporate, profit centric organizations and into the hands of sustainable, heritage producers and help them become profitable. These sustainable operations not only make great tasting food, but they help the whole life cycle as opposed to creating waste while producing genetically modified meat.
Something I found to be very interesting was his perspective on ground meat - we need to eat more of it. This allows the farmer to sell the fewer desirable cuts of meat from the cow/pig/turkey and get a good price for the rest of it. If we only buy filet or pork loins, the farmer won't have a good opportunity to sell the rest.
It's a good read, but every once in a while you have to push past the activist cries. This book won't change vegetarian's opinions, but I don't think it was meant to. It's really targeted to those that already eat meat, but don't yet understand the dark side of what happens to get meat into your grocery store.
The book is a series of short essays on a topic ranging from the food supply chain, breeding conditions, artisan producers and vignettes told from the perspective of a cow, pig and turkey. I'd read a few at night before going to bed.
Like other books I've read, this book does not take the stance that being a meat eater is good and vegetarianism isn't. This isn't a foil to the vegetarians, but to the Concentrated Agriculture Feeding Organizations. His view is that if you're going to eat meat, give the animal the best life, rather than constrain it to some dark, fume filled barn. The activist in Patrick wants people to make decisions that get food production out of the big corporate, profit centric organizations and into the hands of sustainable, heritage producers and help them become profitable. These sustainable operations not only make great tasting food, but they help the whole life cycle as opposed to creating waste while producing genetically modified meat.
Something I found to be very interesting was his perspective on ground meat - we need to eat more of it. This allows the farmer to sell the fewer desirable cuts of meat from the cow/pig/turkey and get a good price for the rest of it. If we only buy filet or pork loins, the farmer won't have a good opportunity to sell the rest.
It's a good read, but every once in a while you have to push past the activist cries. This book won't change vegetarian's opinions, but I don't think it was meant to. It's really targeted to those that already eat meat, but don't yet understand the dark side of what happens to get meat into your grocery store.
January 24, 2017
More of a rant than a book, Carnivore's Manifesto has some interesting points (ie. that meat has seasons) but loses me at saying that eating local is bullshit. I mean sure it makes sense to eat seasonal food from around the world, but it's not working up to the tagline of Eating Responsibly.
Didn't bother to finish it.
Didn't bother to finish it.
January 5, 2024
I did not know anything about this book but decided to give it a try. I could have done without the unnecessary foul language, but the short book was interesting and informative. The author uses different voices at times and speaks quickly which made for a short, fun listen. I'll take some of the learned information and leave the rest.
January 4, 2018
This is one of the worst books I have ever read. I bought it hoping that it would provide me with some good reasons for eating meat (which do exist, see for instance the intelligence squared debate called “Don’t eat anything with a face). However, this hope was brutally slayed, something that I realized quite early in the book. The basic argument that the authors try to convey, without any ambition whatsoever to be objective or factual, is that large global, industries in general, and the meat industry in particular, only care about making money and have no interest whatsoever in animal welfare or producing good meat. Small meat industries on the other hand respect their customers, and make sure that their animals live harmonious fulfilling lives meaning among other things that the animals are allowed to have sex before they are slaughtered. Coincidentally the authors are running a “small” old fashioned meat business, and therefore, according to their own logic, are God's gift to us meat consumers. No bias there... (irony). Seriously, it seems that the authors in this book have not progressed from the developmental stage where people are either good or evil.
My hopes were temporarily raised when the authors raised the question why everyone cannot just be vegetarians. Finally, I thought, now they will provide me with the cannon fodder I need to thrash the next vegan that comes along proclaiming meat abstinence (although in the back of my head I knew that this was a very naive hope indeed). I cannot say that I was surprised that their only argument for eating meat is that we have evolved to do so... In other words, it is in our genes to eat meat and therefore it is silly to try and stop people from eating it. This is a silly argument because there are many things we have evolved inclinations towards such as violence, domination over others etc, but who would say that there is no point in trying to stop people from killing each other because we have evolved to do so. The percentage of people who are killed by other people has gone down drastically since humans first evolved and I have no doubt that we could make a society where meat consumption is reduced as well. That is, we do not have to, and often should not, follow our evolutionary instincts. The book says nothing about the nutritional value in meat (which is hard to replace) or maintaining ecological systems or any other rational argument for eating at least some meat. In other words, there are good arguments for eating meat, but you will not find them in this book.
To be completely fair, some of the underlying points the authors are trying to make I think are basically sound. I agree that the meat industry at large have too little respect for animal welfare, and I also think that it is probably good to aim for more quality instead of quantity (though I realize that everyone might not so privileged that they can make this argument). However, the negatives associated with this book by far outweighs the positives. I would not recommend this book to anyone... not even at gunpoint
My hopes were temporarily raised when the authors raised the question why everyone cannot just be vegetarians. Finally, I thought, now they will provide me with the cannon fodder I need to thrash the next vegan that comes along proclaiming meat abstinence (although in the back of my head I knew that this was a very naive hope indeed). I cannot say that I was surprised that their only argument for eating meat is that we have evolved to do so... In other words, it is in our genes to eat meat and therefore it is silly to try and stop people from eating it. This is a silly argument because there are many things we have evolved inclinations towards such as violence, domination over others etc, but who would say that there is no point in trying to stop people from killing each other because we have evolved to do so. The percentage of people who are killed by other people has gone down drastically since humans first evolved and I have no doubt that we could make a society where meat consumption is reduced as well. That is, we do not have to, and often should not, follow our evolutionary instincts. The book says nothing about the nutritional value in meat (which is hard to replace) or maintaining ecological systems or any other rational argument for eating at least some meat. In other words, there are good arguments for eating meat, but you will not find them in this book.
To be completely fair, some of the underlying points the authors are trying to make I think are basically sound. I agree that the meat industry at large have too little respect for animal welfare, and I also think that it is probably good to aim for more quality instead of quantity (though I realize that everyone might not so privileged that they can make this argument). However, the negatives associated with this book by far outweighs the positives. I would not recommend this book to anyone... not even at gunpoint
May 4, 2017
In the introduction the authors dismisses the most commonly asked questions he encounters - "should we eat meat?", "what are the environmental consequences of doing so?" and "can this type of farming feed the world?" - with a flimsy single sentence evasion prefaced by "that's a stupid question". What a shame that someone writing on this topic can't give a detailed and considered response to those three fundamental questions. It coloured the rest of my reading of this book, which is a shame because when he lightens up on the diatribe there are some valuable insights on offer here.
July 1, 2021
I went into this book with an open mind. I am all about eating meat and breaking out factory farming and big into the nose detail movement. But this guy just ranted and his stuff made no sense. I cannot even recommend this book for people trying to support eating meat.
November 9, 2017
Didn't address most of the reasons people choose to be vegetarian. Read like a long, ranty sales brochure.
December 18, 2022
Not the worst but also kind of the worst
Definitely has some good things to say, but far too often I'm like, why am I reading this. It's very dogmatic, like a series of essays in a top-down format
Definitely has some good things to say, but far too often I'm like, why am I reading this. It's very dogmatic, like a series of essays in a top-down format
December 10, 2024
Interesting read, some good facts while some chapters are on a soap box, still a good read
January 17, 2025
Really good and still relevant today
April 6, 2025
Ok I was with the mission for a bit but I had to put it down when it went passed my preach limit. And it blew passed it.
July 3, 2020
Too ideological. Not realistic for everyday people to eat meat responsibly. Great ideas in the book though
September 15, 2014
The Carnivore’s Manifesto: Eating Well, Eating Responsibly, and Eating Meat, by Patrick Martins, is a book guaranteed to make you think about where your food comes from. Did you know that every year, Americans eat more than 10 million livestock? Unfortunately, they are not raised in humane or sanitary conditions. This results in meat that is unhealthy for us, but its production is achieved only through a depressing life for the animals. Did you know that our youngest generation is expected to have a shorter life expectancy than its parents? This is said to be at least partially due to the poor quality of food. Life in a feedlot, with hormones and antibiotics to keep them alive long enough to get them to the slaughterhouse, does not produce quality meat. And until local food is really best, why eat local? By boycotting local substandard food, we can encourage producers to improve their offerings.
Other points made by Patrick Martins are these. Good food will not require sauces, herbs, and other enhancements. Whole foods are complete in themselves, with synergistic components in their chemistry to give them a well-rounded flavor. If you buy meat from a farmer who dumps hazardous waste into the water supply, you are participating in his fault. Hunting is not the barbarism many people think it is. Hunters have been supplying their families with meat for millennia and they do it in a sustainable manner. Organic food is a good idea, but no one can eat organic 100% of the time. The Carnivore’s Manifesto is an entertaining but educational look at America’s food supply, and where and how to get it. It’s a commentary on food with a conscious.
Other points made by Patrick Martins are these. Good food will not require sauces, herbs, and other enhancements. Whole foods are complete in themselves, with synergistic components in their chemistry to give them a well-rounded flavor. If you buy meat from a farmer who dumps hazardous waste into the water supply, you are participating in his fault. Hunting is not the barbarism many people think it is. Hunters have been supplying their families with meat for millennia and they do it in a sustainable manner. Organic food is a good idea, but no one can eat organic 100% of the time. The Carnivore’s Manifesto is an entertaining but educational look at America’s food supply, and where and how to get it. It’s a commentary on food with a conscious.
November 6, 2014
The Carnivore's Manifesto is an interesting read cobbling together 50 essays discussing the art of being a carnivore. The book excels in places such as insisting that we eat the "best of the best" even if it's not local in order to celebrate those outlier producers who create great products. Then the book will take a cheeky turn such as having a chapter written by a pig, goat, or cow. These touches were cute but took the book to a juvenile place that I thought betrayed the rest of the book. It might have gotten 4 stars if I hadn't just read such great examples of books on our food supply (The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food and The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals) but sometimes timing is everything. Worthy read if you want to feel like a more responsible eater!
October 1, 2014
Do not be fooled. This is a manifesto by an author who knows what he is talking about. It is a quick read, short chapters, focused, and full of information for all of us who EAT on a daily basis. The book is an introduction to "slow food," i.e., food that is not stuffed full of antibiotics and picked early. As Martins explains, food was not meant to be created in a hurry, by stuffing chickens and turkeys in small cages and forcing them to grow such large breasts of white meat that they are not able to walk, much less use wings to fly.
This book is biased. There is no intent to portray an evenhanded explanation of "big farming" like Cargill. Big farms are focused on economies of scale, not quality. Interestingly, he is pro-gun (to hunt animals to eat) and anti-NRA. Hurray!
His chapter titles are cute and focus on what he is going to explain. A good read for anyone who is concerned about our world, our environment, and our health.
This book is biased. There is no intent to portray an evenhanded explanation of "big farming" like Cargill. Big farms are focused on economies of scale, not quality. Interestingly, he is pro-gun (to hunt animals to eat) and anti-NRA. Hurray!
His chapter titles are cute and focus on what he is going to explain. A good read for anyone who is concerned about our world, our environment, and our health.
February 7, 2016
If you eat, you should read this book...
It's a set of entertaining, but informative and easy to read essays designed to make you think about food and where it comes from.
Did you know that there are certain breeds of turkeys, and pigs that are at risk of extinction? I didn't, but apparently there are simply because these breeds don't grow fast enough or have big enough "parts" to make them cost effective for the industrial farms that need to crank out volume to meet the cheap, fast and easy requirement that has become part of our culture.
I struggle a lot with the question, to eat meat, or not to eat meat, and so much of the answer is really a return to the "Slow Food" movement, advocated by Martins, which is a return to raising healthy animals responsibly and humanely, to the support of natural cycles of growth and life. Definitely more to learn here, but it makes so much sense.
It's a set of entertaining, but informative and easy to read essays designed to make you think about food and where it comes from.
Did you know that there are certain breeds of turkeys, and pigs that are at risk of extinction? I didn't, but apparently there are simply because these breeds don't grow fast enough or have big enough "parts" to make them cost effective for the industrial farms that need to crank out volume to meet the cheap, fast and easy requirement that has become part of our culture.
I struggle a lot with the question, to eat meat, or not to eat meat, and so much of the answer is really a return to the "Slow Food" movement, advocated by Martins, which is a return to raising healthy animals responsibly and humanely, to the support of natural cycles of growth and life. Definitely more to learn here, but it makes so much sense.
June 1, 2016
Fast read through short chapters.
Colorful language and bold statements about the flaws in our meat industry, providing better (not necessarily easier) solutions to how we can improve our relationship with our meat.
Buy meat seasonally to give season-round animals a break
Eating heritage meat less often is better than eating monocultured/weak/environmentally-damaging meat every day
You'll have fun with this one as you think more about our food system from a broader perspective.
Eat well, live well.
Colorful language and bold statements about the flaws in our meat industry, providing better (not necessarily easier) solutions to how we can improve our relationship with our meat.
Buy meat seasonally to give season-round animals a break
Eating heritage meat less often is better than eating monocultured/weak/environmentally-damaging meat every day
You'll have fun with this one as you think more about our food system from a broader perspective.
Eat well, live well.
August 28, 2016
This was so great, from the quirky and in-your-face writing style, to the ridiculously informative take on the world's food and sourcing. Only four stars, because it did get repetitive in parts, and the writing style could get a little annoying at times. Overall, a fantastic read.
September 3, 2016
I won a free copy from the Goodreads First Reads Giveaway Program and think that it interesting. I would recommend it to everyone.
December 17, 2015
Thought provoking. I will now be buying my meat much more carefully.
March 31, 2016
Very informative and enlightening! I now know that 90% of turkeys sold in super markets are factory farmed mutations.
September 7, 2016
If you're going to eat meat, this seems like a good start. But the reality is even slow meat is not sustainable for seven billion people! He's qlso rather defeatist in his out look.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews