The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

by Michael Pollan

but we know that civilizations that abuse their soil eventually collapse.

In a way, the most morally troubling thing about killing chickens is that after a while it is no longer morally troubling.

And no deserving of this: I felt none of the sense of achievement you feel at the end of a season in the garden, when all your work has paid off in the bounty of the harvest. No, this felt more like something for nothing, a wondrous and unaccountable gift.

Interesting comparison of gathering mushrooms to gardening.