A Brilliant but Despairing Exposé of Humane Meat

Abstract

John Sanbonmatsu's book, The Omnivore's Deception, is a direct response to Michael Pollan's 2006 bestseller The Omnivore's Dilemma. Sanbonmatsu's work is a brilliant and in-depth unveiling of how the “humane” production of animal foods on small family farms is in fact similar to factory farms, as it is based on the same fundamental violence and cruelty to animals, is deeply environmentally destructive, and is damaging to human health. In this sense, the narrative of local humane animal products, promoted by writers like Pollan, has managed to deceive the public into thinking they can have their meat and their conscience too. While Sanbonmatsu's critique is very well founded and argued, his solutions are less convincing. In particular, I find fault with the basis of his optimism in regard to positive change for animals, his linking animal liberation and veganism to a particular political system, and finally with his essential trivialization of religion and the weakness of the secular humanist foundations of his philosophical project.