The Omnivore's Dilemma: the secrets behind what you eat by Michael Pollan

This book was a fascinating read, especially for someone like myself who is interested in the environment and ways that we can reduce our carbon footprint. The author traveled the U.S. visiting different types of production facilities that raise and provide beef, chicken, eggs and milk products to consumers. He followed the line of production from farm to store, visiting what he referred to as industrial farms, organic industrial farms and organic farms (visiting the farm of well known organic farmer Joel Salatin). I learned things in this book such as the carbon footprint left on the planet by the waste of animals. It is pretty high. I learned that even chickens that are being raised in an organic setting must be housed in a chicken barn for the first two weeks while being raised for slaughter. After the first two weeks, they have access to open field pens, but are so used to being in the barn, they rarely go outside. So we may be eating meat products labeled as organic, but are they really?

For anyone considering a vegan lifestyle or just giving up meat, this book may give you some insight before making your decision.

Note: the author gave up meat after researching and writing the book, but later decided to eat meat coming only from local organic farms or organic food clubs.