How does the fast-food industry perpetrate cruelty toward animals?
Cattle live in feedlots in their own manure, are given antibiotics and growth hormones and are fed slaughterhouse waste. Animals are treated as part of the industrial process instead of as sentient beings. Cattle, poultry and hogs lead terrible lives before they’re slaughtered. There are a few ethical producers, but they are under enormous pressure in a brutal, inhumane, profit-driven industry. Your book has been on the New York Times best-seller list for most of the last two years. Why do you think the response has been so positive? I think it just hit a nerve. There’s new interest in such issues as food, health, obesity and food-borne illnesses. I just put all of the information in one book; the timing was right and people were receptive. How has writing the book changed you? I’m more aware. I don’t spend money at fast-food places anymore. I still like meat. It’s not a question of what I eat, but where I eat it. I don’t eat at the big mainstream chains. I no longer eat ground beef or
