Thank you for the electronic copy!

In my lifetime, I have seen vegetarianism/veganism move from a fringe, "othered" movement, to the butt of jokes, to a near ubiquity. Dairy alternatives are the norm, meat substitues are widely avaliable, and average consumers have more optionals for ethically sourced foods than ever.

Once Upon A Time We Ate Animals was meticulously researched, but written in an easy to understand way. I don't think there was a ton of new information per say, and at times her argument does lean into the emotinal impacts of consuming animal products, but that in no way diminishes her overall case.

This book was more of a deeper dive into a topic I have long thought of. I want preface this with saying that I eat meat. However, I heavily supplement my diet with vegetables and fruits. I attempted to go towards a meatless diet, but I have a rare health condition and struggle to get protein from non animal sources so I had to go back to incorporating meat in so that I could get the proper nutrients.

However, I have long thought about the alternative. If I had the space (and health condition not being a factor) I could grow my own food year round and meet all my dietary needs and have enough to offer to friends, family, and neighbors. And I could grow enough in just 6 months to easily feed my husband and myself. However, there are more ethical ways to produce meat products.

I think the entire American food system needs a massive revamp and transition to less processed and more ethical and sustainable practices. Not over producing food and encouraging growing at home to supplement what is bought in stores would be a great way to do that. This book brings all those thoughts front and center and really makes you think. It could have been written better and drawn more attention but you get the gist.

This was a book by a vegan for vegans. As an omnivore it didn't really make me want to stop eating meat although their was plenty of visuals to make that a case for some reading the book. I think where this book hit it's stride was the future of our furry friends and what that could look like

A book that asks us to imagine a future where animal consumption is no longer a thing. Author Roanne van Voorst, a futures anthropologist by profession, makes the case that if we want future generations to live in a world even remotely like ours now, we've gotta eat differently ASAP.
[Thanks to HarperOne and NetGalley for an opportunity to read and share my opinion of this book.]

As someone who is already plant-based, this was hard to read (graphic depictions of animals) and definitely geared towards omnivores. This mostly takes an environmental viewpoint on veganism and is not quite as fact-based as I was looking for. I think actual vegan will benefit more from reading Peter Singer and ethicists on eating animals.

I really appreciated this book and thought it was a smart take on the topic of going vegan. Instead of "this should be the future," van Voorst says, "this IS the future." She is right. She makes a compelling case and I appreciated the research that went into the book. I've been "mostly vegan" for a while and this book may have pushed me toward "full vegan."

It felt like this book was written for folks who had already been vegan for a very long time, instead of inspiring others to see a different point of view and elevate themselves to a higher level. Although I respect their arguments, and agree with many of them, I did feel like certain comparisons and situations were overblown and at times offensive.

Interesting, well-written, full of fantastic information and easy to follow.


Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this dARC in exchange for my honest review.

*I thought I posted this 10 months ago. Soory

I was so excited for this book and so utterly disappointed. She lost me at pill meal replacements and robot pets as our future. This was one long and angry PETA inspired rant instead of an honest look at what humanity is capable of doing to combat climate change. Such an important message and this totally missed.

This was a thoughtful book. I have read several books on veganism/vegetarianism. While this did not really provide too much new information in terms of reasons to adopt this lifestyle, where it shines is in highlighting future alternatives to our current relationships with animals as food. I particularly enjoyed the interlude chapters.

An important nonfiction read that discusses the idea of a future where veganism is the norm and animal cruelty and exploitation is a thing of the past. As someone who has lived a plant based lifestyle for 15 years now, nothing this book delved into seemed really new to me. I still think it's an important read, but maybe some of the delivery was just lost in translation? A lot of the stories/evidence provided were simply anecdotal and I think I just expected something a little more eye-opening? But Van Voorst definitely does not come off as an aggressive/in your face/holier than thou vegan, so maybe this is just the perfect book for people thinking about approaching veganism and how to go about doing so.

I’ve been a vegetarian for 13 years. Full disclosure: I could not read this book. I got just a handful of pages in when I realized that reading what the author has to say will propel me to become a vegan—and in all honesty, I’m not ready to make that leap yet. I’ll come back to this book when I’m ready n

I was really excited to read this as I have been very interested in our food and how we eat and how the food industry operates and this was disappointing. It felt hectic and offensive and I did not enjoy it,

This book perhaps makes the best argument there is for a vegan diet that I have heard. While it is pretty concise, it is well researched and the information presented in an easy to process manner. I myself have given up eating beef a couple of years ago, but have found giving up other animal products completely difficult since I live in a carnivore family. I am always looking for innovative ways to incorporate more plant based foods into our diet, and I will continue to push that envelope, because, as this book states, our future depends on it. Parts of this book are both very sad and very inspiring all at once. I don’t think any one of us wants to think about the kind of suffering imparted on our animals friends, all in the name of making food to eat. It is nice to also see the other side, and have valid, scientific arguments made for why it isn’t necessary. Review posted to Goodreads, Facebook, Instagram, Litsy, LibraryThing, and Amazon

I'd give it a 1.5 maybe. I was excited to read this book and it fell flat. Tbh I ended up skimming most of it because I was bored and annoyed. The author's writing style/tone didn't do anything for me. It felt thrown together and random, like it didn't know what it wanted to be. (Like, the weird "intermezzo" chapter, which I still don't understand why it was there, to part memoir where she's writing about "vegansexuals" and dating other vegans, but then some interesting historical context, and then random comparisons. Like, comparing being vegan to being a war vet? No thanks.)

I'm like 90% vegan and have been 100% pescetarian for a decade. I occasionally still will eat salmon and cheese, but very rarely. I don't buy new leather products. I try to only buy "cruelty free" cosmetics, etc. I don't use. plastic straws anymore. I bought a hybrid car a few years ago. So, I'm all for doing what we can to save the environment and minimize/eliminate harm to animals. That said, I was annoyed by this book, and if I am, I would imagine carnivores really would be. I don't think this book would necessarily persuade anyone to go plant-based. I'm not sure who the intended audience is.

Thanks Netgalley for the e-ARC.

2.5

"Once Upon a Time We Ate Animals" is a book that looks at the history, ethics and cruelty of carnism (eating animals) and while there are some great moments and facts, the delivery overall leaves much to be desired. Maybe it is the cultural differences, maybe it's the translation but I found the delivery to be a bit offensive and messy (& I am not someone who eats meat). I am not sure it will be a great tool in swaying anyone to a more plant-based life. I really wanted to love this but I just couldn't.

Again, some of the facts and sections are lovely and impactful but it falls a bit short. Also, the weird dystopian chapter with a nod to Winston and Julia from 1984 REALLY needed to be cut out...

Thank you to netgalley & the publishers for the arc.

ONCE UPON A TIME WE ATE ANIMALS by Roanne van Voorst is a look at "The Future of Food" and it provides a unique perspective for those who are interested in the relationship between climate change and food consumption or availability. Van Voorst, an anthropologist associated with the University of Amsterdam, begins with data and statistics from around the world on changing sales of meat and animal products like milk. Then she continues with a profile of the Swedish former pig farmers Gustaf and and Caroline, describing "How Farmers Change the World." In subsequent chapters, van Voorst interviews others involved in this field, shares her own experiences, and seems to want to shock or titillate with headings like "From Patsy and Peeved to Sexy as F***." The last few sections titled "Want to Know More?" "Notes" and "Bibliography" comprise a little over ten percent of the book and are likely the most helpful for researchers, leading to additional sources. For example, van Voorst suggests titles such as the "classic" Eating Animals by Foer; other relevant titles in our collection include The Fate of Food by Little or Metabolical by Lustig. The focus on changing eating habits is likely to be a topic about which we will hear much more, especially when other scientists like Dr. Jane Goodall are crafting cookbooks and encouraging us to #EatMeatless.

Thank you, NetGalley, Roanne van Voorst, and HarperOne Books for the opportunity to read this book!

“It is perhaps the greatest paradox of being human, simply because of our humanity, we often behave inhumanely.”

ONCE UPON A TIME WE ATE ANIMALS
Once Upon a Time We Ate Animals by Roanne van Voorst will definitely inspire opinions. This book dives into the animal cruelty, health reasons, and environmental impacts of consuming animal products. She lays it all out about factory farms and the dilemma surrounding dairy farms. But asks the important question: What would the world look like if we no longer depended on animals products?

In the synopsis on Goodreads, this book is labeled as “hopeful and persuasive” and I desperately wanted that to be true. I am very conflicted about this book. I haven’t eaten meat in over a year and have cut my dairy intake by at least 80%. I am all for more environmental and animal-friendly options when it comes to food and other products. In fact, I spend a great deal of time looking into my everyday products to see what I can change for the better. So I thought I was going to be over the moon about this book.

Not really.

Yes, the author makes so many excellent points and I believe the good intentions are there. But the entire tone of this book is to ridicule and condescend those who consume any type of animal product. So much so, I found myself cringing through most of this book. There were some comparisons that are in pretty poor taste as well. There were also these strange future prediction stories on what future generations will think of us. Those felt more awkward and cringy than enlightening.

Every single person that I interact with on a daily basis eats meat. I also know some people that are very opinionated about the fact that I don’t eat meat and I HATE when I am treated with that disrespectful tone. So why in the world would I turn around and use that same tone in a vice versa situation? You will not get people to see your views when you are that condescending. I was hoping for inspiration and for tools to help me continue on my vegetarian lifestyle (hoping for a fully vegan lifestyle soon!). I did not get that. So I am rating this book 2 out of 5 stars.

Wow. No matter whether you think Veganism is for tree huggers or if it's something you've toyed with- this book lays out the realities of how animals end up as our food. You get the full story on the toll that takes on people who care for those animals, kill them, and on those of us who only see meat packaged in grocery stores. Even if you think you've seen and heard it all before this book is worth your time. We have to take action to save Earth and not eating animals is a good place to begin.

In Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma, he advises readers to "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants." Over a decade later, author Roanne Van Voorst encourages readers of her book Once Upon a Time We Ate Animals to go a step further and only eat plants. This nonfiction book imagines a very-near future when humans will tell stories about how their ancestors used to eat animals.

Veganism is on the rise, in part because of the health benefits of a plant-based lifestyle, but also because it's better for the environment and better for the animals. And more and more people are coming to understand that.

But the mental shift from carnism to veganism is a tough one, and Van Voorst writes about how people don't want to change the way they've always done things. Yet, history shows that changing beliefs and customs is the norm in our society.

The author writes about how typical myths and stereotypes about vegans are being torn down, in part thanks to celebrities and social media influencers making veganism look cool. She also writes about relationships between plant-eaters and meat-eaters, and how we can all get along.

I must admit, I picked up this book because I thought it would be more general about the future of food. I was not expecting it to be a manifesto for the vegan diet. Nothing the author writes about is news to me. If you follow my blog, you know that I've read and reviewed (and cooked from!) several vegan and plant-based cookbooks. I've watched the documentaries. I know the statistics. But I definitely suffer from the "change is hard" mentality that Van Voorst writes about in this book. Yet, she proves that change is possible, even if it means it takes you three tries to get the vegan pancakes just right. (I actually already have a pretty good vegan pancake recipe...)

So if you're on the fence about going vegan, then this book might tip you over the edge. And if you're curious about ways to help the planet or help your own health, then I'd recommend this book.

Once Upon a Time We Ate Animals is published by HarperOne and will be available to purchase tomorrow (December 28, 2021). I received a free review copy.