Sonia Faruqi

Did you know that Americans consume more meat per capita than any other country in the world? Fortunately, the disadvantages of such a meat-heavy diet in America are coming to light. The pollution, the dangerous chemicals and substances in meat, the health benefits of a plant-based diet, even the trendiness of going vegetarian/vegan…all of these and more are finding their way into our newspapers, news stations and social media platforms. It has almost become easy to justify lessening or eliminating the carnivore part of our omnivore appetites. One such justification, however, has been staunchly hidden and minimized to the public, and may perhaps be the most hideous issue of them all: animal welfare.

The voracious consumption of animals in America is staggering. The demand for meat in our grocery stores, street carts, restaurants, etc. require that millions of animals be slaughtered each year. That is hundreds of pounds of meat per person, each year. When you put down your fork and knife to think about the magnitude of those numbers, it almost seems ridiculous. Outrageous even.
 
But what’s more outrageous is the treatment of these animals that find themselves forced into suffering for the entirety of their too-short lives. Mother pigs did not choose to live out their lives in tiny metal gestation crates that do not even allow them to turn around. Chickens did not choose to be force fed food and steroids until they collapse under their own weights. Cows did not choose to be shackled in tiny stalls that bear electric shocks if they move so much as a few inches back. None of these animals chose a life devoid of feeling sunlight spray across their faces, or the feeling of grass beneath their feet.

Why, in 2015, is it acceptable to restrain and keep animals in this appalling manner? Perhaps it is because the extreme conditions and abominable cruelty these animals experience are still hidden from the general public. When we go to the grocery store, we don’t pick up slabs of meat with pictures of dirty, sick, sad animals on them.
 
Sonia Faruqi’s Project Animal Farm reveals what truly happens behind farm doors. Traveling to and living on farms around the world, Sonia has compiled her experiences, observations, and solutions into a book that reads like a novel and teaches like a textbook. Lively and filled with insight and suspense, Project Animal Farm promises to enlighten and interest readers.