Meatonomics by David Robinson Simon Page A

corporate greed and systematic consumer deception. Depressing as the story of meat can be, Simon leaves the reader feeling empowered and inspired to eat in a way that reflects our deepest values as concerned consumers. One finishes this book ready to make a change.”
    —J AMES M C W ILLIAMS , P H D
author of Just Food
    “ Meatonomics provides what is perhaps the first thorough look at the shocking economic impact factory farming has had on all Americans.”
    —N ICK C OONEY ,
author of A Change of Heart and the founder and director of the Humane League



First published in 2013 by Conari Press, an imprint of
    Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC
    With offices at:
    665 Third Street, Suite 400
    San Francisco, CA 94107
    www.redwheelweiser.com

    Copyright © 2013 by David Robinson Simon
    All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC . Reviewers may quote brief passages.

    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

    Simon, David Robinson.
    Meatonomics : how the rigged economics of meat and dairy make you consume too much-and how to eat better, live longer, and spend smarter / David Robinson Simon.
        pages cm
    Includes bibliographical references and index.
    ISBN 978-1-57324-620-0
    1. Meat industry and trade—Government policy—United States. 2. Dairy products industry—Government policy—United States. I. Title.

    HD9416.S56 2013
    338.1'7600973—dc23

    2013016514

    Cover design by Jim Warner
    Cover photograph © Kitch Bain/shutterstock.com
    Interior by Maureen Forys Happenstance Type-O-Rama
    Typeset in Warnock Pro and Universe

    Printed in Canada
    F

    10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

    The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48-1992 (R1997).

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To K. B. B.

AUTHOR'S NOTE
    Let me begin by getting a couple things off my chest. For starters, economics is subjective. John Kenneth Galbraith said the field was one in which “hope and faith coexist with great scientific pretension.” The figures I propose for the costs of meatonomics are based on data that are slippery and hard to find, and the calculations themselves can vary based on how the math is done. Still, I think it's worthwhile to try. I've sought to present figures that I believe are reasonable and as accurate as possible, and in each case, to explain where they came from. Nevertheless, I'm the first to admit that this book's cost figures are, like almost everything in economics, subjective estimates.
    Furthermore, while parts of this book deal with economics, medicine, and ecology, I'm not an economist, a doctor, or an ecologist. I'm a lawyer, and that's why I like to write disclaimers. A number of specialists in these areas have read and commented on the manuscript, which I hope means it contains no glaring errors. The book's analysis and conclusions are supported by research cited in more than seven hundred endnotes. Most of this information comes directly from government reports or published, peer-reviewed studies.
    If you want to understand what's going on in the animal food industry, sometimes it helps to be an expert. But more often, you just need to keep your eyes and ears open, and approach the subject with what some Zen practitioners call “beginner's mind.” As Zen master Shunryu Suzuki observed, “In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few.” 1

I
INFLUENCING THE CONSUMER

II
THE HIDDEN COSTS OF MEATONOMICS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    This book sometimes asks people to think about animals and our relationship to them, and I'd like to remember two of the many animals who got me interested in this