Once Upon a Time We Ate Animals: The Future of Food

Combining the ethical clarity of Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals with the disquieting vision of Alan Weissman’s bestseller The World Without Us, a thought-provoking, entertaining exploration of a future where animal consumption is a thing of the past.

Though increasing numbers of people know that eating meat is detrimental to our planet’s health, many still can’t be convinced to give up eating meat. But how can we change behavior when common arguments and information aren’t working?

Acclaimed anthropologist Roanne Van Voorst changes the dialogue. In Once Upon a Time We Ate Animals, she shifts the focus from the present looking forward to the future looking back—imagining a world in which most no longer use animals for food, clothing, or other items. By shifting the viewpoint, she offers a clear and compelling vision of what it means to live in a world without meat.

A massive shift is already taking place—everything van Voorst covers in this book has already been invented and is being used today by individuals and small organizations worldwide.

Hopeful and persuasive, Once Upon a Time We Ate Animals offers a tantalizing vision of what is not only possible but perhaps inevitable.

How do we move toward a kinder, more sustainable world when facts alone aren’t enough?

• Carnism as an Ideology: Discover the invisible belief system that conditions good people to participate in a system that goes against their own values of compassion and justice.
• A Future Perspective: Shift your viewpoint and look back from a future where eating animals is a thing of the past, making the path forward feel not only possible, but inevitable.
• Beyond Factory Farming: Meet the former pig, beef, and dairy farmers who are leading the way by transitioning to compassionate, plant-based agriculture.
• The Tipping Point for Social Change: Learn why the transition to a plant-based world isn’t a distant dream but a massive shift already in motion, powered by technology and changing social norms.