Overview

In Pig Tales, New York Times best-selling author of Tomatoland Barry Estabrook turns his attention to the dark side of the American pork industry. Drawing on personal experiences raising pigs as well as sharp investigative instincts, Estabrook covers the range of the human-porcine experience. He shows how these intelligent creatures are all too often subjected to lives of suffering in confinement and squalor, sustained on a drug-laced diet just long enough to reach slaughter weight. But Estabrook also reveals how it is possible to raise pigs responsibly and respectfully, benefiting producers and consumers—as well as some of the top chefs in America. Provocative, witty, and deeply informed, Pig Tales is bound to spark conversation at dinner tables across America.

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Excellent . . . a more balanced and nuanced complement to muckraking works on similar subjects by Upton Sinclair (The Jungle) and, more recently, Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation). -- Peter A. Coclanis - Raleigh News & Observer Cogent, level-headed. -- Nature Masterfully blends storytelling with succinct explanations of policy and science . . . a must-read. -- Jim Romanoff - EatingWell Estabrook demonstrates his skill with words to tell compelling true stories . . . authoritative yet approachable. -- Steve Weinberg - Seattle Times Estabrook turns his keen journalistic eye to pig production . . . [and] provides balance in the engaging tales of farmers and processors who are thoughtful and eminently human. . . . [A] must-read. -- Cathy Barrow, author of Mrs. Wheelbarrow's Kitchen Estabrook tells two powerful stories here. The first is about the appalling ways in which Big Pig raises animals. . . . The second is about how skilled animal husbandry and respect for the intelligence of pigs produces . . . a far more satisfying life for farmers and pigs alike. Pig Tales is beautifully written. It is also deeply touching. -- Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University, and author of Eat, Drink, Vote: An Illustrated Guide to Food Politics Estabrook puts his substantial reporting, storytelling, and writing talents in the service of the pig. He documents the horrors perpetrated in America on this miracle creature, but he also describes the ways to break away from those horrors. . . . Pig Tales appalled me, terrified me, and then filled me with hope. -- Michael Ruhlman, author of Charcuterie and Salumi A beautiful and clear-eyed examination of the world of pigs and pig farming. With his engaging prose and soulful, riveting stories, [Estabrook] illuminates the complexities of the pig industry and the desperate need for reform. -- Alice Waters, Chez Panisse

A beautiful and clear-eyed examination of the world of pigs and pig farming. With his engaging prose and soulful, riveting stories, [Estabrook] illuminates the complexities of the pig industry and the desperate need for reform. -- Alice Waters, Chez Panisse Estabrook puts his substantial reporting, storytelling, and writing talents in the service of the pig. He documents the horrors perpetrated in America on this miracle creature, but he also describes the ways to break away from those horrors... Pig Tales appalled me, terrified me, and then filled me with hope. -- Michael Ruhlman, author of Charcuterie and Salumi Estabrook tells two powerful stories here. The first is about the appalling ways in which Big Pig raises animals... The second is about how skilled animal husbandry and respect for the intelligence of pigs produces ... a far more satisfying life for farmers and pigs alike. Pig Tales is beautifully written. It is also deeply touching. -- Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University, and author of Eat, Drink, Vote: An Illustrated Guide to Food Politics Estabrook turns his keen journalistic eye to pig production ... [and] provides balance in the engaging tales of farmers and processors who are thoughtful and eminently human... [A] must-read. -- Cathy Barrow, author of Mrs. Wheelbarrow's Kitchen Estabrook demonstrates his skill with words to tell compelling true stories ... authoritative yet approachable. -- Steve Weinberg - Seattle Times Masterfully blends storytelling with succinct explanations of policy and science ... a must-read. -- Jim Romanoff - EatingWell Cogent, level-headed. -- Nature Excellent ... a more balanced and nuanced complement to muckraking works on similar subjects by Upton Sinclair (The Jungle) and, more recently, Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation). -- Peter A. Coclanis - Raleigh News & Observer

Author Information

A three-time James Beard Award winner, Barry Estabrook is a former contributing editor at Gourmet magazine and the author of Pig Tales and Tomatoland. He blogs at politicsoftheplate.com and lives in Vermont.

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