This hard-hitting paperback with very effective charts and illustrations makes a strong case against the devastating and debilitating effects of factory farms on the environment and human health. Gristle is edited by the multiplatinum musician Moby and leading food policy advocate and activist Miyun Park. Moby is one of the most visible vegans (eating only a plant-based diet) in the world, and it is understandable why he would chose to assemble as many facts as possible against America's meat-eating overconsumption and its industrial food system. Ten experts including foodies, policy makers, food business leaders, and food activists lay out the largely uncovered (except for the recent documentary Food, Inc.) human and environmental damage created by meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products from factory farms.

A recent Worldwatch Institute report stated: "As environmental science has advanced, it has become apparent that the . . . [animal agriculture sector] is a driving force behind virtually every major category of environmental damage now threatening the human future — deforestation, erosion, fresh water scarcity, air and water pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, social injustice, the destabilization of communities, and the spread of disease." In various chapters, the experts chart the dire consequences of the agribusiness upon mistreated animals, human health, and global hunger. They the dangers posed to workers, the contamination of communities adjacent to factory farms, and the spread of infectious diseases. Read this one and weep.