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A review by linneamorgan_14
We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast by Jonathan Safran Foer
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
I think this is a good read for anyone who says they care about climate change and/or is considering cutting back on their consumption of animal products. Puts a lot of things into perspective in terms of how what we eat influences the climate and makes a very compelling case for significantly cutting down on our consumption of animal products.
A couple things that didn’t sit quite right with me (potential spoilers?):
- At one point, there is a discussion about overpopulation but there is no discussion until later on in the book about how the communities and countries that we (the west) blame overpopulation on are the ones with the lowest carbon footprint. Doesn’t sit quite right.
- The author is transparent about when he has “cheat days”, which I think is important for people to realize are ok, especially if allowing yourself occasional cheat days makes a veg/vegan diet more sustainable for you. However, the way he goes about it makes it seem like being veg/vegan is this super difficult thing, which might put people off. This might be something nit picky on my end though.
- Lastly, the book emphasizes individual action as the best way to fight climate change, but it feels like the author dismisses the action that big corporations need to take to help solve this problem (which, in a sense, fair since that isn’t the focus of the book).
A couple things that didn’t sit quite right with me (potential spoilers?):
- At one point, there is a discussion about overpopulation but there is no discussion until later on in the book about how the communities and countries that we (the west) blame overpopulation on are the ones with the lowest carbon footprint. Doesn’t sit quite right.
- The author is transparent about when he has “cheat days”, which I think is important for people to realize are ok, especially if allowing yourself occasional cheat days makes a veg/vegan diet more sustainable for you. However, the way he goes about it makes it seem like being veg/vegan is this super difficult thing, which might put people off. This might be something nit picky on my end though.
- Lastly, the book emphasizes individual action as the best way to fight climate change, but it feels like the author dismisses the action that big corporations need to take to help solve this problem (which, in a sense, fair since that isn’t the focus of the book).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide