Roanne van Voorst

This book perhaps makes the best argument there is for a vegan diet that I have heard. While it is pretty concise, it is well researched and the information presented in an easy to process manner. I myself have given up eating beef a couple of years ago, but have found giving up other animal products completely difficult since I live in a carnivore family. I am always looking for innovative ways to incorporate more plant based foods into our diet, and I will continue to push that envelope, because, as this book states, our future depends on it. Parts of this book are both very sad and very inspiring all at once. I don’t think any one of us wants to think about the kind of suffering imparted on our animals friends, all in the name of making food to eat. It is nice to also see the other side, and have valid, scientific arguments made for why it isn’t necessary. Thank you to Netgalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review.… (més)

Met z’n zessen in bed. De toekomst van liefde: van polyamerie tot relatiepillen. Door: Roanne van Voorst.

Wat een boek. Wat heb ik veel bijgeleerd. Van Voorst is antropoloog, geïnteresseerd in de toekomst, dus dit boek is niet zomaar een boek vol wilde voorspellingen. Zij doet uitgebreid onderzoek, in dit geval naar allerlei dingen die met liefde te maken hebben, en haar bevindingen deelt zij op een boeiende, vlotte, soms ronduit verbijsterende manier. Bij haar geen droge theorie en literatuuronderzoek, zij stapt echt in haar onderwerp. In dit geval: pillen slikken, met robots in bed duiken, een avatar ontwerpen en zo veel meer.

Ik heb dit boek vaak met open mond zitten lezen, terwijl ik van alles onderstreepte en voortdurend tegen mijn man riep: “Kende jij dit al, hoorde jij hier ooit van,…? “De wereld verandert razendsnel, de liefde ook. Datingapps, DNA-onderzoek, seksrobots, genderfluïditeit, solopoly, jalief-gevoel,…, alles komt aan bod. Experten, cijfers, gebruikers, aanbieders, literatuur, dagboekaantekeningen komen voorbij. Dit zorgt voor veel achtergrondverhalen, een blik langs alle kanten, diepgang en duiding.

Roanne van Voorst velt ook (bijna nooit) een moreel oordeel; omdat smaken verschillen én omdat van allerlei fenomenen nog niet (volledig) duidelijk is welke gevolgen ze op ons, mensen, zullen hebben. Sommige onderzoekers zien de (digitalisering) van de toekomst, dus ook op liefdesvlak, rooskleurig tegemoet, anderen waarschuwen nu al voor de valkuilen en (onherroepelijke) veranderingen/verarming. Dat maakt dit boek net extra interessant én relevant. Voor elke lezer die op de één of andere manier wel eens met de liefde in aanraking komt (iedereen dus) een must-read!… (més)

The captivating, intriguing title (helped by the the subtly beautiful, stark cover design - see the apple inside the letter O and the birds inside the As) convinced me to pick up this book, in which Dutch "anthropologist of the future" Roanne Van Voorst imagines a future in which eating animals (and animal products) is a thing of the past. Her tone is not evangelistic or haranguing at all, but simple and logical, backed by evidence from the U.S., Europe, and other parts of the world. The book is nonfiction, describing the change in process - veganism is much more trendy than it used to be, and vegan products are likewise much easier to find than before - but also includes three fictional "intermezzos," imagining a family in which the parents and grandparents lived through the cultural shift from carnism to veganism, and the grandchild's complex feelings toward the grandparents. Even this, though, is done gently, without moralizing; but for anyone who cares at all about the climate or animal welfare, there's only one conclusion.

See also: Being Wrong by Kathryn Schulz, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Quotes

"The future is already here - it's just not very evenly distributed." -William Gibson (epigraph)

"The difficulty lies, not in the new idea, but in escaping from the old ones." -John Maynard Keynes (epigraph)

Yet if we avoid thinking about bad things, this results in a tacit acceptance of what goes on, and this is dangerous if this is the norm, as it leads to enormous suffering. Seen in this light, our silent generation is guilty of massive-scale animal abuse that takes place every second of every day, and we are equally guilty of the destruction of the planet, caused by the emissions created by industrial livestock farming. (13)

Past experience has also shown that we are only able to spot what is wrong with a story when we have obtained new information and have moved on to an alternative one. As long as we have no alternative, we are not actively looking for a new story. (45)

When an ideology is dominant - that is, when it is a system of beliefs helf by the vast majority of people - it is very difficult for individuals to recognize this as a personal and voluntary choice, as well as it being an idea that you can choose to believe in...or not. Yet carnism certainly is an ideology. (50)

Members of the dominant culture look at members of the counterculture with irritation, fear, skepticism, or a mixture of all these negative feelings. (87)

In any process of change you can divide humans into roughly three groups: the front-runners (often called pioneers), the followers, and the latecomers. (96)

...you can quickly change a belief held by the majority in a group as long as 10 percent of the people in this group are fully convinced by another idea. (research from RPI, 97)

...what we like to eat or drink is determined more by marketing and connected to popular ideas about what is good, healthy, and normal than by our own ideas and needs. (113)

There is no choice in life more personal than what you eat. (129)

It doesn't get any more personal than food, but it doesn't get any less political either....If you can choose what you eat, every meal is a political action, a decision to support certain producers and boycott others. (130-131)

[UMass Lowell research] ...it makes no difference if you get your proteins from animal or plant sources: both have the exact same effect on your health. (161)

...the fact that we can eat [meat] does not mean we are designed to eat it. (170)

If eating is a political act, then the law is a manifestation of belief. (181)

...if pigs and other animals get stressed by a certain type of livestock farming, transport, and slaughter system, something needs to be changed about that system. (195)

[Steven] Wise compares the current slow pace at which the law is changing regarding animals to the historical period in which laws around slavery changed. (211)

1. Climate change is normal and natural. This one isn't.
2. Climate change is a fact; climate catastrophes are an option.
3. A huge part of current climate changes are caused by the meat and dairy industry.
4. The most effective way of combating climate change is by turning vegan. (221-224)

In 2018, meat and dairy products provided just 18 percent of our calories and 37 percent of the proteins we ate, while these industries used 83 percent of all agricultural land and were responsible for 60 percent of the greenhouse gases released by agriculture. (230)

...the stories we have told each other for so long no longer make sense and we must not create new stories that are better suited to our present situation. (244)

Additional resources:
Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
We Are the Weather by Jonathan Safran Foer
Melanie Joy TEDx Talk "Toward Rational, Authentic Food Choices"
DeliciouslyElla (for recipes)
Man.Eat.Plant (recipes)
Ezra Klein and Melanie Joy, "The Green Pill"… (més)