Livestock : Food, Fiber, and Friends

Most livestock in America currently live in cramped and unhealthy confinement, have few stable social relationships with humans or others of their species, and finish their lives by being transported and killed under stressful conditions. In Livestock, Erin McKenna allows us to see this situation clearly and presents meaningful alternatives. She interweaves stories from visits to farms, interviews with producers and activists, and other rich material about the current condition of livestock, mixing her account with pragmatist and ecofeminist theorizing about animals, drawing in particular on John Dewey's account of evolutionary history.

This deeply informative text reveals that the animals we commonly see as livestock have rich evolutionary histories, species-specific behaviors, breed tendencies, and individual variation, just as those we respect in companion animals such as dogs, cats, and horses. McKenna provides substantial historical background about individual species and about human-animal relations, helping us understand these animals in fuller, more complex ways.

To restore a similar level of respect for livestock, McKenna examines ways we can balance the needs of our livestock animals with the environmental and social impacts of raising them, and she investigates new possibilities for human ways of being in relationships with animals. This book thus offers us a picture of healthier, more respectful relationships with livestock—revealing pathways toward treating these animals with the dignity they deserve.