Goats yes, but food for thought as well
348163
This was a global read book so people around the world read it and talked about it. Thats why it caught my eye.
There are goats in it however the story is about how you come back from a devastating circumstance of your own making. This is what I found captivating and insightful. Its very honest and theres a lot to ponder here. I am happy i read it.
3109234
I was very affected by this book. It is a solid case for animal rights on many aspects. and the question " Do they live a life worth living" as asked and answered in this book really  makes you look at the animal kingdom from a different perspective. I agreed with the principles held by the author before reading the book but now I also have specific arguments to demonstrate my point of view.and hope to at least a little bit, make people aware of the importance of respecting and cherishing animals.
4708052
This book was excellent. It's a little science heavy but if I can get through it anyone can. I certainly hope it evokes the response the author wants. I have commented numerous times around the internet that I believe not only are we not at the top of the food chain, we're not even close. A mystical poet named Rumi, told his followers,  "imagine a being so vast and powerful, it could snuff out our Sun as you would a candle. I tell you such beings exist, although when at that level, they would never do such a thing". Unfortunately, Rumi may have been wrong.
4438170
This was a very thought provoking, philosophical book.  There were many things that I have heard over the years that are thought to be factual when in fact, they are not.  The biggest thing, naturally, is spoken of in the title.  It is a good sales pitch for considering the purchase of her brand of hoof boots for riding.
1197610
This book was not quite what I expected.  The title, on "Why Religion Matters", might get you to thinking that there would be large tracts devoted to Darwin or Marx, or atheistic criticism and the hegemony of secular thinking.  Smith actually argues that the traditional world-view of an intergrated, meaningful world is still valid, and primarily attacks the view that science or "scientism" (that all beliefs can be reduced to scientific method or explanation) has become somewhat of its own religion, precluding alternative or earlier understanding of this world.  In a nutshell, we have all become too rationalistic and "straight-jacketed" by the rigors of a modern, "scientistic" thinking.  He makes some valid points, but personally I believe he may have done some disservice to the curiousity and wonder of many scientists. His book is effective, but not what I was expecting, and not the exact way I would imagine framing this question myself.  It is, overall a good book, communicating interesting and controversial ideas - adequate for beginning students.
4217697
Animal Madness is an exploration of the mental abnormalities of the animals around us and how they resemble and are treated like human mental illnesses. I thought the book was interesting, particularly the discussion of nineteenth and early twentieth century accounts of the mental problems of animals and how they mirrored the understanding of human mental health at that time. Some of the descriptions of the more extreme cases of mental illness in animals and how they were treated were also intriguing. The story of the author's Bernese mountain dog and his battle with untreatable anxiety was particularly heartbreaking.

Reading this book, it becomes clear that human management (and mismanagement) of animals has a big impact on their mental health. However, maybe because I work with an animal welfare organization, that's not exactly news to me. I wish the author had focused on more extreme cases of mental illness in animals, because I was underwhelmed with some of her examples--the behaviors that she describes are so common as to be unremarkable to anyone who works with animals on a regular basis. For example, she describes the behavior of an orphaned donkey that she bottle raised when she was a child--he bites frequently and unexpectedly, is hostile and aggressive toward other animals, and is fascinated with people. And that's about what you might expect from an animal that wasn't properly socialized to other animals as a baby (and, according to the author, was also weaned too soon). In fact, I have a cat with similar (less severe) behaviors, probably because she didn't get enough time with her mother/litter mates as a kitten. Is she "disturbed," as the author labels the donkey? I have a hard time seeing her that way, although her personality is more difficult than that of my other cats. But if my cat is mentally ill, so are a lot of other dogs and cats out there.

That aside, the book is a worthwhile read for anyone who is interested in the topic of mental illness in both the animals around us and in the human animal.

An ARC of Animal Madness was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
3816728
I especially liked the beginning few chapters. Very thought provoking. Coming from conventional ag this is an interesting approach to agriculture. Less enasmored with the philosophy in the latter chapters
1132585
Let's face it: food economics isn't the most exciting thing in the world, but it's important to know. Admittedly before I read this book, not much thought went into where food comes from - typically we don't think much past the grocery store.

One of my interests is in biofuels, which the demand will cause a rise in food prices, and agencies like the UN World Food Program, which operates on a fixed budget, will not be able to afford as much food (and thus, starvation.) So, being able to understand the economics can help me understand that indirectly, people could starve in developing countries as a result. That leads into overall government policy, which is interesting and yet maddening at the same time.

The book is well researched, and I liked learning about how an increase in per capita income tends to slow population growth but an increase in animal-based protein. It makes sense, but also seems a little too complex for most people to understand.

The book is a dry book - let's face it, economics isn't a page turner, and food economics is even worse. But Westhoff does a good enough job at laying down a proper foundation for people who want to learn about food economics, or perhaps as a book for a university class.
3682066
Like the previous reviewer (who will appear here after my review), I too have read this book twice -- first from the library, then again after buying a copy some time later.  There's quite a lot of interesting reading  here on animal, primate, and human mating behavior from an evolutionary  perspective.  This puts the book in pretty good company with such books as  Ridley's "The Red Queen" and Cherfas & Gribion's "The  Redundant Male", Baker's "Sperm Wars" and Buss's  "Evolution of Desire" both being perhaps too focused on just  human behavior to be directly comparable.  Still there's a lot of overlap  of material.  Batten's book is perhaps a bit broader than it is deep (it's  only 210 pgs), but that adds to its readability, even if it causes  frustration at times as certain implications which occur to the reader are  not adequately acknowledged, much less explored.
Unlike the previous  reviewer, I don't think the book is all that objective at times, and I  think there's quite a lot of moralizing.  Parts of the chapter on  "subverting" female choice seemed to me to be particularly  noxious.  At least Batten has it right that rape (among humans) is about  male powerlessless rather than male power (as we've been hearing from  feminists for so long).  On the other hand, she seems to buy into the fact  that it's about power and not reproduction, which seems curious.  Just one  example of what I thought were contradictions left unresolved.  Another:  are males in favor of infanticide, or do the right-to-lifer's show they're  against it?  I could go on...
It's a common and not entirely  unjustifiable complaint about this genre of science (or pseudo-science,  depending on ones persuasion) that it merely reflects cultural biases and  current fads in thinking.  That women control the economy of eros  (reproduction) is not exactly a new idea, thought the author makes it sound  like this is something revolutionary.  That men quite often cooperate with  women in this regard perhaps isn't given enough credence here (there's an  undertone that females are entitled to their choice...), thus illuminating  another critique of this kind of book, namely that it reduces humans to  being mere animals.  We all like to believe that there is some difference,  whether it be in intelligence or the ability to conceptualize the future or  some other intangible.  The unspoken assumption in sociobiology is that  certain things are universal by virtue of their being biological, which I  think is debatable.
Still, Batten's book is certain to both entertain and  educate the average reader.  She has a unique angle on the topic in her  choice of objective things to relate and it's refreshing to hear certain  sacred cows taken on and sometimes debunked.  Even discussing them is an  improvement compared to what passes for debate in the marketplace of ideas  these days, so I hope I'm not making the book sound worse than it is.
1223321
BABY goat. Why? Babies suckle at the breast of their mothers. Why would anyone worth the ground they walk on murder a baby and break a mother's heart? Why? With the abundance of life-affirming veg and fruit and grain and herb, why?
4914280
Of course they do!  How could anyone think otherwise?  They're mammals, and all mammals share major similarities.  We have thoughts, emotions, frustrations, furies.  We have sorrow and joy, love and anger, opinions, both positive and negative.  While I enjoyed the book (because I'm an animal lover), I didn't find anything in it that I didn't already know or suspect.  While I don't pretend to be an expert on animal behavior, I do know enough about human behavior to recognize the similarities, and I've lived with enough dogs and cats over the years to understand their various barks and meows, ear twitches, snarls, and hisses, gentle pats on the back of my leg when I'm not paying them the attention they deserve, etc.  I know the difference between a bark that says "play with me!" and one that says "Let me in!  It's cold out here!; the difference between a meow that says, "Pet me," Pick me up and baby me" and one that says, "I'm mad, so leave me alone!  I did enjoy this book.  It may be full of the obvious, but it was a fun read, and I suspect any animal lover would agree.  Check it out. You won't be disappointed.
2962684
The authors define ZOOBIQUITY as a connecting species spanning approach to the diagnostic challenges and therapeutic puzzles of clinical medicine.

Just a few of the many interesting inter-species connections discussed include that:

1. Rhinos get leukemia
2. Melanoma occurs in many animals from penguins to buffaloes
3. Koalas contract chlamydia - in fact, it is decimating them
4. Like humans, animals binge-eat, hoard food, and eat in secret at night
5. Octopi and stallions among other species engage in self mutilation
6. Chimpanzees in the wild suffer can suffer from depression
7. Many different species use plants to self medicate, including hallucinogens to feel better mentally
8. Animals do commit suicide, especially those with terminal parasitic infections
9. There was even evidence of dinosaurs having developed brain cancer

As an animal lover, especially of dogs and horses, I was pleased to find out that in 2012 the Canine Lifetime Health Project was begun to study the health and especially cancer in the 3000 Golden Retrievers signed up by their owners.  This is the doggy equivalent of the famous Framingham Health Study for humans.  An interesting side note to this area is that Beagles and Dachshunds were the least likely canine breeds to develop cancer, while unfortunately Boxers lead the list in developing mast cell tumors, which are quite rare in humans, and Chow Chows commonly get gastric carcinomas and melanomas.

In the chapter titled ROAR-GASM the author informs us that "[Sex in animals as in humans] is not always linked to reproduction.  In fact, it could be argued that the vast majority of sexual activity in animals does not have procreation as a goal."

In a later chapter titled ZOOPHORIA the author informs us that some animals as the Tasmanian Wallabies, who often gorge on poppy plants, become addicted to drugs.

There are simply too many interesting and wonderful facts to learn how mankind has so much in common with other species than one ever imagined possible.

Simply a wonderful and informative read.
1913076
I must say that I was initially put off by the title of this book. I assumed from the title that this must be another one of "those" Christian arguments for vegetarianism--you know, the ones that use out of context prooftexts to argue that Jesus really was a vegetarian.  However, one of my colleagues did his Ph. D. work with Richard Alan Young, and he told me that Young was not only an excellent scholar, but a person who lived his convictions.  So I decided to give the book a try, in spite of the title.

I am so glad I did.  Young deals with the major issues and texts which arise when the question of vegetarianism is posed.  Each chapter heading is a question which leads the author into a discussion of the relevant texts and historical background.  He addresses questions like "Was Jesus a Vegetarian?" "Didn't God Permit Us to Eat Meat?" and "Didn't Paul Condemn Vegetarianism as Heresy?" with honesty and theological integrity.  He does not try to force intepretations out of the texts, but lets them speak for themselves, offering a balanced and evenhanded treatment.

Most importantly, Young offers one of the best arguments for Christian vegetarianism I've read to date.  He does not resort to prooftexting or spurious arguments based on scant biblical evidence.  Instead he builds the case for vegetarianism upon a much broader biblical perspective--the peaceable kingdom.  In sum, Genesis 1 and 2 offer the ideal view of human existence:  humans and animals are vegetarians, humans are the caregivers of God's creation, the world and all creation are at peace. Unfortunately, all that is shattered in Genesis 3.  However, the biblical material looks forward to a reinstatement of that original harmony.  Examining the prophets vision of the peaceable kingdom, Young concludes that the role of Christians is to do God's will on earth as it is in heaven.  In other words, Jesus' vision of the kingdom of heaven is a here and now concept, not a concept that will occur only in heaven.  "The peaceable kingdom encompasses the full range of human moral aspirations, depicts peaceful coexistence between humans and nonhumans, and represents the goal toward which God is guiding history" (150).

Our job as Christians is to envision the peaceable kingdom and work to bring it about.  Christ's act on the cross was an act of restoration, not just between humans and God, but between humans and other humans, and humans and all creation.  Thus, Christians are to be actively involved in that restorative vision.  If the peaceable kingdom is to be established, one fundamental step toward that outcome is refraining from eating meat. There can be no peace between animals and humans if we continue consuming animals.

Additional touches set this book apart as well: each chapter concludes with a wholesome vegetarian recipe; the last chapter offers a basic discussion of how to "go vegetarian;" and Young provides a bibliography for further reading.

Don't be put off by the title of the book--I found out that the publisher insisted upon it to make the book more "provocative."  This book is a must read for any Christian who desires to investigate Christianity's relationship to animal rights and vegetarianism. It is well written, thoroughly researched, and easily accessible to anyone interested in the subject.
2793670
In this thin 47-page booklet Klingbeil, a combined architect AND goat breeder, drew up plans for 16 goat barns spanning a range from 2 to 78 goats, assuring one will be right for you.  The plans and elevations are quite small so they can't be used for construction documents, but they are good food for thought.  A few specifications are outdated ("interior should be painted with Kolineum", no longer available), but lists of materials and handy hints for contractors are helpful.

  This booklet should be considered a starting point in planning a goat barn, for you will want to revise some details such as materials and floor plan according to your own needs and farm layout.  It may also help you to "think big" in this age when goat raising is becoming more popular.  The 78-goat-capacity barn is a real whopper -- it takes 30 TONS of hay to fill the loft -- but you might increase your herd in the next few years and actually need that much space.

  Dairy Goat Journal should consider reprinting this volume to once again make it available to goat breeders and goat milk producers.
4252560
This book extols the virtues of eating locally grown produce and food and is a sustained attack on agribusiness.  Part of my issue with this book is its schizophrenia.  Does it purport to be a food adventure, a recipe book, or a public policy commentary?  It attempts to be all of the above in different places, which I think undercuts the unity of the book, which occasionally reverts to a rather preachy tone.  With three different authors collaborating with in the same family, the book also occasionally exhausts the reader.

Reading about locally grown produce does make part of the book delicious and mouth watering.  Of course, not everyone lives out in the country with multiple acres to till.

Nevertheless, Team Kingsolver succeed in getting the reader buying and consumption in a more thoughtful manner, questioning the wisdom of wasting so much fossil fuel in transporting foreign produce to markets everywhere so that the notion of seasonality becomes almost extinct.
740620
Being a disgruntled dairy cow myself, I must applaud Professor Lims proposal to bring creation, storage and distribution of food back to the heart of our capital city.

Just last week, a fellow bovine sister told me a parable of the miseducation of Britains urban youths. Apparently, when questioned where milk comes from, a certain inner-city child exclaimed that it comes from a bottle. I was disappointed to say the least. Its high time that milkmen and corporate supermarket chains stop taking credit for our work. We livestock must return to the urban landscape to impart future generations with our ancient wisdom of how the world has always been. Im told that my great-great grandfather once grazed in the pastures of Londons 'Soho' area, and I would very much like to see it.

I raise a hoof in solidarity with Professor Lim and his eco-warriors.
3911880
Gary Francione is an important thinker in the animal rights debate. His abolitionist views have proved influential in certain sectors of the movement, and for that reason alone it is important to read his work.

The problem with Gary is that I get the impression he thinks his views are obviously watertight and thoroughly convincing and seems surprised anyone would disagree with them. His arguments are presented in a simple (almost syllogistic) format that circumvents the complexity of the issues. Writers like Robert Garner have drawn attention to the problem with thinking that the property status of animals is the ultimate, foundational issue that should be the heart of the movement's concerns. But as I said, Gary's arguments are important to consider and he makes some genuinely insightful remarks.