I Can’t Believe It’s Not Abattoir!

In Happy Meat, four Canadian sociologists attempt to unravel the mystery of what they call the meat paradox: “the simultaneous existence of deep concern for animal welfare and the environmental harms of industrial meat production, alongside the persistent consumption of animals.” Although the authors do not oppose meat consumption, noting that they eat meat themselves, they are interested in the narratives that people use to reconcile their choices within this paradox. Identifying happiness as a central theme, they tease out a story of “happy meat” and the way that this story is used to deflect systemic critiques. This is a timely book, as the low adoption rate of non-religious vegetarianism and veganism is truly puzzling, despite rising awareness of environmental, health, and animal welfare concerns.

The story begins with the ascription of happiness to cattle, lambs, hogs, poultry, and the like farmed for their flesh. Even though these animals are destined...