The Ethical Carnivore: My Year Killing to Eat

About the Book

WINNER OF TWO 2017 GUILD OF FOOD WRITERS AWARDS: BEST FOOD BOOK AWARD AND THE CAMPAIGNING AND INVESTIGATIVE FOOD WORK AWARD

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2017 FORTNUM & MASON FOOD BOOK OF THE YEAR

A BBC RADIO 4 FOOD PROGRAMME BOOK OF THE YEAR 2016
A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2016

We should all know exactly where our meat comes from. But what if you took this modern-day maxim to its logical conclusion and only ate animals you killed yourself?

Louise Gray decides to be an ethical carnivore and learn to stalk, shoot and fish. Starting small, Louise shucks oysters and catches a trout. As she begins to reconnect with nature, she befriends countrymen and women who can teach her to shoot pigeons, rabbits and red deer.

Louise begins to look into how meat is processed, including the beef in our burgers, cheap chicken, supermarket bacon and farmed fish. She investigates halal slaughter and visits abattoirs to ask whether new technology can make eating meat more humane.

Delving into alternative food cultures, Louise finds herself sourcing roadkill and cooking a squirrel stir-fry, and she explores eating other sources of protein like in vitro meat, insects and plant-based options. With the global demand for meat growing, Louise argues that eating less meat should be an essential part of fighting climate change for all of us.

Her writing on nature, food and the environment is full of humour, while never shying from the hard facts. Louise gets to the heart of modern anxieties about where our meat comes from, asking an important question for our time – is it possible to be an ethical carnivore?

Table of Contents:

Prologue

1 Pearls
2 Novice Macnab
3 Minions
4 Henry
5 Gobby Teens
6 Grown-ups
7 Swine
8 Ishmael
9 Colin
10 Game Bird
11 Hunter-gatherer
12 Tigers of the sea
13 The Leaper
14 Damh
15 Beyond Meat

Author's Note
Appendix
Acknowledgements
Further Reading
Index

About the Author :

Louise Gray is a freelance writer based in Scotland. She trained with The Press Association and was a staff writer for The Scotsman. From 2008 to 2013 she was Environment Correspondent for The Daily Telegraph. Louise specialises in writing about food, farming and climate change. In recent years she has written for The Sunday Times, Scottish Field, the Guardian and The Spectator, among others. She has also appeared on BBC television and radio.

Louise is passionate about environmental issues, increasingly focusing on how individuals can make a difference through the choices they make, such as the food we eat. The Ethical Carnivore is her first book.

@loubgray / louisebgray.com

Review :
A highly original work, executed with complete conviction. Heart-warming, engaging and impossible to put down, it treats a challenging subject unflinchingly. Recommended reading. A charming and eye-opening book. The accounts of hunting trips with her father contain vivid and quite moving nature writing. A carefully balanced yet truthful and unpreachy book. Beautifully written. Brave and personal. This humane, adventurous and wonderfully illuminating exploration will entertain and challenge everyone, from carnivore to vegan. Vivid, visceral and honest. Gray observes without ever being detached, and that's a rare talent. Well paced, well researched and politically even-handed. Compellingly readable, wise and kind. There's plenty of serious reflection too, all the more arresting for Gray's lightness of touch. Superb. Brilliantly written and needed to be said. A very personal, heartwarming book that carries you along like a good novel. The writer's dedication to her subject is inspiring and she totally throws herself into her research. Brave and ruthlessly honest, it will change the way you think. The author more than earns her stripes... It's impossible not to admire her. A fascinating insight... The book is neither preachy nor lacking in laughs. Gray writes with humour and humanity. A thorough, engaging, sometimes shocking account of where our meat comes from. It is also, importantly, a book about caring. This brave project by Louise Gray is told in beautiful, descriptive prose that shows her love and knowledge of nature. [The book is] not a reflection on whether or not to become a vegetarian ... Gray believes we can eat meat ethically, going for quality ahead of quantity. She writes well and this is a book that all should read – but it isn’t simply a duty, it’s a gritty pleasure. Louise Gray is a micromaster. This is a must read for anyone who wants to know more about where the meat and fish they eat comes from ... and the environmental and social impact. This is a really important exploration of the meat industry, our relationship with meat and animals through history and offers an insight into what the future could hold – but it's also a good read that reads like you're talking to an old friend down the pub.