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The books below have been reviewed by members of the Sustainable Consumption Committee. If you would like to recommend a book, or submit a review of your own (these books or others) please email Anna Peterson with “SCC Book Review” in the subject line. See the Bibliography for more recommended materials on sustainable consumption issues. Current Book Reviews
The Way We Eat, a new book by ethicist Peter Singer and attorney Jim Mason, follows the food choices of three American families: meat-and-potatoes Wal-Mart shoppers, "conscientious omnivores," and stringent vegans. Animal well-being; production standards; fair trade; environmental impacts, including of local production; and genetically modified foods are among the considerations of the applied ethical calculus. Readers are warned that we cannot know exactly how far the concepts of "free range" or "humanely slaughtered" might be stretched, and that even humanely raised animals take up space that might be better used to grow crops or provide habitat for wild species. In a Slate interview, Singer suggests that to improve the conditions under which animals are raised, either consumers must be ethically motivated to pay more for their food or else unfair competition must be eliminated with regulations. In a Mother Jones interview, he comments that the market is probably the best tool for producing change in the U.S. whereas the political system may be a more effective tool in Europe. Mason and Singer recommend that consumers ideally follow a vegan diet and buy organic and fair trade items. If, however, one merely avoids products produced by intensive animal agriculture, Singer says you will have already achieved 80% of what the book suggests we should strive to accomplish. The immorality of obesity is also discussed.
Michael Pollan's new book, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, explores the origins of a meal from a fast food restaurant, a meal he hunts and grows himself, a meal with ingredients from small "family farms," and a meal with ingredients from large organic corporations. Pollan visits a "free range" organic chicken farm where 20,000 birds are raised in a single building with little opportunity to go outdoors. He reminds readers that cheap food is not really cheap, because costs to human health, the environment, the farming community and taxpayers are not reflected. Perhaps paying more for our food would make us "more mindful eaters," he says, considering we in the U.S. spend the smallest percentage (9%) of our income on food of any population in history.
One Fish, Two Fish, Crawfish, Bluefish: The Smithsonian Sustainable Seafood Cookbook by Carole Baldwin and Julie Mounts provides recipes for sustainable cuisine. This insightful and beautifully-illustrated book contains over 150 recipes from some of the most creative and famous chefs in the U.S. Co-author and marine biologist Carol Baldwin of the Smithsonian Institute knows the challenges facing global oceans and has chosen a wide range of sustainably-caught or farmed seafood for this book, providing seafood-lovers with options that embrace the health of our oceans. For more information, please visit www.mnh.si.edu/seafood
This seminal book traces and thoroughly substantiates the origins, detailed production/distribution cycles, and total environmental consequences of many consumer items that most Americans take for granted. In its brilliance, it renders the reader alternately shocked, hysterical, inspired and furious, including the approximately 1,150 words which analyze the impact of producing each copy of "Stuff" itself. On page three of this book, the authors write “consuming too much STUFF can be bad for you. Reviewers of early drafts reported feeling overwhelmed or depressed after learning the true stories of how things are made.” They went on to say that the book is better read a little at a time. I heeded their warning. I was glad I did. Stuff is a small book about a subject that most of us never think about. Where does our every day stuff come from? How is it made? How did it get to my store? I started reading the book with a cup of fair trade, shade grown organic coffee. Sure enough, the first subject was how a cup of coffee goes from farm to your home! After they described the production of coffee, they went to the morning newspaper (which I had just read). I put the book down. I am a newspaper junkie. I decided then and there to unsubscribe and read it on line. Of perhaps greatest relevance to the Sustainable Consumption Committee's True Costs of Food Campaign is the chapter on what it takes to make a single hamburger, leading to the conclusion that we must eat less meat. It's often quoted that producing a quarter-pound hamburger requires more than 600 gallons of water and causes the loss of five times its weight in topsoil, but who knew that the greenhouse gases emitted from steer's flatulence and manure are equivalent to a six-mile commute by car for every patty? And that doesn't begin to cover the well-articulated consequences of producing the bun, ketchup and packaging. This is an important book that every environmentalist needs to take to heart. Human over population and over consumption are problems that we can no longer ignore. Six and a half billion humans adopting the American way of life means that we will need the resources of many more planets than we currently have. Researchers at the University of British Columbia estimated that North Americans use 12 acres of forest and farmland per year. If all the world’s people did this, we would need three extra planets. Environmentalists need to learn and teach others the true costs of their personal consumption habits. Read Stuff. You will be upset, but you will be glad that you did. Bill McKibben says of this book, "Great Stuff!" If you read John Robbins’ Diet for a New America, you might think that you don’t need to read his latest Book The Food Revolution. You all ready understand the horrors of industrial animal “factories,” the health risks of the meat centered diet and the environmental devastation caused by grazing and feedlot fed animals. However, Robbins’ new book is full of the latest information on our evolving Western Diet. Mad Cow Disease, genetically modified foods, the “new” high protein diets and other fad diets are just a few of the important dietary issues that face modern Americans and their eating choices. For Sierra Club members, the book speaks loudly to the preservation of our wild lands. Half the land in the continental United States is devoted to feeding cows. Sierra Club founder, John Muir called cows “the locusts of the land” because of the way they ate all vegetation. However, it is not just grazing that destroys our land and waterways. Grain production is the primary problem that cows bring to our wild lands. Eighty to ninety per cent of the grain grown in the U.S. is fed to cows. In fact, it takes sixteen pounds of grain (a healthy food) to produce one pound of artery clogging beef! Even fish that is “strip mined” from the ocean, is fed to cows! The latest scandal of “infectious Alzheimer’s Disease” or Mad Cow Disease is outlined in detail. Feeding animals to herbivores makes no more sense than humans eating animal food three times a day every day. The Food Revolution is a perfect starting point for activists interested in the Sierra Club’s new True Costs of Food Campaign. Club activists will come to a community near you. Our goal will be for every Sierra Club member to put aside Tuesday (Sustainable Tuesday) to live as sustainably as possible. Robbins can teach us how to eat a sustainable meal three times a day. This book gathers recipes, tips, and stories from farmers, chefs, and members of Community Supported Agriculture. The book celebrates the small farm movement and the food it produces and encourages everyone to enjoy fresh local food. In addition to hundreds of delicious recipes, the book provides lots of information on how to create your own unique dishes by letting the season's bounty inspire you, anecdotes from the farmers about how and why they farm, and a resource guide to issues and ways to find fresh, responsibly raised food in your own community. Just Eating? Practicing Our Faith at the Table This seven-session curriculum for faith-based congregational discussion groups explores the links between the way we eat and the way we live. Skillfully weaving scripture, prayer, and stories from our local and global community, the curriculum explores four key aspects of our relationship with food:
Anyone interested in sustainable consumption can take heart from the groundbreaking science in this book on the underlying "big picture" in our materialistic culture. Author Tim Kasser is a psychologist at Knox College who has extensively researched the relationship between consumerism and happiness. Surprise! He empirically demonstrates that materialistic values undermine our well-being and increase the risk of unhappiness in life. Dr. Kasser has also co-authored a fascinating study with Kirk Warren Brown, psychologist at Virginia Commonwealth University, entitled "Are Psychological and Ecological Well-being Compatible?" published in Social Indicators Research (2005) 74:349-368. Their research showed, among other findings, that voluntary simplicity related to higher 'ecologically responsible behavior,' which was compatible with higher 'subjective well-being.'
Legacy offers a vision of society's journey from our current environmental predicament toward a sustainable future. The book combines accurate science with an inspiring story of grass roots activism. Legacy highlights the positive environmental accomplishments which are unfolding around us, showcasing the work of James Gustave Speth, David Holmgren, John Jeavons, Paul Hawken, John Todd, and many others. Using the city of Los Angeles as an example, the novel imagines the transformation over the next 40 years, as these green technologies evolve from niche examples into mainstream reality. Legacy illustrates positive change in every realm of society - transportation, housing, food and agriculture, politics, economics, health and spirit - the ultimate goal of which is sustainability. Many books document our environmental problems and warn us that society must change in order to mitigate horrors and curtail disaster. Legacy intentionally encourages, enrolls the reader, and showcases real situations where people are getting it right. A compilation of positive technologies and a roadmap for action, Legacy invites readers to envision a world of possibilities and to become part of the solutions. Other Recommended Books:
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The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
One Fish, Two Fish, Crawfish, Bluefish
Stuff: The Secret Life of Everyday Things 
The Food Revolution
Recipes
from America’s Small Farms 
Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health