Pig Tales

An Omnivore's Quest for Sustainable Meat

By: Barry Estabrook

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

Barry Estabrook, author of the New York Times bestseller Tomatoland, now explores the dark side of the American pork industry. Drawing on his personal experiences raising pigs as well as his sharp investigative instincts, he covers the range of the human-porcine experience. He embarks on nocturnal feral pig hunts in Texas. He visits farmers who raise animals in vast confinement barns for Smithfield and Tyson, two of the country's biggest pork producers. And he describes the threat of infectious disease and the possible contamination of our food supply. Through these stories shines his abiding love for these remarkable creatures. With the cognitive abilities of at least three-year-olds, they can even learn to operate a modified computer. Unfortunately for the pigs, they're also delicious to eat.

Estabrook shows how these creatures are all too often subjected to lives of suffering in confinement and squalor, sustained on a drug-laced diet just long enough to reach slaughter weight, then killed on mechanized disassembly lines. But it doesn't have to be this way. It is possible to raise pigs responsibly and respectfully in a way that is good for producers, consumers, and some of the top chefs in America. Provocative, witty, and deeply informed, Pig Tales is bound to spark conversation at dinner tables across America.

©2015 Barry Estabrook (P)2015 Tantor

Critic reviews

A thoroughly researched, deftly written piece of investigative journalism.

( Kirkus Starred Review)

Enlightening and well done

Some sections were dry but interesting; while others were very memorable. Comprehensive, journalistic, valuable.

Given the title, and that I'm vegan, the author's quest is not completely mine. Nonetheless, I really appreciate the author's integrity and commitment.

A helpful and focused book.

If you've read the omnivores dilemma and the third plate you probably have a basic guess as to where this book is going, and that's OK. this is a helpful addition to those works, but not as robust. If you care about stewardship issues it is worth reading. the first few chapters of the audio book were cut poorly but things sounded better after a few chapters.

Intersting and Horrific

This was an informative book about the pork industry. I enjoyed the stories about pigs as I didn’t realize how intelligent they are. I was also horrified at some of the information about the pork industry’s practices.

Excellent read. Engaged from start to finish.

Great book for those hoping to educate themselves on the pork industry. Engaging presentation of the information.

Very well written! Easy to listen to! As a farmer, I’d recommend this book!

Very well done book! As a farmer myself, I believe the author did a good job of trying to place people in the best light possible but still getting give the facts of different styles of farming! Definitely recommend!

Nary a Squeal About This Book

Any additional comments?

First and foremost, this book is a documentary. If you are looking for a book about a magic hog or perhaps a novel about an over-sexed vampire pig, you will have have to look elsewhere.

That said, what we have here is a well-done documentary that touches not only on current meat processing practices but also on the history of swine. Some of what was written is interesting, surprising and even somewhat disturbing.

There are no 'recipes' in this book, but there's little doubt that the author has an abiding love of bacon and other cuts. There's a brief section in the book about how cute some of the young pigs are, and they seem to be on the verge of almost becoming something like pets, but they get slaughtered eventually, albeit in the nicest way possible...sort of.

I would imagine that someone who is very deeply committed to animal rights and/or vegetarianism would have problems getting through this book, as it can be rather graphic in examining methods in the pork-processing industry. By the same token, if someone is wedded to the idea that big corporate farms and big corporate processing is the only way there is to go, then they are likely to be 'disappointed' in some of the conclusions in this book.

On the whole, it seems as though the author does a pretty good job of being 'balanced' in his approach, and what is produced appears to be an honest attempt to describe the current situation for raising and processing pork, which is something most of us probably don't want to think about when we sit down for a nice meal featuring ribs or when we grab a ham sandwich to go. It gets bogged down just a bit in some statistics, but this is short-lived and mostly the book is interesting. The narration is very good, as well.

If you are looking for a book that is everything you wanted to know about the pork industry-but was afraid (or reluctant) to ask, then by all means, dig in!

Great insight

The brute honesty of farming and industrial farm was well written. Easy listen and spoken in a way to learn. I would like a follow up book on the current industry and vertical integration. Great talking points. Good book.

Read by a robot?

I had to see if the performance was human or not. Any vocal tone changes (few) almost seemed in the wrong places. It was distracting. Also some of the technical words were mispronounced.

As far as the subject, it was interesting and fairly well researched. Some of the points made clearly missed qualifications that would make them accurate. It’s clear the author had an agenda in writing the book. That’s not uncommon but frustrating for the consumer who knows a few things about the subject.