Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food by Gene Baur

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Named to Boston Globe and LA Times Bestseller Lists!

"Some of the stories Gene Baur tells will break your heart, and other stories will speak to your deepest convictions. It's a book about appalling cruelty and heroic kindness, and it points the way to a better world."
Alicia Silverstone

"Filled with hope, this book is written for all who strive for a more compassionate world. I highly recommend it."
Dr. Jane Goodall

Now available wherever books are sold. 100% of the author's proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to Farm Sanctuary.

Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; 1 edition (March 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743291581

From Publishers Weekly
In 1986, after rescuing a live sheep from a pile of dead animals in a stockyard, the author founded Farm Sanctuary, an organization that rescues discarded living animals from stockyards, slaughterhouses and factory farms; provides shelters for them; and advocates for humane animal treatment. In this impassioned book, Baur paints an appealing picture of these shelters and the animals that live there far from the brutality of industrial farming, which he describes in detail. Some of this inhumane treatment is not news—chickens packed into tiny cages—but accounts of living animals discarded like garbage because they are ill or weak surprise. Baur's nonprofit promotes legal remedies to stop the inhumane conditions chronicled. He believes that the best way to demonstrate concern for industrially farmed animals is to adopt a vegan lifestyle, but doesn't proselytize. Rather, he makes a strong case that meat eaters have an ethical responsibility to ensure that the animals they eat have not been abused. His well-argued book includes helpful lists of resources and organizations that deal with factory farming, animal welfare rights, humane food production and the environment. 18 b&w photos.

Los Angeles Times - March 23, 2008
"In 1986, Gene Baur co-founded Farm Sanctuary, a group opposed to factory farming and dedicated to cruelty-free living and providing refuge to weak and sickly animals abused or rejected by slaughterhouses. The group has two farms; one in upstate New York and one north of Sacramento. Each has more than a dozen barns and hundreds of acres of pasture.

Baur grew up in the Hollywood Hills and was inspired by Frances Moore Lappé (author of "Diet for a Small Planet"), Abbie Hoffman and the Amish. Farm Sanctuary is now a preeminent animal- and food-advocacy group. Baur describes the growth of the animal-advocacy movement and its oversight role in both organic and conventional farming and includes delightful stories of some of the animals the group has rescued: Hope the pig, Marmalade the rooster and Maya the cow, to name a few. Readers will find their resilience inspiring. This is a habit-changing book."

Booklist - February 1, 2008 (Starred Review)
"Activist Baur, who co-founded Farm Sanctuary in 1986 to rescue abused farm animals, has written a stunning indictment of factory farming and the way most Americans obtain their food. By chronicling his journeys to stockyards and feedlots, he shows just how devastating the industry is for the animals and the people who depend on agribusiness. Baur exposes the sharp realities that make cheap food possible and explains why corporate farms obtain more cash from Congress than small, independent farmers. The conflict between organic versus humane practices is explored in a discussion of the case against Horizon dairies; cruel practices are revealed, such as how chickens are tortured as egg layers, then destroyed in huge garbage disposals, and the consequences of the industry’s dependence on growth enhancement drugs is analyzed. Baur’s report is not for the faint of heart, but it is critical reading for anyone willing to ask about the origin of their food, and readers are rewarded with tales of animals who have been saved, and the surprising things that have been learned about farm animals from close observation of their habits. A life-altering read."