Once Upon a Time We Ate Animals Book Review

In Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma, he advises readers to "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants." Over a decade later, author Roanne Van Voorst encourages readers of her book Once Upon a Time We Ate Animals to go a step further and only eat plants. This nonfiction book imagines a very-near future when humans will tell stories about how their ancestors used to eat animals.

Veganism is on the rise, in part because of the health benefits of a plant-based lifestyle, but also because it's better for the environment and better for the animals. And more and more people are coming to understand that.

But the mental shift from carnism to veganism is a tough one, and Van Voorst writes about how people don't want to change the way they've always done things. Yet, history shows that changing beliefs and customs is the norm in our society. 

The author writes about how typical myths and stereotypes about vegans are being torn down, in part thanks to celebrities and social media influencers making veganism look cool. She also writes about relationships between plant-eaters and meat-eaters, and how we can all get along.

I must admit, I picked up this book because I thought it would be more general about the future of food. I was not expecting it to be a manifesto for the vegan diet. Nothing the author writes about is news to me. If you follow my blog, you know that I've read and reviewed (and cooked from!) several vegan and plant-based cookbooks. I've watched the documentaries. I know the statistics. But I definitely suffer from the  "change is hard" mentality that Van Voorst writes about in this book. Yet, she proves that change is possible, even if it means it takes you three tries to get the vegan pancakes just right. (I actually already have a pretty good vegan pancake recipe...)

So if you're on the fence about going vegan, then this book might tip you over the edge. And if you're curious about ways to help the planet or help your own health, then I'd recommend this book.

Once Upon a Time We Ate Animals is published by HarperOne and will be available to purchase tomorrow (December 28, 2021). I received a free review copy.