THE
BUTCHER & THE VEGETARIAN: In a chick-lit spin on Michael Pollan, a born-and-raised vegetarian pushes the cubes of tofu aside and tries to find her way through a foreign world of meat and men. THE BUTCHER & THE VEGETARIAN is the rollicking and relevant story of one woman’s quest to reconcile a nontraditional upbringing with carnal desires. Growing up in a vegetarian family, Tara Austen Weaver never thought she’d stray. But as an adult, she found herself in poor health and, having tried cures of every kind, a doctor finally ordered her to eat meat. Warily, she ventured into the butcher shop, and as the man behind the counter wrapped up her first-ever chicken, she found herself intrigued. Eventually, he dared her to cook her way through his meat counter. As Tara navigates through this new world—grass-fed
beef vs. grain-fed beef, finding chickens that are truly range-free—she’s
tempted to give up and go back to eating tempeh. The more she learns
about meat and how it’s produced, and the effects eating it
has on the human body and the planet, the less she feels she knows.
She embarks upon a sometimes hilarious, sometimes frightening whirlwind
tour that takes her from slaughterhouse to chef’s table, from
urban farm to the hearthside of cow wranglers. Along the way, she
meets an unforgettable cast of characters who all seem to take a
vested interest in whether she opts for turnips or T-bones. |
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