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Eat Their Words

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By JEFF HOUCK

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 9, 2008

"Meat: A Love Story," by Susan Bourette (Putnam $24.95)

There is a very good chance that we are living in a Renaissance when it comes to meat writing. Lucky us! That means we get to read well-researched books like this one, in which investigative reporter Bourette traces how the Western world's consumption of meat came to reach such popularity while our animal harvesting methods came under scrutiny. Persecuting vegetarians during the Crusades boosted the number of meat eaters, of course. That's OK. They probably owned cats.

"The Compassionate Carnivore," by Catherine Friend (Lifelong Books, $24.95)

One meat byproduct that increases in quantity with every passing day: guilt. Eat something that moos, chirps or oinks and you're immediately a target for scorn, ridicule and something approximating dietary exile. Friend, a sustainable farmer, covers all the angles in finding ways eaters (that would be you) can enjoy their meat and sleep comfortably at night with a clear, if somewhat arterially clogged, conscience.

Jeff Houck

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