In recent years, it seems that we are slowly coming to understand that animals like elephants, monkeys and pigs have not just brains, but complicated inner and social lives thanks to scientific advances in our understanding of animal minds. Yet that awareness hasn't made itself felt to much greater degree in our closest relationship with animals: at the dinner table.

With Personalities on the Plate, Barbara King asks us to think hard about our meat eating and how we might reduce it. King does not criticize. Instead, she takes us chapter by chapter on a cook's tour of animals we humans eat, from insects to pigs and dogs, while exploring the latest scientific discoveries about their intelligence and feelings that we humans often wrongly claim uniquely for ourselves.

Built on a mix of firsthand experience and close engagement with the work of scientists, farmers and chefs, Personalities on the Plate has successfully built a case for them as beings that deserve more than a trip down our stomachs. With humor and tales of animals acting as individuals expressing their emotions, Personalities on the Plate takes us on an unforgettable journey through the world of animals we eat.

"This thoughtful book is not about whether we ‘should' or ‘shouldn't' eat meat. Barbara King looks at the range of values and consequences surrounding farming and feasting, and at who we are considering eating," says Carl Safina, author of Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel. "Her book gives me a richer understanding. Her method and passion are effective. I ended the book agreeing that I can—and should—help these creatures and our environment by choosing to eat fewer of them or none at all."