Harvard Book Store welcomes Richard Schweid—veteran journalist with decades of experience writing on science, politics, natural history and culture, and author of a dozen books—for a discussion of his new book, Life on the Octopus Farm: The Ethics and Future of Growing the World’s Most Intelligent Invertebrate. He will be joined in conversation by Steve Yarbrough—professor in the Department of Writing, Literature and Publishing at Emerson College, and author of twelve books, including the Massachusetts Book Award-winner The Unmade World.
About Life on the Octopus Farm
A provocative investigation of the race to farm octopus and the controversy it sparked worldwide.
In 2021, the London School of Economics found that octopuses are sentient beings, capable of experiencing pain, distress, and happiness, and that high-welfare farming of them would therefore be impossible. But the enormous international demand for octopus meat continues to grow even as wild octopus populations decline, prompting a race to bring the first farm-raised product to market. At the same time, firestorms of protest in Europe and the United States over the ethics of farming such an intelligent creature are pressuring lawmakers to ban the practice altogether.