Isn't he a long time anti large scale farming activist and former director of the Sierra club. Sounds like the book could be a little bias to me.
I think most things you read on an issue like this (and most other issues) are going to be at least a little biased one way or the other. For me, I've been to commercial farms, I've been to commercial slaughterhouses (my dad was a truck driver for several years and often hauled cattle, pigs, and chickens to slaughter. I went with him a few times.) and I've seen how incredibly hellish the conditions are for the animals, and the insane amount of waste these places produce and the impact it has on the environment. When you have 100,000+ animals all crapping on the same spot, it's GOING to negatively affect the environment- that's just a given and I don't see much room for debate there.
I've read up on both sides of the issue, and I've seen these places with my own eyes. Nothing in that book deviated from what I have seen myself.
Here is one of his quotes:
I am an environmentalist. I care about clean air, clean water, and land stewardship. Industrial agribusiness corporations threaten all of these, and for this reason environmental and conservation organizations are supportive of diversified family farms.
I see nothing wrong with this quote. I agree with it.
Ratsicles i would end up with a yard full of grown chickens ,they are so cute i couldnt kill them,or any animal
Haha, it was really hard the first time I did it. I raised my very first batch of laying hens in my suburban backyard, and culled all of the roosters and poor layers for meat. The first few times I had to really psych myself up for it, and I admit that I cried a good bit. I also didn't know what I was doing and botched it a couple of times which made me feel even worse. Once I got the hang of it though, and learned how to do it quickly and efficiently, it wasn't so bad.
When I just have one or two chickens to cull, I still get a little emotional- but a big batch of meat chickens is a little different. CornishX's are specifically bred to eat alot and grow fast. They are gluttonous, eating, pooping, machines. They're filthy, smelly, fat, and lazy- they are DUMB and they really don't act like other chickens. They're lazy to the point where they will die of heat stroke in the summer time rather than get up and walk 10 feet to get a drink of water- yup, that's really happened. You have to start restricting their food at 5 days of age because they will literally eat themselves to the point of heart attack. I love pretty much all animals, heck, I have trouble killing cockroaches- but it's HARD to love meat chickens.
They produce so much waste they they are probably the smelliest animals possible. And unless you have a heated shed for them, they have to be raised inside while they're in the brooder- these just got here yesterday, and when I woke up this morning, I could smell chickens. My house smells like chickens. It's going to smell like chickens for the next two weeks until they're big enough to move outside. I have all of the doors and windows open right now and candles burning trying to cover it up. It's not really working. I raise all of my other chicks inside too, and they NEVER smell like this- they don't have an odor, unless you get up really close, and then they actually smell kind of pleasant. These guys have permeated my house with wet chicken fart smell in less than 24 hours. It REALLY sucks.
They produce so much waste that once they're outside their area has to be mucked out twice a day. They get so lazy and fat that I have to take all of their food away and turn them out on some grass to force them to get up and look for food- and usually they just sit there and squack for several hours before grudgingly getting up and pecking at things. Most chickens are fit, healthy, and active. They run around and chase bugs and play. These guys don't. They crap and eat and complain when they have to walk 5 feet to find food, and then they crap some more. They also have zero personality and are kinda mean.
SO, when it comes time to butcher a batch of meat chickens, it is SUCH a relief. By the time the 8 weeks are up, you just want them GONE. There's no "Oh this one is so sweet and such a nice guy I hate to see him go" like there is with other chickens, it's more like "Oh I remember you, you were too lazy to walk to your water and almost died of thirst, then you pecked one of the other chickens to death and ate at them because they were closer than your food dish (and they were too fat and dumb to walk away), and then you pecked me and crapped on my shirt. Yeah, you're going to be really tasty." It isn't their fault, they've been bred to be that way....but still.
It's fun to invite a bunch of people over to help and set an entire weekend aside to do the butchering and then have a cookout when it's all over with. It's never a sad thing, with meat chickens- it's relief that the little monsters are sitting quietly in your freezer and no longer stinking things up and being problems. 
I have no moral obligation to people and animals eating meat, as long as it's done properly. I do my best to buy wild caught, grass fed, or free range meat for my dogs (though my major source recently got booted from my bubble). I would really like to raise meat for them, and I've truly, seriously contemplated it, but I don't think I could kill the animals, when the time came. I do constantly scavenge my family and friends' kills, though, when they go hunting. My dogs think venison is the *best*! They like fish scraps a lot, too. Somebody gave me a bucket of quail, last year, and Teenie ate them for weeks. She looked dang good, too.
Hey, you're only a few hours away from me- if you ever want me to raise/butcher a batch of chickens or quail or even a goat or something something for you, let me know. I've got the space and the time to do it, and I wouldn't charge you, if you just bought the animals themselves. If you're ever in need of some free range/grassfed stuff, just let me know, I'll be gladt to help any way that I can. 