The Dreaded Comparison: Human and Animal Slavery


Marjorie Spiegel - 1988
    Using considerable scholarship, she makes a strong case for links between white oppression of black slaves and human oppression of animals. Her thesis is not that the oppressions suffered by black people and animals have taken identical forms but that they share the same relationship between the oppressor and the oppressed. These comparisons include the brandings and auctions of both slaves and animals, the hideous means of transport (slave ships, truckloads of cattle), and the tearing of offspring from their mothers. Her illustrative juxtapositions are graphic, e.g., a photograph of a chimpanzee in a syphilis experiment beside a photo of a black man in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. As Alice Walker writes in the preface, "This powerful book...will take a lifetime to forget." Chilling yet enlightening, this provocative book is vitally important in our efforts to understand the roots of individual and societal violence.

In Defense of Animals: The Second Wave


Peter Singer - 1985
     Exciting new collection edited by controversial philosopher Peter Singer, who made animal rights into an international concern when he first published In Defence of Animals and Animal Liberation over thirty years ago Essays explore new ways of measuring animal suffering, reassess the question of personhood, and draw highlight tales of effective advocacy Lays out "Ten Tips for Activists", taking the reader beyond ethical theory and into the day-to-day campaigns for animal rights

The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony


Will Tuttle - 2004
    By eating the plants and animals of our earth, we literally incorporate them. It is also through this act of eating that we partake of our culture's values and paradigms at the most primal levels. It is becoming increasingly obvious, however, that the choices we make about our food are leading to environmental degradation, enormous human health problems, and unimaginable cruelty toward our fellow creatures.Incorporating systems theory, teachings from mythology and religions, and the human sciences, The World Peace Diet presents the outlines of a more empowering understanding of our world, based on a comprehension of the far-reaching implications of our food choices and the worldview those choices reflect and mandate. The author offers a set of universal principles for all people of conscience, from any religious tradition, that they can follow to reconnect with what we are eating, what was required to get it on our plate, and what happens after it leaves our plates.The World Peace Diet suggests how we as a species might move our consciousness forward so that we can be more free, more intelligent, more loving, and happier in the choices we make.Now includes a full index.

Sistah Vegan: Food, Identity, Health, and Society: Black Female Vegans Speak


A. Breeze Harper - 2009
    Collectively, these activists are de-colonizing their bodies and minds via whole-foods veganism. By kicking junk-food habits, the more than thirty contributors all show the way toward longer, stronger, and healthier lives. Suffering from type-2 diabetes, hypertension, high blood pressure, and overweight need not be the way women of color are doomed to be victimized and live out their mature lives. There are healthy alternatives. Sistah Vegan is not about preaching veganism or vegan fundamentalism. Rather, the book is about how a group of black-identified female vegans perceive nutrition, food, ecological sustainability, health and healing, animal rights, parenting, social justice, spirituality, hair care, race, gender-identification, womanism, and liberation that all go against the (refined and bleached) grain of our dysfunctional society. Thought-provoking for the identification and dismantling of environmental racism, ecological devastation, and other social injustices, Sistah Vegan is an in-your-face handbook for our time. It calls upon all of us to make radical changes for the betterment of ourselves, our planet, and by extension everyone.

The End of Animal Farming: How Scientists, Entrepreneurs, and Activists Are Building an Animal-Free Food System


Jacy Reese Anthis - 2018
    The End of Animal Farming pushes this conversation forward by outlining a strategic roadmap to a humane, ethical, and efficient food system in which slaughterhouses are obsolete—where the tastes of even the most die-hard meat eater are satisfied by innovative food technologies like cultured meats and plant-based protein. Social scientist Jacy Reese Anthis analyzes the social forces leading us toward the downfall of animal agriculture, the technology making this change possible for the meat-hungry public, and the activism driving consumer demand for plant-based and cultured foods.Reese contextualizes the issue of factory farming—the inhumane system of industrial farming that 95 percent of farmed animals endure—as part of humanity's expanding moral circle. Humanity increasingly treats nonhuman animals, from household pets to orca whales, with respect and kindness, and Reese argues that farmed animals are the next step. Reese applies an analytical lens of "effective altruism," the burgeoning philosophy of using evidence-based research to maximize one's positive impact in the world, in order to better understand which strategies can help expand the moral circle now and in the future.The End of Animal Farming is not a scolding treatise or a prescription for an ascetic diet. Reese invites readers—vegan and non-vegan—to consider one of the most important and transformational social movements of the coming decades.

Never Too Late to Go Vegan: The Over-50 Guide to Adopting and Thriving on a Plant-Based Diet


Carol J. Adams - 2014
    These are exactly the conditions that millions of baby boomers are diagnosed (or already contend) with daily. Now Never Too Late to Go Vegan offers insight and practical guidance for everyone over 50 who is seeking the benefits of a plant-rich vegan diet.Authors Adams, Breitman and Messina who bring close to 75 years of vegan living to this book cover the health advantages of minimally processed vegetables, legumes, fruit, and whole grains for those 50 and older, including greater energy and vitality and more time to enjoy life. And recognizing that going vegan includes adapting one s diet but also one s life more broadly, they also explore the effects of going vegan on relationships, caregiving responsibilities, matters of the spirit, and more. Never Too Late to Go Vegan also includes 75 delicious, easy vegan recipes that meet the nutritional needs of older eaters.

Vegan's Daily Companion: 365 Days of Inspiration for Cooking, Eating, and Living Compassionately


Colleen Patrick-Goudreau - 2011
    And some darn good recipes, too!"—Carol J. Adams, author of The Sexual Politics of Meat"As a vegan advocate for nearly two decades, I was pleasantly surprised to learn a wealth of brand new and fascinating information in this completely unique book that combines practical tips and insightful wisdom for eating healthfully and living joyfully. Full of stunning photos and interesting facts about animals in history and literature, this is a fantastic resource for vegans as well as for curious, compassionate non-vegans."—Melanie Joy, Ph.D., author of Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear CowsLive a joyful, compassionate life, every day of the year with Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's guide, Vegan's Daily Companion!Mondays: For the Love of Food – A celebration of familiar and not-so-familiar foods to spark enthusiasm for eating healthfully.Tuesdays: Effective Communication – Techniques and tactics for speaking on behalf of veganism effectively and compassionately.Wednesdays: Optimum Health for Body, Mind, and Spirit – Care and maintenance for becoming and remaining a joyful vegan.Thursdays: Animals in the Arts: Literature, Film, Painting – Inspiration across the ages that reflects our consciousness of and relationship to non-human animals.Fridays: Stories of Hope, Rescue, and Transformation – Heartening stories of people who have become awakened and animals have found sanctuary.Saturdays + Sundays: Healthful Recipes – Favorite recipes to use as activism and nourishment.

A Plea for the Animals: The Moral, Philosophical, and Evolutionary Imperative to Treat All Beings with Compassion


Matthieu Ricard - 2014
    Every chicken just wants to be free. Every bear, dog, or mouse experiences sorrow and feels pain as intensely as any of us humans do. In a compelling appeal to reason and human kindness, Matthieu Ricard here takes the arguments from his best-sellers Altruism and Happiness to their logical conclusion: that compassion toward all beings, including our fellow animals, is a moral obligation and the direction toward which any enlightened society must aspire. He chronicles the appalling sufferings of the animals we eat, wear, and use for adornment or "entertainment," and submits every traditional justification for their exploitation to scientific evidence and moral scrutiny. What arises is an unambiguous and powerful ethical imperative for treating all of the animals with whom we share this planet with respect and compassion.

The Animal Activist's Handbook: Maximizing Our Positive Impact in Today's World


Matt Ball - 2009
    The Animal Activist's Handbook argues that meaning in life is to be found, quite simply, in turning away from the futile pursuit of "more," and focusing instead on leaving the planet a better place than you found it. The critical component of creating a better world for all is thoughtful, deliberate, and dedicated activism that takes suffering seriously. The authors build a ground-up case for reasoned, impassioned, and joyous activism that makes the most difference possible, and suggest a variety of ways to live a meaningful life through effective and ef?cient advocacy.

Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, And Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry


Gail A. Eisnitz - 1997
    It is also the first time ever that workers have spoken publicly about what’s really taking place behind the closed doors of America’s slaughterhouses. In this new paperback edition, author Gail A. Eisnitz brings the story up to date since the book’s original publication. She describes the ongoing efforts by the Humane Farming Association to improve conditions in the meatpacking industry, media exposés that have prompted reforms resulting in multimillion dollar appropriations by Congress to try to enforce federal inspection laws, and a favorable decision by the Supreme Court to block construction of what was slated to be one of the largest hog factory farms in the country. Nonetheless, Eisnitz makes it clear that abuses continue and much work still needs to be done.

The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy - and Why They Matter


Marc Bekoff - 2007
    Bekoff skillfully blends extraordinary stories of animal joy, empathy, grief, embarrassment, anger, and love with the latest scientific research confirming the existence of emotions that common sense and experience have long implied. Filled with Bekoff’s light humor and touching stories, The Emotional Lives of Animals is a clarion call for reassessing both how we view animals and how we treat them.

Rattling The Cage: Toward Legal Rights For Animals


Steven M. Wise - 2000
    In this witty, moving, persuasive, and impeccably researched argument, Wise demonstrates that the cognitive, emotional, and social capacities of these apes entitle them to freedom from imprisonment and abuse.

Empty Cages: Facing the Challenge of Animal Rights


Tom Regan - 2003
    In a style at once simple and elegant, Regan dispels the negative image of animal rights advocates perpetrated by the mass media, unmasks the fraudulent rhetoric of 'humane treatment' favored by animal exploiters, and explains why existing laws function to legitimize institutional cruelty. Written by the leading philosophical spokesperson for animal rights, Tom Regan's shocking exposZ of animal abuse makes an essential and lasting contribution that will significantly impact the history of animal rights advocacy in America

Why We Should Go Vegan


Magnus Vinding - 2014
    This conclusion is reached through a broad examination of the consequences of our not being vegan – both in relation to human health, environmental pollution, the risk of the spread of diseases, and in relation to the beings we exploit and kill. On all these levels the conclusion is clear: We have no good reason to not go vegan, while we have many good reasons to stop our practice of raising, killing and eating non-human animals and things from them. The bottom line: We have a strong ethical obligation to go vegan."Magnus Vinding makes a compelling case for ending the abuse of other sentient beings. What will we tell our grandchildren? ("But I liked the taste?")"— David Pearce, founder of BLTC Research and co-founder of Humanity+, author of The Hedonistic Imperative."An excellent concise statement of the arguments for going vegan."— Peter Singer, Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, author of The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty and Animal Liberation.

Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds about Animals and Food


Gene Baur - 2008
    Written by one of the foremost experts on animal rights, Farm Sanctuary is an insightful, thought-provoking examination of the ethical questions involved in the breeding of animals for food.