Vystopia: The Anguish of Being Vegan in a Non vegan World
Clare Mann - 2018
It becomes worse when others don’t understand or seem to care. The existential angst that results is called vystopia – the existential crisis that results from knowing about ubiquitous animal exploitation and other people’s trance-like collusion with it.This new book, by Existential Psychotherapist and Vegan Psychologist Clare Mann, explores the extent of the crisis, tools to navigate the journey and is a resource to share with family, friends and professionals who don’t understand.
How to Create a Vegan World: A Pragmatic Approach
Tobias Leenaert - 2017
He argues that, given our present situation, with entire societies dependent on using animals, we need a very pragmatic approach. How to Create a Vegan World contains many valuable ideas and insights for both budding advocates for animals and seasoned activists, organizational leaders, and even entrepreneurs.
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.
Vegan Freak: Being Vegan in a Non-Vegan World
Bob Torres - 2005
Loaded with tips, advice, stories, and comprehensive lists of resources that no vegan should live without, this book is key to helping you thrive as a happy, healthy, and sane vegan in a decidedly non-vegan world. Witty, opinionated, and eminently useful.
Mind if I Order the Cheeseburger?: And Other Questions People Ask Vegans
Sherry F. Colb - 2013
Colb takes these questions at face value and also delves deeply into the motivations behind them, coming up with answers that are not only intelligent but insightful about human nature. Through examples, case studies, and clear-eyed logic, she provides arguments for everything from why veganism is compatible with the world's major religions to why vegetarianism is not enough. In the end, she shows how it is possible for vegans and non-vegans to engage in a mutually beneficial conversation without descending into counterproductive name-calling, and to work together to create a more hospitable world for human animals and non-human animals alike.
The Joyful Vegan: How to Stay Vegan in a World That Wants You to Eat Meat, Dairy, and Eggs
Colleen Patrick-Goudreau - 2019
Dealing with the social, cultural, and emotional aspects of being vegan in a non-vegan world? That’s the hard part. The Joyful Vegan is here to help. Many people choose veganism as a logical and sensible response to their concerns about animals, the environment, and/or their health. But despite their positive intentions and the personal benefits they experience, they’re often met with resistance from friends, family members, and society at large. These external factors can make veganism socially difficult—and emotionally exhausting—to sustain. This leads to an unfortunate reality: The majority of vegans (and vegetarians) revert to consuming meat, dairy, or eggs—breaching their own values and sabotaging their own goals in the process. Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, known as “The Joyful Vegan,” has guided countless individuals through the process of becoming vegan. Now, in her seventh book, The Joyful Vegan, she shares her insights into why some people stay vegan and others stop. It’s not because there’s nothing to eat. It’s not because there isn’t enough protein in plants. And it’s not because people lack willpower or moral fortitude. Rather, people stay vegan or not depending on how well they navigate the social, cultural, and emotional aspects of being vegan: constantly being asked to defend their food choices; living with the awareness of animal suffering; feeling the pressure (often self-inflicted) to be perfect; and experiencing guilt, remorse, and anger. In these pages, Patrick-Goudreau shares her wisdom for managing these challenges and arms readers—both vegan and plant-based—with solutions and strategies for “coming out vegan” to family, friends, and colleagues; cultivating healthy relationships (with vegans and non-vegans); communicating effectively; sharing enthusiasm without proselytizing; finding like-minded community; and experiencing peace of mind as a vegan in a non-vegan world. By implementing the tools provided in this book, readers will find they can live ethically, eat healthfully, engage socially—and remain a joyful vegan.
Eat Like You Care: An Examination of the Morality of Eating Animals
Gary L. Francione - 2013
We all claim to care about animals and to regard them as having at least some moral value. We all claim to agree that it’s wrong to inflict “unnecessary” suffering and death on animals and—whatever disagreement we may have about when animal use is necessary—we all agree that the suffering and death of animals cannot be justified by human pleasure, amusement, or convenience. We condemn Michael Vick for dogfighting precisely because we feel strongly that any pleasure that Vick got from this activity could not possibly justify what he did. So how can we justify the fact that we kill many billions of land animals and fish every year for food? However “humanely” we treat and kill these animals, the amount of animal suffering we cause is staggering. Yet no one maintains that animal foods are necessary for optimal health. Indeed, mounting empirical evidence points to animal foods being detrimental for human health. But however you evaluate that evidence, there can be no serious doubt that we can have excellent health with a vegan diet. There is also broad consensus that animal agriculture is an ecological disaster. Animal agriculture is responsible for water pollution, air pollution, deforestation, soil erosion, inefficient use of plant protein and water, and all sorts of other environmental harms. The best justification we have for the unimaginable amount of suffering and death that we impose on animals is that they taste good. We enjoy the taste of animal foods. But how is this any different from Michal Vick claiming that his dogfighting operation was justifiable because he enjoyed watching dogs fight? Vick liked sitting around a pit watching animals fight. We enjoy sitting around a summer barbecue pit roasting the corpses of animals who had lives and deaths that were as bad as, if not worse than, Vick’s dogs. What is the difference between Michael Vick and those of us who eat animal foods? This book shows there is no difference, or at least not any difference that matters morally. Prof. Gary L. Francione and Prof. Anna Charlton argue that if you think animals matter morally—if you reject the idea that animals are just things—your own beliefs require that you stop eating animal products. There is nothing "extreme" about a vegan diet; what is extreme is the inconsistency between what we say we believe and how we act where animals are concerned. Many of us are uneasy thinking about the animals who end up on our plates. We may have thought about stopping our consumption of animal products, but there are many excuses that have kept us from doing so. The authors explore the 30+ excuses they have heard as long-time vegans and address each one, showing why these excuses don’t work. Packed with clear, commonsense thinking on animal ethics, without jargon or complicated theory, this book will change the way you think about what you eat.
Skinny Bitch: A No-Nonsense, Tough-Love Guide for Savvy Girls Who Want to Stop Eating Crap and Start Looking Fabulous!
Rory Freedman - 2005
And they'll guide you on making intelligent and educated decisions about food. They may be bitches, but they are skinny bitches. And you'll be one too--after you get with the program and start eating right.
The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest
Dan Buettner - 2008
What's the prescription for success? National Geographic Explorer Dan Buettner has traveled the globe to uncover the best strategies for longevity found in the Blue Zones: places in the world where higher percentages of people enjoy remarkably long, full lives. And in this dynamic book he discloses the recipe, blending this unique lifestyle formula with the latest scientific findings to inspire easy, lasting change that may add years to your life.Buettner's colossal research effort, funded in part by the National Institute on Aging, has taken him from Costa Rica to Italy to Japan and beyond. In the societies he visits, it's no coincidence that the way people interact with each other, shed stress, nourish their bodies, and view their world yields more good years of life. You'll meet a 94-year-old farmer and self-confessed "ladies man" in Costa Rica, an 102-year-old grandmother in Okinawa, a 102-year-old Sardinian who hikes at least six miles a day, and others. By observing their lifestyles, Buettner's teams have identified critical everyday choices that correspond with the cutting edge of longevity research-and distilled them into a few simple but powerful habits that anyone can embrace.
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.
Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy
Matthew Scully - 2002
But with this privilege comes the grave responsibility to respect life, to treat animals with simple dignity and compassion.Somewhere along the way, something has gone wrong.In Dominion, we witness the annual convention of Safari Club International, an organization whose wealthier members will pay up to $20,000 to hunt an elephant, a lion or another animal, either abroad or in American "safari ranches," where the animals are fenced in pens. We attend the annual International Whaling Commission conference, where the skewed politics of the whaling industry come to light, and the focus is on developing more lethal, but not more merciful, methods of harvesting "living marine resources." And we visit a gargantuan American "factory farm," where animals are treated as mere product and raised in conditions of mass confinement, bred for passivity and bulk, inseminated and fed with machines, kept in tightly confined stalls for the entirety of their lives, and slaughtered in a way that maximizes profits and minimizes decency.Throughout Dominion, Scully counters the hypocritical arguments that attempt to excuse animal abuse: from those who argue that the Bible's message permits mankind to use animals as it pleases, to the hunter's argument that through hunting animal populations are controlled, to the popular and "scientifically proven" notions that animals cannot feel pain, experience no emotions, and are not conscious of their own lives.The result is eye opening, painful and infuriating, insightful and rewarding. Dominion is a plea for human benevolence and mercy, a scathing attack on those who would dismiss animal activists as mere sentimentalists, and a demand for reform from the government down to the individual. Matthew Scully has created a groundbreaking work, a book of lasting power and importance for all of us.
We Animals
Jo-Anne McArthur - 2013
Through pictures shot in more than 40 countries and on all seven continents, award-winning photojournalist and animal advocate Jo-Anne McArthur breaks down the barriers that humans have built which allow non-human animals to be treated as objects. Ultimately, We Animals provides a valuable lesson about our treatment of animals, makes animal industries visible and accountable, and widens our circle of compassion to include all sentient beings. In McArthur's words: "My goals have always been to educate people about our treatment of animals. To reduce their suffering. To widen our circle of compassion to include non-human animals. To make animal industries visible, and accountable."
The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well
Meik Wiking - 2016
That's down to one thing: hygge.'Hygge has been translated as everything from the art of creating intimacy to cosiness of the soul to taking pleasure from the presence of soothing things. My personal favourite is cocoa by candlelight...'You know hygge when you feel it. It is when you are cuddled up on a sofa with a loved one, or sharing comfort food with your closest friends. It is those crisp blue mornings when the light through your window is just right.Who better than Meik Wiking to be your guide to all things hygge? Meik is CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen and has spent years studying the magic of Danish life. In this beautiful, inspiring book he will help you be more hygge: from picking the right lighting and planning a dinner party through to creating an emergency hygge kit and even how to dress.Meik Wiking is the CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen. He is committed to finding out what makes people happy and has concluded that hygge is the magic ingredient that makes Danes the happiest nation in the world.
Food: What the Heck Should I Eat?
Mark Hyman - 2018
Mark Hyman sorts through the conflicting research on food to give us the skinny on what to eat. Did you know that eating oatmeal actually isn't a healthy way to start the day? That milk doesn't build bones, and eggs aren't the devil? Even the most health conscious among us have a hard time figuring out what to eat in order to lose weight, stay fit, and improve our health. And who can blame us? When it comes to diet, there's so much changing and conflicting information flying around that it's impossible to know where to look for sound advice. And decades of misguided "common sense," food-industry lobbying, bad science, and corrupt food polices and guidelines have only deepened our crisis of nutritional confusion, leaving us overwhelmed and anxious when we head to the grocery store. Thankfully, bestselling author Dr. Mark Hyman is here to set the record straight. In Food: What the Heck Should I Eat? -- his most comprehensive book yet -- he takes a close look at every food group and explains what we've gotten wrong, revealing which foods nurture our health and which pose a threat. From grains to legumes, meat to dairy, fats to artificial sweeteners, and beyond, Dr. Hyman debunks misconceptions and breaks down the fascinating science in his signature accessible style. He also explains food's role as powerful medicine capable of reversing chronic disease and shows how our food system and policies impact the environment, the economy, social justice, and personal health, painting a holistic picture of growing, cooking, and eating food in ways that nourish our bodies and the earth while creating a healthy society. With myth-busting insights, easy-to-understand science, and delicious, wholesome recipes, Food: What the Heck Should I Eat? is a no-nonsense guide to achieving optimal weight and lifelong health.
No More Bull!: The Mad Cowboy Targets America's Worst Enemy: Our Diet
Howard F. Lyman - 2005
Not only were Lyman and Oprah vindicated in court, but events have proved many of Lyman's predictions absolutely right. Mad Cow Disease has come to America, and Lyman argues persuasively in No More Bull! that the problem will only grow more deadly until our government deals with it seriously. In Mad Cowboy, Lyman, a fourth-generation Montana rancher turned vegetarian then vegan, told the story of his personal transformation after a spinal tumor, which he believes was caused by agricultural chemicals, nearly left him paralyzed. In No More Bull!, Lyman uses his humor, compassion, firsthand experience in agriculture, and command of the facts of health to argue that we might all profit by transforming our diets. He makes a powerful case that Alzheimer's is yet another disease linked to eating meat. And he explains that the steak at the heart of your dinner plate not only may destroy your own heart but actually offers no more nutritional value than a doughnut! If you've been confused by the competing claims of the Atkins Diet, the South Beach Diet, and other fad diets, No More Bull! is the book that will set you straight. Its pure, unvarnished truth is told with down-home common sense. Lyman's got a message for meat eaters, vegetarians, and vegans -- and the message of No More Bull! is that we can all do better for ourselves and the planet.