The protest against meat eating may turn out to be one of the most significant movements of our age. In terms of our relations with animals, it is difficult to think of a more urgent moral problem than the fate of billions of animals killed every year for human consumption. This book argues that vegetarians and vegans are not only protestors, but also moral pioneers. It provides 25 chapters which stimulate further thought, exchange, and reflection on the morality of eating meat. A rich array of philosophical, religious, historical, cultural, and practical approaches challenge our assumptions about animals and how we should relate to them. This book provides global perspectives with insights from 11 countries: US, UK, Germany, France, Belgium, Israel, Austria, the Netherlands, Canada, South Africa, and Sweden. Focusing on food consumption practices, it critically foregrounds and unpacks key ethical rationales that underpin vegetarian and vegan lifestyles. It invites us to revisit our relations with animals as food, and as subjects of exploitation, suggesting that there are substantial moral, economic, and environmental reasons for changing our habits. This timely contribution, edited by two of the leading experts within the field, offers a rich array of interdisciplinary insights on what ethical vegetarianism and veganism means. It will be of great interest to those studying and researching in the fields of animal geography and animal-studies, sociology, food studies and consumption, environmental studies, and cultural studies. This book will be of great appeal to animal protectionists, environmentalists, and humanitarians.

For vegetarians seeking the historical roots of vegetarianism, for animal rights activists and the environmentally concerned, and for those questioning their consumption of meat, here's a book that provides a deep understanding of vegetarianism as more than just a dietary decision. This is the first comprehensive collection of primary source material on vegetarianism as a moral choice and includes the writings of Carol Adams, Bernard de Mandeville, Mohandas Gandhi, Oliver Goldsmith, Anna Kingsford, Frances Moore Lappé, Porphyry, Pythagoras, Tom Regan, Albert Schweitzer, Seneca, Peter Singer, Leo Tolstoy, and Richard Wagner, among others.

After lives filled with deep suffering, 74 billion animals are slaughtered worldwide every year on factory farms. Is it wrong to buy the products of this industry? In this book, two college students – a meat-eater and an ethical vegetarian – discuss this question in a series of dialogues conducted over four days. The issues they cover include: how intelligence affects the badness of pain, whether consumers are responsible for the practices of an industry, how individual choices affect an industry, whether farm animals are better off living on factory farms than not existing at all, whether meat-eating is natural, whether morality protects those who cannot understand morality, whether morality protects those who are not members of society, whether humans alone possess souls, whether different creatures have different degrees of consciousness, why extreme animal welfare positions "sound crazy," and the role of empathy in moral judgment. The two students go on to discuss the vegan life, why people who accept the arguments in favor of veganism often fail to change their behavior, and how vegans should interact with non-vegans. A foreword, by Peter Singer, introduces and provides context for the dialogues, and a final annotated bibliography offers a list of sources related to the discussion. It offers abstracts of the most important books and articles related to the ethics of vegetarianism and veganism. Key Features: Thoroughly reviews the common arguments on both sides of the debate. Dialogue format provides the most engaging way of introducing the issues. Written in clear, conversational prose for a popular audience. Offers new insights into the psychology of our dietary choices and our responsibility for influencing others.

'Powerful and poignant.' Virginia McKenna OBE, Born Free Ethical veganism is not just a diet. Not just an opinion; nor a trend. This is a 21st-century revolution which began more than twenty centuries ago. Ethical veganism is not only about the food you choose to consume, it is a coherent philosophical belief that affects most areas of your life, and which could be the answer to today's global crises. Jordi Casamitjana is the vegan zoologist and animal protection campaigner whose landmark Employment Tribunal in 2020 made ethical veganism a protected belief in Great Britain. Ethical Vegan describes Jordi's extraordinary life and the animal encounters which led him to veganism and legal victory. It debunks myths and dispels preconceptions, offering a comprehensive analysis of veganism as a philosophy and as a socio-political transformative movement. Taking in history, science and everyday living, it explores how it is possible to dress ethically, travel, consume and work responsibly and, of course, eat well without compromising vegan ethics. Ethical Vegan is a riveting read - Jordi Casamitjana argues passionately for humans to interact with the world in a positive and compassionate way. This thought-provoking manifesto for doing no harm has the power to open people's minds and help to achieve a better future for all living things and the planet. As informative as it is incisive, as inspiring as it is inviting, this book will become one of the stand-out pieces of literature in the animal liberation movement. A must read whether you are vegan, vegetarian or otherwise!' Jay Brave

Drawing on research in plant science, systems ecology, environmental philosophy, and cultural anthropology, Andrew F. Smith shatters the distinction between vegetarianism and omnivorism. The book outlines the implications that these manufactured distinctions have for how we view food and ourselves as eaters.

Unlike previous books on the history of vegetarianism, Sins of the Flesh examines the history of vegetarianism in its ethical dimensions, from the origins of humanity through to the present. Full ethical consideration for animals resulting in the eschewing of flesh arose after the Aristotelian period in Greece and recurred in Ancient Rome, but then mostly disappeared for centuries. It was not until the turn of the nineteenth century that vegetarian thought was revived and enjoyed some success; it subsequently went into another period of decline that lasted through much of the twentieth century. The authority-questioning cultural revolution of the 1960s brought a fresh resurgence of vegetarian ethics that continues to the present day.

An investigation of the food choices people make and practices of the food producers who create this food for us leading to a discussion of how we might put more ethics into our shopping carts.