Giving up meat, seafood and animal products is the single most impactful (and simplest) thing you can do to reduce your carbon footprint. In fact, it makes more difference than giving up plastic, avoiding air travel and going car free.
We also know that a diet rich in plant based food is best at preventing numerous diseases. For many of us, if it's one thing we have in our power to change—for the sake of the planet and our health—it's our diet. But, kicking the meat habit can be tough.
Whether you’re trying to reduce your meat intake (and need a little encouragement), flexitarian, already vegan, or just curious, here are twelve inspiring and thought-provoking books that shed light on eating sustainably and healthily.
1
Farmageddon by Philip Lymbery
Farmageddon is a fascinating and terrifying investigative journey behind the closed doors of factory farming across the world —from the UK, Europe and the USA, to China, Argentina, Peru and Mexico. It is both a wake-up call to change our current food production and eating practices and an attempt to find a way to a better farming future.
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2
We Are the Weather by Jonathan Safran Foer
American novelist Jonathan Safran Foer reveals how we have turned our planet into a farm for growing animal products, and the consequences are catastrophic. Eating for the planet and for our health are inextricably linked. Foer states his case for how a plant-based diet could help mitigate the climate crisis.
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3
The Ethics of What We Eat by Peter Singer and Jim Mason
Ethicist Singer and co-author Mason document corporate deception, widespread waste and desensitization to inhumane practices in this consideration of ethical eating. This is a no-holds-barred treatise on ethical consumption.
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4
Eating Animals- Jonathan Safran Foer
Faced with the prospect of being unable to explain why we eat some animals and not others, Foer set out to explore the origins of many eating traditions and the fictions involved with creating them, by traveling to the darkest corners of our dining habits, and factory farms.
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5
How to Survive a Pandemic by Michael Greger
From tuberculosis to bird flu and HIV to coronavirus, these infectious diseases share a common origin story: human interaction with animals. These pathogens—both pre-existing ones and those newly identified— emerge and re-emerge throughout history, sparking epidemics and pandemics that have resulted in millions of deaths around the world. Dr Michael Greger, the author of the best selling book How Not To Die, delves into the origin of zoonotic diseases and looks at what we can do to prevent them.
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5
Meatanomics by David Robinson Simon
Animal food producers influence our buying choices with artificially low prices, misleading messages, and heavy legislation and regulation control. This must-read book explains how the government props up the meat and dairy industries with tax-fuelled subsidies, and the meat industry's manipulation of the public.
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7
Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows by Melanie Joy
An important investigation into carnism, the belief system that conditions us to eat certain animals when we would never dream of eating others. With a foreword by Yuval Harari, the best-selling author of Sapiens, Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows is an enlightening examination of our cognitive dissonance, and the suffering and global injustice it promotes.
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8
Finding Ultra by Rich Roll
One of the world's most recognized advocates of plant-based living, Rich Roll turned his life around at 40 to become one of the world’s fittest humans. Here he shares the practices, tools, and techniques he uses for optimal performance, longevity, and wellness, including diet and nutrition protocols.
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9
Animal Liberation by Peter Singer
This classic is just as relevant today as when it was published in 1975. Peter Singer exposes the chilling realities of today's factory farms and product-testing procedures—destroying the spurious justifications behind them, and offering alternatives to what has become a profound environmental and social, as well as moral, issue. Essential reading for the supporter and the skeptic alike.
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10
Meathooked by Marta Zaraska
Despite evidence of meat’s harmful effects, the world at large is still hooked on it. Science writer Marta Zaraska explains why in this informative book on humankind’s 2.5 million-year-old relationship with meat, taking us on a journey around the world to different cultures.
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11
Burger by Carol J. Adams
Vegan feminist scholar Carol J. Adams explores the history, business, cultural dynamics, and gender politics of the ordinary hamburger, and also looks at the way that plant-based burgers are changing and challenging our perception of the humble burger.
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12
The Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan
The Omnivore's Dilemma is an eye-opening exploration of our food choices, bringing attention to the little-known but vitally important dimensions of food and agriculture in America. Pollan launches a conversation about what we eat and the profound consequences that even the simplest everyday food choices have on both ourselves and the natural world.
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