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4.55 AVERAGE
4.55 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
One of the things that saddens me the most is the indifference of people towards animal suffering, environmental destruction and public health. And yes, I say indifference, not lack of knowledge, because many people know every. single. reason. to stop eating animals and, yet, continue to do so.
And this is precisely the reason I cannot give this book 5 stars. I know that it does change the minds of many people towards being vegan; but this is not the kind of book I would recommend to many of the people to whom I had the opportunity to discuss the matter. These people don't want logic, scientific evidence or a feeling of guilt. They want comfort, routine and to hide behind a lack of morality, as long as the bigger part of society stands on their side.
In this book, Ed presents a concept named cognitive dissonance. As an example, he talks about a cult where people believed an UFO would come to save the world from destruction, on a specific date. When the day came and no UFO appeared, some people understood that what they believed was wrong; on the other hand, others decided to construct the narrative that no UFO came because they saved the world from destruction by believing in the ETs.
This is precisely what happens to people when faced with the reality of veganism. They either admit they act wrongly and decide to change, or they try justify their behaviour.
This being said, if you are someone with a sense of morality, critical thinking and empathy, read this book. If, afterwards, your position towards eating meat and animal products is the same, I'm sorry, but you're wrong about yourself.
And this is precisely the reason I cannot give this book 5 stars. I know that it does change the minds of many people towards being vegan; but this is not the kind of book I would recommend to many of the people to whom I had the opportunity to discuss the matter. These people don't want logic, scientific evidence or a feeling of guilt. They want comfort, routine and to hide behind a lack of morality, as long as the bigger part of society stands on their side.
In this book, Ed presents a concept named cognitive dissonance. As an example, he talks about a cult where people believed an UFO would come to save the world from destruction, on a specific date. When the day came and no UFO appeared, some people understood that what they believed was wrong; on the other hand, others decided to construct the narrative that no UFO came because they saved the world from destruction by believing in the ETs.
This is precisely what happens to people when faced with the reality of veganism. They either admit they act wrongly and decide to change, or they try justify their behaviour.
This being said, if you are someone with a sense of morality, critical thinking and empathy, read this book. If, afterwards, your position towards eating meat and animal products is the same, I'm sorry, but you're wrong about yourself.
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
It is missing an intersectional eco-feminist, indigenous and anticapitalist perspective, but in other ways it is pretty thorough and I still learned things even after being vegan for so long.
emotional
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
3.5
This was interesting, though I don't think I'm the right audience for it. It seems to be written for people who still eat meat, rather than people who don't. I mean, I remember when Linda and Quorn were released in the big supermarkets for the first time. And they had a single shelf between them in the freezer isle. And I felt so happy that I could have mince and sausages back! Like whenever I went out for a meal, it was a lot of chips and onion rings as there was nothing vegetarian/vegan on the menu. In the past 20 years, we have come on so far and for the first time, we have so much choice and this diet has become so much more accessible. It was a barren wasteland when I first stopped eating meat, now you can get substitutes for any kind of meaty thing out there. If you stop eating meat now, you have so much choice. But it wasn't always this way. I think some people take that for granted now. The fact that this book seems to be written for meat eaters completely understandable but the emotional points didn't hit me very hard as they could've. Though it does help expand arguments that you can come up against. It has a lot of facts that are somewhat backed up. It also doesn't seem as judgemental nor does it make people who eat meat villians. As I never think that kind of behaviour and attitude is helpful. It seems to make people dig their heels in harder. Nor do I expect anyone to be perfect. Even one meatless meal a week helps. That's what I tend to encourage for staunch meat eaters or people who don't want to give up meat. Or you can help by showing or telling people what foods they currently eat are vegan/vegetarian. I would rather have millions of people cutting back, rather than a few thousands doing everything perfectly. You also have to remember health issues are a barrier aswell to someone thriving on a vegan diet. And we get so little nutrition education that some people would struggle to go vegan and stay healthy. Some bodies cannot cope with it, not matter how good they do it. And some people fail because they do it "wrong. Nutrition is hard and requires a lot of research to get right. So many food "facts" we were told in school are no longer true and even what we were taught, barely scratched the surface. Also, I'm tired of how much beans are pushed as a cheap option as someone who cannot stand the texture of any beans, whenever money barriers are talked about. I think the barriers that block people should've been talked about more and what we can do to help. Like you'd struggle if you lived in a food desert and didn't want a diet full of beans, pasta and rice. Also constant supply of fruit and veg in supermarkets no matter what the season needs looking into due to the carbon footprint of that demand and expanding that demand. Also, there is a lot of price fluctuations with the price of veggies and fruits around the world. In some places, the prices are so high. Nothing is as simple as it first appears. It's very complicated with a lot nuances. Ed talks about families reactions to the choice to stop eating meat, especially his own which I found interesting. My loved ones forget that I don't eat meat now and again, despite not doing so for 20+ years, I'm quite glad that my family have never took that choice personally and always respect it. Though some members thought I'd never stick to it though to be fair, I was a child. My sister would use quorn mince for a lot of meals to feed me and herself. She always had it in her freezer for me. One of my friends always checks packets to see if it's suitable before offering me a try taste. I know everyone else is not as lucky in that regards. I would reccomend it. I think it's something that people should listen to and sit with it. Deeply think it through. There are flaws with some of it, of course, and I think some of the ideas are a bit simplistic. But I'm glad I read it neverless. I will never be on the side "All or nothing." though. I don't think that is the most helpful attitude.
Also, I have never watched any of this persons content before nor heard of them before. So I don't know if they are seriously extreme, e.g the ones that tell me to set my cat "free" and let him die on the streets, painfully due to a health condition that would not be controlled on the streets but from this book, they seem not to be. (Yes, I've been told this by several people, along with complaints that I feed my cat meat, though I think it would be animal cruelty to feed him no meat. Usually by people who have been vegan for less than 3 years which makes me laugh.) But obviously not 100% sure. I picked up the book because the title interested me. It didn't feel very extreme vegan teacher to me. She doesn't help the cause one bit, infact, she probably makes people double down hard.
This was interesting, though I don't think I'm the right audience for it. It seems to be written for people who still eat meat, rather than people who don't. I mean, I remember when Linda and Quorn were released in the big supermarkets for the first time. And they had a single shelf between them in the freezer isle. And I felt so happy that I could have mince and sausages back! Like whenever I went out for a meal, it was a lot of chips and onion rings as there was nothing vegetarian/vegan on the menu. In the past 20 years, we have come on so far and for the first time, we have so much choice and this diet has become so much more accessible. It was a barren wasteland when I first stopped eating meat, now you can get substitutes for any kind of meaty thing out there. If you stop eating meat now, you have so much choice. But it wasn't always this way. I think some people take that for granted now. The fact that this book seems to be written for meat eaters completely understandable but the emotional points didn't hit me very hard as they could've. Though it does help expand arguments that you can come up against. It has a lot of facts that are somewhat backed up. It also doesn't seem as judgemental nor does it make people who eat meat villians. As I never think that kind of behaviour and attitude is helpful. It seems to make people dig their heels in harder. Nor do I expect anyone to be perfect. Even one meatless meal a week helps. That's what I tend to encourage for staunch meat eaters or people who don't want to give up meat. Or you can help by showing or telling people what foods they currently eat are vegan/vegetarian. I would rather have millions of people cutting back, rather than a few thousands doing everything perfectly. You also have to remember health issues are a barrier aswell to someone thriving on a vegan diet. And we get so little nutrition education that some people would struggle to go vegan and stay healthy. Some bodies cannot cope with it, not matter how good they do it. And some people fail because they do it "wrong. Nutrition is hard and requires a lot of research to get right. So many food "facts" we were told in school are no longer true and even what we were taught, barely scratched the surface. Also, I'm tired of how much beans are pushed as a cheap option as someone who cannot stand the texture of any beans, whenever money barriers are talked about. I think the barriers that block people should've been talked about more and what we can do to help. Like you'd struggle if you lived in a food desert and didn't want a diet full of beans, pasta and rice. Also constant supply of fruit and veg in supermarkets no matter what the season needs looking into due to the carbon footprint of that demand and expanding that demand. Also, there is a lot of price fluctuations with the price of veggies and fruits around the world. In some places, the prices are so high. Nothing is as simple as it first appears. It's very complicated with a lot nuances. Ed talks about families reactions to the choice to stop eating meat, especially his own which I found interesting. My loved ones forget that I don't eat meat now and again, despite not doing so for 20+ years, I'm quite glad that my family have never took that choice personally and always respect it. Though some members thought I'd never stick to it though to be fair, I was a child. My sister would use quorn mince for a lot of meals to feed me and herself. She always had it in her freezer for me. One of my friends always checks packets to see if it's suitable before offering me a try taste. I know everyone else is not as lucky in that regards. I would reccomend it. I think it's something that people should listen to and sit with it. Deeply think it through. There are flaws with some of it, of course, and I think some of the ideas are a bit simplistic. But I'm glad I read it neverless. I will never be on the side "All or nothing." though. I don't think that is the most helpful attitude.
Also, I have never watched any of this persons content before nor heard of them before. So I don't know if they are seriously extreme, e.g the ones that tell me to set my cat "free" and let him die on the streets, painfully due to a health condition that would not be controlled on the streets but from this book, they seem not to be. (Yes, I've been told this by several people, along with complaints that I feed my cat meat, though I think it would be animal cruelty to feed him no meat. Usually by people who have been vegan for less than 3 years which makes me laugh.) But obviously not 100% sure. I picked up the book because the title interested me. It didn't feel very extreme vegan teacher to me. She doesn't help the cause one bit, infact, she probably makes people double down hard.
dark
informative
slow-paced
I thought that I knew what it's to know after reading Eating animals, I was wrong. Human cruelty to animals is boundless, first few chapters were really hard to listen to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Violence
Genuinely life-transforming. I’d committed to a 4-week vegan experiment. This book has convinced me to stick with it for the foreseeable future.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
I think this is possibly one of the most important books I've read in a while, and it certainly validated my current lifestyle choices. Ed Winters, also known as Earthling Ed, uses this book as a thorough, collated argument as to why we should all be considering veganism. Covering everything from cruelty and caged hens through to pandemics and psychology, the book is well researched and backed up immaculately with evidence. Winters walks a fine line of being emotive and impactful with his argument for veganism without being agressive or patronising to those who choose to eat animal products. Well worth a read for everyone, vegan or otherwise, to get a true picture of the benefits of a vegan lifestyle.