As veganism grows, so does the literature.
We've compiled a list of the best vegan books to inform, inspire, and disturb readers into making ethical choices.
For many people, reading books play a vital role in decision-making processes. Meaning, vegan books can be a convincing tool to recommend to non-vegans, as the well-researched literature provides insight and answers to those considering veganism.
So, whether you're already vegan or considering a vegan shift, these plant-based books contain everything necessary to understand why veganism is essential for animals, health, and the environment - and a better way to live.
Books exploring animal ethics
Part memoir and part investigative report, Eating Animals is the groundbreaking moral examination of vegetarianism, farming, and the food we eat every day that inspired the documentary of the same name.
Social psychologist Melanie Joy explores the many ways we numb ourselves and disconnect from our natural empathy for farmed animals. She coins the term "carnism" to describe the belief system that has conditioned us to eat certain animals and not others.
In Animal Liberation, author 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. An important and persuasive appeal to conscience, fairness, decency, and justice, it is essential reading for the supporter and the skeptic alike.
In Animalkind, Ingrid Newkirk and Gene Stone present these findings in a concise and awe-inspiring way, detailing a range of surprising discoveries: that geese fall in love and stay with a partner for life, that fish “sing” underwater, and that elephants use their trunks to send subsonic signals, alerting other herds to danger miles away.
The book covers the basic tenets of Farm Sanctuary life—such as eating in harmony with your values, connecting with nature wherever you are, and reducing stress—and offers readers simple ways to incorporate these principles into their lives.
Books about plant-based health
While plenty of books tell you how to go vegan, 72 Reasons to Go Veganis the book that tells you why. And it does so in a way that emphasizes not what you’d be giving up, but what you’d be gaining. The tone is upbeat, passionate, and direct, and the facts are plentiful and annotated.
The New York Times best-seller, Forks Over Knives, is the companion book to the popular vegan documentary. Discover how one simple change can prevent heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease
By Michael Greger & Gene Stone
In How Not to Die, Dr. Michael Greger, the internationally-recognized lecturer, physician, and founder of NutritionFacts.org, examines the fifteen top causes of death in America—heart disease, various cancers, diabetes, Parkinson’s, high blood pressure, and more—and explains how nutritional and lifestyle interventions can sometimes trump prescription pills and other pharmaceutical and surgical approaches, freeing us to live healthier lives.
More than 30 years ago, nutrition researcher T. Colin Campbell and his team at Cornell, in partnership with teams in China and England, embarked upon the China Study, the most comprehensive study ever undertaken of the relationship between diet and the risk of developing disease. What they found when combined with findings in Colin’s laboratory, opened their eyes to the dangers of a diet high in animal protein and the unparalleled health benefits of a whole foods, plant-based diet.
Proteinaholic: How Our Obsession with Meat Is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It
By Garth Davis & Howard Jacobson
An acclaimed surgeon specializing in weight loss delivers a paradigm-shifting examination of the diet and health industry’s focus on protein, explaining why it is detrimental to our health, and can prevent us from losing weight.
Punk rock icon John Joseph grew up on the mean streets of New York City in the 1970s. From gang fights to drug addiction, foster homes to lockups—he’s lived it all. But shifting the way he thought about food and committing to a plant-based diet is the one decision he credits with saving his life.
Books about environmental impacts of meat consumption
In this fascinating book, authors Nil Zacharias and Gene Stone share new research, intriguing infographics, and compelling arguments that support what scientists across the world are beginning to affirm and uphold: By making even minimal dietary changes, anyone can have a positive, lasting impact on our planet. If you love the planet, the only way to save it is by switching out meat for plant-based meals, one bite at a time.
Give a Sh*t: Do Good. Live Better. Save the Planet.
By Ashlee Piper
Give a Sh*t guides you through the transition to a kinder, healthier, more conscious, and sustainable life like no book has done before. With a humorous and nonjudgmental tone, savvy eco-friendly lifestyle expert Ashlee Piper walks you through easy-but-impactful shifts anyone can make to live and be better every damn day.
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