Compassionate Eating as Care of Creation
As many of you know, I spent the summer writing a booklet on the intersection of animal ethics and faith issues (from a Christian perspective) for the Humane Society of the United States. The result of this endeavor is finally available online and you can check it out here. The limited edition version of the publication (which is not yet featured on the website) includes 14 amazing collages by our very own Adam Wolpa. We hope to have a pdf of the limited edition up soon, but until then you can check out Wolpa's collages here.

Something for Everyone
While the argument developed in this booklet is grounded primarily in broadly Christian assumptions, my hope is that there may still be some strategic value in the booklet for people who do not share these assumptions. After all, many non-Christians who care about the plight of animals still have a vested interest in being able to appeal to Christian audiences in a language that such audiences can understand and appreciate. Moreover, there are certain empirical facts about the fallout of our dependence on industrial animal agriculture that all of us have a vested interest in knowing, regardless of our diverse religious identities. Pages 23-36 focus specifically on these empirical issues, so if you're allergic to religious discourse but still interested in the general topic, you can skip straight to this section of the booklet for a succinct overview (with recourse to the latest scientific research) of the hidden human, animal, and environmental consequences of the traditional American diet.

Bob Torres on "The Political Economy of Animal Rights"
The Vegan Freak is at it again. In his new book Making A Killing: The Political Economy of Animal Rights, Bob Torres wields an explosive battery of Marxist and anarchist artillery to level a withering critique of both the capitalism that drives animal exploitation and the conflicted philosophy of animal rights activism that he claims unwittingly entrenches this exploitation. For those who have read previous posts on the recent conflicts between Reformist and Abolitionist approaches to animal advocacy, the alleged inconsistencies in the "New Welfarist" approaches that Torres is criticizing will ring familiar.

The Uninterrogated Assumptions of "New Welfarism"
Says Torres: "Because some new welfarists imagine that talking about human hierarchy over animals and the moral wrong of all animal exploitation is too onerously radical and difficult for the average person to understand, let alone accept, we end up with campaigns, strategies, and tactics that do little more than refocus the efforts of industry to produce products that "caring, ethical" consumers find pleasing. We also end up with so-called "reforms" that even animal rights organizations argue make animal exploitation more profitable. Some activists refer to these reforms as "victories," and they are victories, in a sense: they are victories for the industry." (100) Among the organizations targeted here are PETA and The Humane Society of the United States, groups that, according to Torres, do not even engage, much less challenge, the foundational assumptions upon which the exploitative practices of animal use industries ultimately rest, namely the property status of animals (which paves the way for their commodification), and underlying that, the traditionally accepted hierarchy of human beings over animals.

Veganism as a Baseline
Entitled "You Cannot Buy the Revolution," the final chapter of this provocative read provides an intriguing but somewhat scant set of recommendations for moving forward. First and foremost, Torres maintains, veganism "must be a baseline for the animal rights movement. It is the daily, lived expression of abolition in one's life, and a rejection of the logic of speciesism." As Torres sees it, "vegan education should form the basis of our outreach and activism; in our interactions with people outside the movement, we should discuss why veganism is a viable option. This works in direct contrast to the current animal rights discourse, which promotes "happy meat," "humanely" raised eggs, and organic milk. All of these products rely on exploitation and maintain the relations that will continue to exploit. If we want to eradicate exploitation, we must begin by ending it in our own lives, and encouraging others to do the same." (145) Beyond adopting veganism, Torres recommends that we eschew large, beaurocratic institutions like PETA and HSUS in favor of marshaling the power of the internet and working in "consensus-based affinity groups"--smaller, more flexible collectives of like-minded people that may serve as "models of non-exploitative, non-hierarchical social relationships that highlight mutual aid and conviviality, while also respecting individuality." (148) Sounds a bit like ExtraVEGANza!. Who knew we were a consensus-based affinity group? SNAP!

At Home With Bob Torres
Controversial as its thesis may be, Making A Killing is an intriguing, challenging, and inspiring read, at least in part because of the uniqueness of Torres's voice. As a scholar-activist with a Ph.D. in sociology from Cornell University and a professorship at St. Lawrence University in upstate New York, he brings pedagogy and agitation into an unsettling, but potentially invigorating, confluence. Read all about his personal and professional exploits at bobtorres.net.

Are Specieism and Animal Liberation Compatible?
This remarkable new book by Tzachi Zamir maintains that, contrary to popular opinion, it is possible to argue to the abolition of many "animal use" industries from "speciesist" premises. Here's a brief description of Zamir's argument from the book's promo page at Princeton University Press:

"Many people think that animal liberation would require a fundamental transformation of basic beliefs. We would have to give up "speciesism" and start viewing animals as our equals, with rights and moral status. And we would have to apply these beliefs in an all-or-nothing way. But in Ethics and the Beast, Tzachi Zamir makes the radical argument that animal liberation doesn't require such radical arguments--and that liberation could be accomplished in a flexible and pragmatic way. By making a case for liberation that is based primarily on common moral intuitions and beliefs, and that therefore could attract wide understanding and support, Zamir attempts to change the terms of the liberation debate.

Without defending it, Ethics and the Beast claims that speciesism is fully compatible with liberation. Even if we believe that we should favor humans when there is a pressing human need at stake, Zamir argues, that does not mean that we should allow marginal human interests to trump the life-or-death interests of animals. As minimalist as it sounds, this position generates a robust liberation program, including commitments not to eat animals, subject them to factory farming, or use them in medical research. Zamir also applies his arguments to some questions that tend to be overlooked in the liberation debate, such as whether using animals can be distinguished from exploiting them, whether liberationists should be moral vegetarians or vegans, and whether using animals for therapeutic purposes is morally blameless."

Dazzled! Floored! Dumbstruck! SPEECHLESS, even.
Okay. So I'm not speechless (it would probably take a to-scale model of a Lamborghini Diablo sculped in batter-fried tofu and floating in an Olympic-sized pool of ponzu sauce to render me speechless). But I am indeed dazzled, floored, and stricken by the long-awaited arrival of Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero's VEGANOMICON: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook. It's true: the implacable post-punk kitcheners who brought us Vegan With a Vengeance and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World have struck again, this time delivering the most comprehensive and accessible vegan cookbook we've ever seen.

Noodles's First Veganomicon: Leek and Green Pea Cassoulet with Biscuits
With over 250 tantalizing recipes built on easy-to-find, reasonably-priced staple ingredients, The Veganomicon covers every imaginable corner of the culinary landscape. Allow me to rehearse the categories in the Table of Contents: Snacks, Appetizers, Little Meals, Dips and Spreads; Brunch; Salads and Dressings; Dressings; Sammiches; Vegetables; Grains; Beans; Tofu, Tempeh, and Seitan; Soups; Casseroles; One-Pot Meals and Stove-Top Specialties; Pasta, Noodles, and Risotto; Sauces and Fillings; Breads, Muffins, and Scones; Cookies and Bars; Desserts; Menus for the Masses. HOLY SMOKES! Get ready for a flurry of new posts!

Moles's First Veganomicon: Tofu Florentine.

This book looks fascinating. Thanks for letting me know about it, Amazon!

Brutal: Manhood and the Exploitation of Animals
by Brian Luke, University of IL Press

In Brutal, Brian Luke explores the gender divide over our treatment of animals, exposing the central role of masculinity in systems of animal exploitation. Employing philosophical analysis, reference to empirical research, and relevant personal experience, Luke develops a new theory of how exploitative institutions do not work to promote human flourishing but instead merely act as support for a particular construction of manhood. The resulting work is of significant interest both to animal advocates and opponents of sexism.

(1) Animal Suffering
Non-human animals used for food, clothing, entertainment, and commercial research are sentient beings who are fully capable of feeling pain and experiencing psychological trauma; the conditions under which they are raised subject them to merciless suffering and untimely and often painful deaths. Since medical research has discredited the popular claim that animal products are indispensable for good nutrition (quite the contrary!), this suffering and death is entirely unnecessary in the overwhelming majority of cases, unless one is prepared to interpret mere aesthetic enjoyment on the part of human beings as a necessity. Read all about it in Tom Regan's Empty Cages.

(2) Poor Environmental Stewardship
Animal husbandry, especially in its modern industrial form, has devastating consequences for the environment: it requires wasteful allocation of land to grow grain to feed animals (when it could be feeding people); it requires astronomical amounts of water, and fossil fuels for herbicides, pesticides, and transportation; it generates massive amounts of waste (manure) and greenhouse gasses (cow flatulence produces almost 20% of the methane), and animal and chemical waste runoff causes air and water pollution. Read all about it in Michael Jacobson's Six Reasons for a Greener Diet.

(3) Exploitation of the Disenfranchised
Factory farms and slaughterhouses are among the most dangerous and degrading places to work (not to mention to live): the stench is unbearable, the work environment is filthy and full of peril (physically and psychologically), the acts of cruelty that workers must perform are horrific, and these operations prey on illegal aliens and other disenfranchised persons who have limited employment options.Read all about it in Gail Eisnitz's Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment inside the U.S. Meat Industry.

(4) Global Injustice
International companies exploit arable land in the developing world (which could be used to grow food for the undernourished people who live there) in order to grow grain to feed animals that only the richest countries in the world can afford to eat. More importantly, in order to keep grain prices low, the government pays billions of dollars per year in subsidies which harm the global poor (i.e., the 20% of people in the world who live off of less than what a $1/day would buy in the USA, and the 50% that live off of less than $2). The Economist, The Lancet and other publications have estimated that discontinuing the subsidies and reallocating these resources more responsibly could save millions of people a year from unnecessary suffering and death. Read all about it in John Robbins's The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and the World.

(5) Local Injustice
Industrial agriculture has destroyed rural communities, putting family farmers either out of business or into servitude to large, unscrupulous corporations who take virtually all of the profits and none of the risks; the result is that land which, when wisely stewarded, can support the growth of hundreds of species of plants (a practice that has a regenerative effect on the soil) is now used to grow genetically modified corn and soybeans to feed factory farmed animals. Read all about it in Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals.

(6) Poor Stewardship of Personal Health
The most current scientific and nutritional findings provide substantive evidence that eating animal products is a direct cause of “diseases of affluence” such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, breast and intestinal cancers, Alzheimers, and many others; meanwhile, the same studies show that the consumption of a whole foods, plant based diet not only reduces one’s risk of getting these illnesses, but can mitigate and even reverse them when they’ve already taken hold. Read all about it in Dr. Kerrie Saunders's The Vegan Diet As Chronic Disease Prevention.

(7) Poor Stewardship of Public Resources
Personal health crises lead to public health crises, and this is proving true in the United States, where we spend hundreds of billions of dollars annually on medication and invasive surgical procedures to treat “diseases of affluence” that can be prevented by the more responsible consumption of a whole foods, plant based diet. Read all about it in Dr. T. Colin Campbell's The China Study.

THE BLOODLESS REVOLUTION
The truth is often stranger than fiction. Would you believe, for example, that Rene Descartes-a philosopher often maligned for his ostensibly inhumane view of animals as unfeeling machines-was actually an advocate of vegetarianism? Did you know that Adam Smith, the world renowned Enlightenment economist, believed that the integrity of the northern European economy depended on switching from wasteful animal husbandry practices to a more efficient potato-based agriculture? Could you have imagined that Hindu Brahminism was a key influence on 17th century Christian sects seeking to restore the lost harmony of Eden through English gardening practices? Learn more about these and many more surprising facts heretofore lost to history in Tristram Stuart's The Bloodless Revolution: A Cultural History of Vegetarianism from 1600 to Modern Times

Introducing Tom Regan...
First moved to consider the issue of animal compassion in the Vietnam era by reading Gandhi's The Story of My Experiments With Truth, Tom Regan has been a pioneer of the animal rights movement ever since. A distinguished Philosophy Professor at North Carolina State University, Regan has argued that non-human animals, as psychological centers of consciousness, are "subjects-of-a-life"--unique, irreplaceable individuals who value their own lives even if no one else does.

Facing the Challenge of Animal Rights
His most recent book, Empty Cages: Facing the Challenge of Animal Rights, presents general audiences with an accessible and persuasvie defense of animal rights, followed by an account of the suffering that non-human animals are made to endure in the food, clothing, entertainment, and research industries. Those who wish to get a sense of the drift of Regan's arguments in a succinct, easily digestible format may consult Ten Reasons for Animal Rights or the companion site for Empty Cages. Those desiring a more robust philosophical defense of Regan's Kant-inspired argument that the rights of animals are grounded in their status as "subjects-of-a-life" should check out The Case For Animal Rights. Professional philosophical and popular audiences alike will find much of interest at The Tom Regan Animal Rights Archive.

Not a fan of Peter Singer? Introducing Matthew Scully...
One of my favorite things about the animal compassion movement is that it transcends the liberal/conservative divide. Case in point: our second featured author, Matthew Scully.

"Compassionate Conservatism...For Animals"
Scully has a decidedly more conservative point of view on the importance of compassion for animals than that of our first featured author. Indeed, if Singer's left-wing, anti-religious utilitarianism leaves you cold, then perhaps you'll warm up to Scully, a former advisor and speechwriter for President George W. Bush. Though Scully is skeptical of "rights based" discussions of the moral standing of animals, he is emphatically opposed to their merciless suffering in factory farms on the grounds that our "dominion" over the animal kingdom implies a call to mercy and good stewardship in caring for the non-human beings under our charge.

Scully's best-selling book, Dominion: The Power of Man, The Suffering of Animals, and The Call to Mercy, has received rave reviews from all corners of the literary world, and his many articles in publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal always make for interesting and challenging reading. You'll want to check out, for instance, Fear Factories: The Case for Compassionate Conservatism...For Animals, Factory Farm Meat Not On Menu For Feast Of St. Francis, and God is Green.

NOTE: The links for the books provided below are to Amazon.com. If you are considering making a purchase, please entertain the possibility of buying or ordering these books from Schuler Books and Music, our very own independent bookseller here in Grand Rapids. Remember: these books won't be on the shelves in our local bookstores unless we create the demand for them!

Welcome to the first installment of the Featured Author Series!

Given the widespread perception among the general public that veganism and animal rights concerns are long on sentimentality and short on argumentation, one of the primary goals of this blog is to get the word out on authors whose work provides the intellectual grounding for these concerns.

Introducing Peter Singer...

Our first featured author is Peter Singer, the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. A world famous philosopher and animal advocate, Singer is widely viewed as the father of the contemporary animal rights movement. His magnum opus, Animal Liberation has served since 1975 as the definitive articulation of the moral atrocities perpetrated against non-human animals in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs or "factory farms") and other industries in which animals are subjected to morally unjustifiable treatment.

Singer's most recent contribution to the animal ethics literature is The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter, a collaboration with human/animal rights attorney and author Jim Mason. In my humble estimation, this book is the single best introduction to the ethics of eating currently available, largely because it presents the animal cruelty issue in the context of many other lesser known moral implications of factory agribusiness, including the degradation of the environment, the loss of human dignity suffered by those who work in factory farms, and the personal and public health fallout of the consumption of animal products.

In addition to his own influential writings, Singer has contributed much to the field of animal ethics by way of editing anthologies that showcase the work of other authors. The updated Second Edition of the classic In Defense of Animals, for instance, offers the reader essays on everything from the scientific and religious implications of animal ethics to cutting-edge activism strategies. Those who'd like a sneak peak at one of the excellent essays in this volume may check out the online version of Jim Mason's "Brave New Farm?".

Finally, those concerned about the question of whether Singer's compassion for the suffering of animals extends to the suffering of human beings may wish to consult his classic article "Famine, Affluence and Morality".