Why Vegan? (Eating Ethically)

Peter Singer’s groundbreaking essay collection denounces human tyranny over animals and demonstrates the need for all of us to eliminate our dependence on meat. Collecting his most important writings from as early as the 1970s—some even before the 1975 publication of his seminal Animal Liberation—Singer illuminates his personal path and the trajectory society needs to take after the coronavirus crisis. In doing so, Why Vegan? makes a devastating case against our failure to confront the consequences of mistreating other beings—not only for the lives of animals, but also for the endangered health of our planet. Whether examining the meat industry’s disastrous contributions to climate change or showing how westerners cannot blame China for the repercussions of a live animal market without also acknowledging the viral danger of their own factory farm practices, Singer urges us to reconsider how we lead our lives in the twenty-first century.