This Is Vegan Propaganda: (And Other Lies the Meat Industry Tells You)

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It's not that Winters wants farmers to go extinct, but for them to transition to crops that will actually feed the world's hungry billions of people and not the hundreds of millions of farmed animals grown simply to kill for their flesh or secretions and who drink much more water than do plants. We need to change the way we look at and treat our fellow animals on this planet. As soon as possible. Me considero una vegana bastante suave. Pese a que al principio no podía aguantar soltar según qué comentarios (sobre todo cuando me los decían a mí primero y yo me sentía en la obligación de atacar), y quizás por eso este libro me ha dado un poco de problemas. La información está y, además, muy bien explicada. En vez de en audiolibro, me gustaría haberlo leído en físico para poder subrayar y marcar todos los datos que puedo sacar cuando alguien intente hacerme sentir inferior por no consumir carne (algo que, la verdad, no pasa casi nunca ya). No obstante, muchos de los comentarios, sobre todo hacia el final de libro, se me han hecho un poco condescendientes y soltados desde el privilegio.

The tone of the book is undoubtedly aimed at converting people to veganism, which I don't mind in the slightest but as the title states it is vegan propaganda. I enjoyed this book so much, from beginning to end. I love how the author uses the term “Vegan Propaganda” to put into perspective that the meat industry is actually the one hiding the reality from its consumers. And they’re the ones selling an idea that is in no way related to the daily facts of the industry. Maybe the most important reason for going without animal products is the much more frequent and deadly incidents of pandemics this century. COVID-19 was not the first or the deadliest in history and the worst is predicted by most scientists to be coming if we continue to farm diseased, mutilated animals in highly toxic environments. Wild animals bring the virus to farms, it spreads like wildfire, and all the farmed animals in the surrounding area must be 'culled.' but sometimes the virus mutates enough to affect the lungs of human farm workers.I recently met Ed and got my booked signed. I had a chat with him about my PhD thesis. Such a humble guy! Until very recently, the idea that meat provides protein, which equates to strength, was still a part of mainstream thinking.’ Photograph: Kellie French/The Guardian There's actually nothing traditional or happy about their farms where they must artificially inseminate and selectively breed their animals then inject them with antibiotics and various growth factors while feeding them an unnatural diet (they traditionally ate grass they evolved to eat) before being slaughtered (farmers prefer using the term harvested) and processed into palatable food. Although I consider myself fairly familiar with the topic, I learned a lot. Some knowledge was new to me, such as the role of animal agriculture in the outbreaks of new diseases, but my existing knowledge was also complemented by innumerable facts. Actually, numerable — I was surprised to see the e-book finish sooner than I expected, at 66%, due to the sheer amount of citations. I’ve been vegan for twelve years and if you’d told me at the beginning of my journey that I would one day see a book about veganism advertised on billboards and by bookstores, I simply wouldn’t have believed you.

Ed Winters is a compassionate activist, best-selling author and vegan educator from the UK, widely known for his award-winning viral online content. He is a prolific public speaker who has been invited to schools, universities and businesses across the world, including major companies such as Google, Meta and American Express. Ed has given speeches at over a third of UK universities and at every Ivy League college in the US. In 2022, Ed taught as a Media & Design Fellow at Harvard University. Everything you wanted to know about veganism but were afraid to ask. Ed offers a clear insight into the ethical debate around veganism for vegans and non-vegans alike. He explores why the word ‘vegan’ inspires strong emotions and challenges all of us, whatever our dietary choices, to be aware of the decisions we are making. Ed’s approach is to bring logic, philosophy and understanding to a debate that too often descends into chaos. Essential reading.”― Matt Haig, best-selling author of The Midnight Library

This book goes beyond just making the case for veganism and explores the psychological and social mechanisms behind why we do what we do, highlighting and exposing the societal and cultural constructs that create passive complicity in industries that, on deeper evaluation, contradict the fundamental values that we live by.” We Lie to Ourselves on a Daily Basis Ed Winters has built his career on bear baiting. Not with real bears; he’s a vegan. Instead he sits in public places under signs printed with provocative statements such as “Going vegan is a moral imperative: change my mind.” Winters waits for a passerby to take the bait, in the form of debate, and uploads their subsequent conversation on his popular social media channels. Thankfully, non-animal diets are no longer a niche concern. McDonald’s even has a McPlant burger now, while vegan celebrities and Netflix documentaries are helping to normalise the concept of meat abstention or reduction. According to a 2019 survey commissioned by the Vegan Society, the number of UK vegans quadrupled to 600,000 between 2014 and 2019. Britons have reduced their meat intake by almost 17% in a decade, according to a 2021 study in The Lancet’s Planetary Health journal. Often men are proud of eating meat. I get called a ‘soy boy’ and there’s a lot of, ‘Ed must be gay because he’s vegan’

Ed is probably the number 1 activist and influencer who guided me throughout my own vegan journey. He has educated me and so many others on the gruesome, cruel reality that animals face upon this earth. Meeting another vegetarian or vegan – especially a male one – used to be like finding a lone stranger in a foreign bar who loves your favourite band. Nowadays, it’s like everyone in the bar knows your band, likes the singles and is curious for the next album to arrive. Here come the hegans Ed Winters, "Earthling Ed", is a vegan educator, public speaker and content creator based in London, England. Winters is the co-founder and co-director of Surge, an animal rights organisation determined to create a world where compassion towards all non-human animals is the norm. And the reality is - I will say it again - I have never met a human on this planet so callous or so cold, that they could open their eyes to the truth on display here and do anything other than feel mortified at the system they have been duped into upholding. This book is without doubt the most interesting book out there on the real truth behind the meat industry.

Ed does a great job of empathetically reaching out to a skeptical reader and walking them through the best ways to align their values with their actions. That said, the information was very thorough and Ed covered quite a bit of ground. The part about pandemics was very engaging, as it is one part of the industry I have not read much about. The media and lobbying chapter was particularly interesting as well.

This is a really thorough well written book I'd strongly recommend it to anyone, I plan to buy a paper copy or two for my own family. While the author didn’t intend it, this book is by vegans for vegans. While the arguments are meant to be presented in a logical manner, they are filled with holes and based around flawed assumptions briefly described by the points below. I am afraid a lot of people are still ignorant (or in denial) about the horrors of the meat, fish and dairy industries. Even my most persistent illusion that, maybe, just maybe, there could be a somewhat "humane" way of consuming animals for a part of humanity was obliterated. That just reducing the exploitation and (ab)use of non-human animals will become somewhat morally acceptable. After all this time since going vegan, I am still dealing with these delusions and denial. The myths about (and from) these industries and our consumption are powerful. And a large part of it is that I don't want to become too desperate about the reality of the situation. This could be a very long review because there's a lot of intense information to digest. As a longtime vegan I knew much of this (not about chicen plumping) because I too have read the research into animal abuse at factory farms and slaughterhouses that continues because of animal meat lovers' complicit approval of this inhumanity. If you've never read or heard about the systemic, horrific abuse, it will be distinctly disturbing to you, bu no less than it was for me the first time. rading about it. It still disturbs me. They have noticed a transformation in their audience. “Following The Game Changers, it has become more acceptable for guys to admit to a plant-based diet,” Firth says. “Maybe the term plant-based is a way for people to say they’re not eating animals, but in a way they don’t feel is signing up to a certain ideology.”It helps that veganism’s image is shifting. Take Netflix’s 2018 documentary The Game Changers, which follows UFC fighter James Wilks as he investigates the benefits of a plant-based diet for professional athletes. It was executive produced by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who appears alongside endurance runners, American footballers, boxers and strongmen who have all forsaken meat and dairy. (The Austrian Oak himself is reportedly 99% vegan now.)