whats your fave book on vegetarianism/veganism?

Sapsorrow

Be it cook books, political/philosophical books or nutrition books...

Mine would be: Healing with wholefoods by paul pitchford (mine and many of my friends health bibles to which no other book on nutrition can compare)

and also the china study by Colin T. Campell for the more scientific approach (a really controversial and groundbreaking book on the scientific research on the link between animal protein consumption and the etiology of cancer)

Cook books: Vegan feasts by Rose Elliot not because it's a huge book or has nice pictures or anything but just because it's the one book I seem to keep referring to year after year for any recipe I've forgotten the jist of or just for inspiration and every recipe if really easy and really yummy.

My second fave would be the gourmet vegetarian again by rose elliot which is a lovely book my dad got my for christmas a few years back and its basically a book of recipes for when you're trying to impress people with your cooking (really quirky recipes) with lovely photos and hardback cover.

Fave political philosopical book: Making a killing by Bob Torres cos he's a legend and it's really readable (all bout the place of meat eating in the f*cked upness of our social and political systems)

And Diet for a small planet by Francis Lappe moore because it's a classic and has probably sent the biggest shockwaves through the public sphere of any book on the ecology of vegetarianism

raah!

I'm ashamed to say I've never read a book on vegetarianism yet, but I'm sure this thread will have something to say about that :P

Tar.Aldarion

I've never really read one apart from flicking through cookbooks like cornucopias and the china study. Would be interested in looking at it thoroughly and seeing do I think it's riht or not. Lots of critisicm of it I hear, but most is saying he had a 'vested interest' or whatever.

Nunubird

I have Paul Pitchford's 'Healing with whole foods' and find it very useful.

Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. She has a great blog called 'Post Punk Kitchen' http://www.theppk.com/

'Fit for Life' and 'Living Health' by Marilyn and Harvey Diamond

'Fast Food Nation' is not about vegetarianism as such but has a good section on slaughterhouses in the US and how dangerous they are to animals and workers.

Can't think of anymore at the moment!

Sapsorrow

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Lots of critisicm of it I hear, but most is saying he had a 'vested interest' or whatever.

As far as I know it was the opposite story he was raised on a dairy farm and spent the first years of his career working for the American equivalent of the Dairy council trying to promote dairy consumption esp in the third world as a potential cure for malnutrition, it was while he was on this work that he cdiscovered the theory.

It's not hard to guess who and why certain people would be criticising him anyway what he's saying goes against the economic interests of nearly the whole agricultural industry remember when that senator brought inthe first ever dietary guidelines in the US and in them it reccomended reducing meat consumption, the meat sector went mental and he was quietly forced to resign over it. I'd imagine these days anyone posing a threat to their ability to make bucket loads of money could expect to be treated a lot more harshly.
As far as I can tell after reading it his scientific method is very sound and has been reproduced multiple times, also he actually got involved with this area because he stumbled on some research carried out by Indian scientists so it's not only him thats been getting the results he just made it public.

Tar.Aldarion

Cheers for info, it's certainly very interesting to me and look forward to reading it fulland any critiques:
/random
http://www.cholesterol-and-health.com/China-Study.html

It's certainly a very heated topic in such a large industry so it's hard to read some things at face value etc
cba, reading all the links and backgrounds of people. :P

Sapsorrow

Lol ya I'd be extremely wary of any information coming through the Weston Price foundation they're a bunch of mentalists in my opinion, their nutritional philosophy is based on the research of a dentist (born in 1870!) who were formed with the aim of promoting meat and dairy products (and supporting meat/dairy farmers) to Americans. They're notorious for b*tchin about Colin T campell and for being anti-vegetarianism and anti-cholesterol/saturated fat reducing dietary guidelines.
For a more unbiased perspective of the cholesterol/sat fat controversy you could try The diet delusion by Gary Taubes which poses a similar arguement but not in a way thats trying to get a dig in at someone!

RogerYates

khrystyna100 wrote: »

Lol ya I'd be extremely wary of any information coming through the Weston Price foundation they're a bunch of mentalists in my opinion, their nutritional philosophy is based on the research of a dentist (born in 1870!) who were formed with the aim of promoting meat and dairy products (and supporting meat/dairy farmers) to Americans. They're notorious for b*tchin about Colin T campell and for being anti-vegetarianism and anti-cholesterol/saturated fat reducing dietary guidelines.
For a more unbiased perspective of the cholesterol/sat fat controversy you could try The diet delusion by Gary Taubes which poses a similar arguement but not in a way thats trying to get a dig in at someone!

I agree that the WPF is well dodgy. Here Campbell talks about them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxb7XPm_SxU

In my view, the best recent book has been Animals As Persons by law professor and animal rights philosopher, Gary Francione: http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/books/

RY

ztoical

Sue Coe's Dead Meat - not a straight up vegetarian book but a graphic novel where the artist visited over 40 slaughterhouses, cattle ranches, and hatcheries to document the grisly practices of the meat-packing industry. She wasn't allowed to take photos so she drew everything. you can see some of the work online.

Nature Boy

One of my favorite cookbooks is "the Japanese vegetarian cookbook" by patricia Richfield. Japanese food is great to cook (and eat!) and aparently it's one of the healtiest diet's in the world!

I-like-eggs,mmm

After buying every(slight exaggeration) & all sorts of vegan/vegetarian cookbooks for a wee while...

Best by far:
*For information on everything such as kitchen essentials/equipment,
*Basic stuff on even how to cook grains/veg/different beans etc. right
*Interesting nutritional info
*Menus
*Dinner party planning (& what to cook to satisfy the carnivore...sorta)
*Coded recipes for gluten, low fat, soy free, cooking times...
*Got everything...soups/salads/sang wedges/dinners/desserts... you name it.
--it's so well laid out & the info in it is deeeadly And huge.

Anyway the book is: Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero.. I got it on Amazon but I'm sure any of the bookshops will order it in. It's an investment!!

A handy little one to have with easy recipes is The Student Vegetarian Cookbook... check out their lentil moussaka... delightful!

Loads but, the Veganomicon is great... especially if you want the extra interesting info bits along with the recipes!

Censorsh!t

I've read Animal Liberation and The Vegetarian Revolution.
Both were very good, the latter had some very nice arguments and info and also recipes.

henryporter

All of the 'Greens Cookbook', 'This can't be Tofu' and 'Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen' all by Deborah Madison offer a great range of easy to difficult recipes which taste great.

Also Dennis Cotters 'Wild Garlic, Gooseberries and Me: A Chef's Stories and Recipes from the Land' is a great read about cultivated and wild foods available in Ireland along with recipes.

DonnieScribbles

I-like-eggs,mmm wrote: »

Anyway the book is: Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero.. I got it on Amazon but I'm sure any of the bookshops will order it in. It's an investment!!

I ordered this off Amazon earlier on a whim! I do love the PPK so I'm looking forward to perusing this one... I also think it's time I had a decent cookbook, instead of photocopying pages out of my mother's books whenever I'm at home
I'll be eagerly awaiting the postman next week!

There's a vegan cookbook by Eva Batt that is pretty good. I can't remember the name but I'm sure it's something pretty obvious. It's pretty short but there's some good, basic recipes in it and a good selection of desserts.

And the aforementioned Rose Elliot is always reliable. She has a good few books at this stage I think.

I've never read any theoretical/political book about vegetarianism/veganism. Maybe I should...

I-like-eggs,mmm

DonnieScribbles wrote: »

I ordered this off Amazon earlier on a whim! I do love the PPK so I'm looking forward to perusing this one... I also think it's time I had a decent cookbook, instead of photocopying pages out of my mother's books whenever I'm at home
I'll be eagerly awaiting the postman next week!

There's a vegan cookbook by Eva Batt that is pretty good. I can't remember the name but I'm sure it's something pretty obvious. It's pretty short but there's some good, basic recipes in it and a good selection of desserts.

And the aforementioned Rose Elliot is always reliable. She has a good few books at this stage I think.

I've never read any theoretical/political book about vegetarianism/veganism. Maybe I should...

Oh Good Luck!! You'll love it... should be a bare essential for all vegans/veggies.... a bible even!!! :P

DonnieScribbles

I-like-eggs,mmm wrote: »

Oh Good Luck!! You'll love it... should be a bare essential for all vegans/veggies.... a bible even!!! :P

Got this yesterday (after a bit of a mix-up, what I hoped was my book was actually some shoes ).

I love it already! I haven't even cooked anything from it yet! Some very exciting looking recipes in there. I second I-like-eggs,mmm's recommendation

cosmic

500 Greatest Ever Vegetarian Recipes by Valerie Ferguson. It's my bible!