Awards

• Winner of Shortlisted, 2025 AASA Siobhan OSullivan Book Prize.

Overview

How would we eat if animals had rights? A standard assumption is that our food systems would be plant-based. But maybe we should reject this assumption. Indeed, this book argues that a future non-vegan food system would be permissible on an animal rights view. It might even be desirable. In Food, Justice, and Animals: Feeding the World Respectfully, Josh Milburn questions if the vegan food system risks cutting off many people's pursuit of the 'good life', risks exacerbating food injustices, and risks negative outcomes for animals. If so, then maybe non-vegan food systems would be preferable to vegan food systems, if they could respect animal rights.Could they? The author provides a rigorous analysis of the ethics of farming invertebrates, producing plant-based meats, developing cultivated animal products, and co-working with animals on genuinely humane farms, arguing that these possibilities offer the chance for a food system that is non-vegan, but nonetheless respects animals' rights. He argues that there is a way for us to have our cake, and eat it too, because we can have our cow, and eat her too.

Full Product Details

9780192867469

Table of Contents

Reviews

The exploitation of sentient animals is pervasive within most contemporary livestock production systems. In Food, Justice, and Animals, however, philosopher Josh Milburn intriguingly proposes that many animal products might be used for food or other purposes, whilst still respecting animals' rights. For those who aspire toward lifestyles free of animal exploitation, this is nothing less than paradigm-shifting. This highly readable and engaging book deserves widespread consideration by all who are concerned about the ethics, and consequences of, our modern livestock production systems. And given the severity of the environmental and animal welfare problems they create, this should be all of us. * Prof. Andrew Knight MANZCVS, DipECAWBM (AWSEL), DipACAW, PhD, FRCVS, PFHEA * This book is not an attack on veganism... I view it very much as saying 'If we're going to put forward an idea of a future in which animals are treated well, we do need to take seriously the arguments that are pitted against veganism.'... I really do commend [Milburn] on an excellent piece of work that got me thinking in all sorts of directions. * Claudia Hirtenfelder, Animal Turn podcast * Milburn's book is intelligent, innovative, and challenging. He argues subtly and analyses many counterarguments. * Arianna Ferrari, TIERethik *

The exploitation of sentient animals is pervasive within most contemporary livestock production systems. In Food, Justice, and Animals, however, philosopher Josh Milburn intriguingly proposes that many animal products might be used for food or other purposes, whilst still respecting animals' rights. For those who aspire toward lifestyles free of animal exploitation, this is nothing less than paradigm-shifting. This highly readable and engaging book deserves widespread consideration by all who are concerned about the ethics, and consequences of, our modern livestock production systems. And given the severity of the environmental and animal welfare problems they create, this should be all of us. * Prof. Andrew Knight MANZCVS, DipECAWBM (AWSEL), DipACAW, PhD, FRCVS, PFHEA *

The exploitation of sentient animals is pervasive within most contemporary livestock production systems. In Food, Justice, and Animals, however, philosopher Josh Milburn intriguingly proposes that many animal products might be used for food or other purposes, whilst still respecting animals' rights. For those who aspire toward lifestyles free of animal exploitation, this is nothing less than paradigm-shifting. This highly readable and engaging book deserves widespread consideration by all who are concerned about the ethics, and consequences of, our modern livestock production systems. And given the severity of the environmental and animal welfare problems they create, this should be all of us. * Prof. Andrew Knight MANZCVS, DipECAWBM (AWSEL), DipACAW, PhD, FRCVS, PFHEA * This book is not an attack on veganism... I view it very much as saying 'If we're going to put forward an idea of a future in which animals are treated well, we do need to take seriously the arguments that are pitted against veganism.'... I really do commend [Milburn] on an excellent piece of work that got me thinking in all sorts of directions. * Claudia Hirtenfelder, Animal Turn podcast * Milburn's book is intelligent, innovative, and challenging. He argues subtly and analyses many counterarguments. * Arianna Ferrari, TIERethik * It is rare to find a book which convincingly argues that eating animal-based foods is compatible with fully respecting the rights of animals. In Food, Justice, and Animals, Josh Milburn successfully shows that it can be done.... Detailed, well-argued, and exceptionally clear * Joshua Jarvis-Campbell, Journal of Applied Philosophy * Milburn brings welcome nuance to the discussion of animals' political rights and stands out from an overwhelmingly anthropocentric literature on ""food justice."" Few books in the field can provoke and engage readers from a wide range of persuasions like this one. Lucidly written, richly informed, impeccably structured, and conscientiously argued, it should be read by anyone interested in animal ethics, animal political theory, and food studies. A short review cannot do justice to the book's level of detail - Milburn's evocative descriptions of many cuisines and traditional dishes worldwide - or the crisp and precise yet witty and lively style. * Nicolas Delon, Utilitas * Recommended. Graduate students and faculty. * Choice * Milburn's book will likely be of greater interest to those sympathetic to liberal politics and adherents of the philosophical side of the political theory/philosophy divide. His analytical approach provides a set of arguments that is rigorous and carefully reasoned. * Andrew Biro, THE REVIEW OF POLITICS * Milburn displays a commendable command of cutting-edge scientific and technological research. It takes no small amount of skill to convey this in terms that are accessible in layman's (or political theorists') terms...his fleshing out of how workers' rights for animals might operate in practice is impressively thoughtful and detailed, and a real highlight of the book...His analytical approach provides a set of arguments that is rigorous and carefully reasoned...His candor and openness to change is particularly remarkable and exemplary. * Andrew Biro, The Review of Politics * This book is ambitious...Milburn has done well to produce a normative theory that is ideal yet foreseeably realizable. He painstakingly addresses objections to his arguments and explains at length the latest dietary technologies. He garnishes the text with disturbing details of dietary customs. * John Hadley, Environmental Philosophy *

"The exploitation of sentient animals is pervasive within most contemporary livestock production systems. In Food, Justice, and Animals, however, philosopher Josh Milburn intriguingly proposes that many animal products might be used for food or other purposes, whilst still respecting animals' rights. For those who aspire toward lifestyles free of animal exploitation, this is nothing less than paradigm-shifting. This highly readable and engaging book deserves widespread consideration by all who are concerned about the ethics, and consequences of, our modern livestock production systems. And given the severity of the environmental and animal welfare problems they create, this should be all of us. * Prof. Andrew Knight MANZCVS, DipECAWBM (AWSEL), DipACAW, PhD, FRCVS, PFHEA * This book is not an attack on veganism... I view it very much as saying 'If we're going to put forward an idea of a future in which animals are treated well, we do need to take seriously the arguments that are pitted against veganism.'... I really do commend [Milburn] on an excellent piece of work that got me thinking in all sorts of directions. * Claudia Hirtenfelder, Animal Turn podcast * Milburn's book is intelligent, innovative, and challenging. He argues subtly and analyses many counterarguments. * Arianna Ferrari, TIERethik * It is rare to find a book which convincingly argues that eating animal-based foods is compatible with fully respecting the rights of animals. In Food, Justice, and Animals, Josh Milburn successfully shows that it can be done.... Detailed, well-argued, and exceptionally clear * Joshua Jarvis-Campbell, Journal of Applied Philosophy * Milburn brings welcome nuance to the discussion of animals' political rights and stands out from an overwhelmingly anthropocentric literature on ""food justice."" Few books in the field can provoke and engage readers from a wide range of persuasions like this one. Lucidly written, richly informed, impeccably structured, and conscientiously argued, it should be read by anyone interested in animal ethics, animal political theory, and food studies. A short review cannot do justice to the book's level of detail - Milburn's evocative descriptions of many cuisines and traditional dishes worldwide - or the crisp and precise yet witty and lively style. * Nicolas Delon, Utilitas *"

Author Information

Josh Milburn is a British philosopher and a Lecturer in Political Philosophy at Loughborough University. He has previously worked at the University of Sheffield, the University of York, and Queen's University (in Canada), before which he studied at Queen's University Belfast and Lancaster University. He is the author of Just Fodder: The Ethics of Feeding Animals (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2022), and the regular host of the animal studies podcast Knowing Animals.

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