My second book, Food, Justice, and Animals: Feeding the World Respectfully, was published by Oxford University Press in 2023. The book asks what a food system in an animal-rights-respecting state would look like. It argues that, contrary to expectations, the food system would not be vegan. Meat and other ‘animal’ products could be made with plants; produced via cellular agriculture; acquired from non-sentient animals; and perhaps even acquired from sentient animals using genuinely rights-respecting forms of agriculture.
You can read about the book on the Oxford University Press website here. You can find a discount code for ordering the book from the Oxford University Press website in this Tweet.
You can watch a video of me presenting the arguments of the book at the 2022 Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law conference here, or a video of me presenting the arguments of the book (focussed on the chapter on plant-based meat) to the Culinary Minds Research Group at the University of Milan in 2022 here. I also wrote an accessible article for the magazine Persuasion setting out some of the core contentions of the book, which you can read here.
I spoke to Kyle Johannsen about the book for the New Books Network, which named it their ‘Book of the Day’ for 15 June 2023. You can listen to that interview here. I spoke to Claudia Hirtenfelder about the book for a bonus episode of The Animal Turn podcast. You can listen to that conversation here. I was also invited to apply the ‘page 99 test’ to the book (read my reflections here) and spoke to Kim Stallwood about it in a wide-ranging interview.
The book was reviewed for the German-language journal TIERethik by Arianna Ferrari (you can read the review here), for the Journal of Applied Philosophy by Joshua Jarvis-Campbell (you can read the review here), and for Utilitas by Nicolas Delon (you can read the review here).
The book was a subject of an 2022 event called ‘Vegan Vs. Vegan’ hosted by the British Academy in London. The event took the form of a debate between me and Corey Lee Wrenn, hosted by the actor and activist Evanna Lynch. You can read Wrenn’s comments here. A workshop on the book (and Anne Barnhill and Matteo Bonotti’s Healthy Eating Policy and Political Philosophy) was held at John Cabot University in Rome in 2022. It featured comments from Aurélia Bardon, Rossella De Bernardi, Gianfranco Pellegrino, Simone Pollo, Tom Bailey, and Valentina Gentile. A symposium partially based on this workshop is forthcoming in the Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy.
Here is some praise the book has rececived:
‘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
‘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.’ – Andrew Knight, Professor of Animal Welfare
‘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
‘Overall, Milburn’s book is intelligent, innovative, and challenging. He argues subtly and analyzes many counterarguments.’ – Arianna Ferrari, TIERethik (translated from German)
‘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. … The value of Milburn’s work … cannot be [over]stated. [Food, Justice, and Animals is] detailed, well-argued, and exceptionally clear … Milburn has persuasively shown that we can, as he might put it, have our cow and eat her too.‘ – Joshua Jarvis-Campbell, Journal of Applied Philosophy
Josh Milburn 