About a month ago, ethologist and author Jordi Casamitjana asked me if he could interview me about my ethological (animal behavior) research and my journey into veganism. I agreed, and as I read his book Ethical Vegan: A Personal and Political Journey to Change the World, I came to realize that it is an excellent introduction to the broad meaning of a non-speciesist, nonviolent, compassionate vegan ethic that touches on numerous aspects of how we choose to live in addition to our meal plans and who we choose to eat. In fact, plant-based diets and lifestyles are gaining popularity, and not only are they urgent, but they’re also user-friendly and simple to follow.

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Carefully watching animals—Jordi focusing on insects and my studying mostly mammals—offers a window into who they are as members of vastly different species and also what they want and need from us so that we all can compassionately coexist in an increasingly human-dominated world.1,2 It isn’t a radical view but rather one that benefits other animals and us at the same time. Here is what Jordi had to say about the broad positive impact of adopting the mindset and coherent philosophical beliefs of an eclectic vegan ethic.

The trigger that made me write the book was my two-year litigation that led to ethical veganism being recognized as a protected philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010 in Great Britain. After I won, a publisher approached me, asking me to write a book about “how I did it.” For a long time, I wanted to write books on veganism about the history of veganism, its philosophical dimensions, the anthropology of........

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