American filmmakers Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn directed the award-winning documentary Cowspiracy, which explored the environmental impact of animal agriculture and sustainable living. The film examined how eating meat and raising livestock causes the destruction of forests, the disappearance of wildlife species and the overall degradation of the planet. The book Cowspiracy: The sustainability secret details their investigative research, their reasons for wanting to share their findings, and primary author Andersen’s opinion on humanity’s impact on the earth.

I watched a short online version of the documentary, which was a great summary of Andersen and Kuhn’s main ideas. The book, however, is obviously much more detailed and offers Andersen’s interviews with environmentalists, agricultural industry representatives, politicians, health professionals and scientific experts not shown in the film. He examines the difference in global impact of cultivating crops compared with cultivating animals for human consumption. He also addresses the exploitation of resources such as water and grain to feed livestock, the horrific reality of animal mistreatment, the effect of agriculture on the rapid deterioration of oceans and rainforests and the question of whether a meat-and-dairy diet is healthy for humans and if we should all go vegan. Staggering statistics are presented, together with the confronting scientific prediction that within decades we will not be able to sustain life on earth if the current rate of meat production continues.

Reading this book made me realise the need to make better choices to improve our collective health and to make a personal contribution to the earth’s future sustainability on every level.

Reviewed by Fotini Dangiris