Your Vegan Starter Pack: A List of the Best Vegan Books, Movies, YouTube Channels & More!

Find everything you need to embark on your vegan journey.

Chickens strutting around in Koh Phangan. It’s common to see chickens walking around in Thailand. Unfortunately, they’re either raised for their eggs or eventually killed for their meat. (Photo by the author.)

(Read this article for free here.)

If you’re looking for recommendations for vegan books, cookbooks, movies, and channels to learn more about veganism, stay motivated, and how to make awesome vegan meals, you’re in the right place!

Watching one video or documentary is a great start, but there is so much to learn about animal rights and living a vegan lifestyle.

Knowing how animals are abused in the food, clothing, entertainment, and vivisection industries will help motivate you to become vegan and stay vegan for life.

Here are some important links to help you get started on your vegan journey.

Books:

1. *This is Vegan Propaganda *by Ed Winters
2. The Joyful Vegan: How to Stay Vegan in a World That Wants You to Eat Meat, Dairy, and Eggs by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
3. *For the Prevention of Cruelty: The History and Legacy of Animal Rights Activism in the United States *by Diane L. Beers
4. *When Animals Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals *by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
5. *They All Had Eyes: Confessions of a Vivisectionist *by Michael Slusher

There is also a great list of animal rights books on Goodreads.

Cookbooks:

1. *May Kaidee’s Thai Vegetarian and Vegan Cookbook. 3rd Edition* by May Kaidee (I’ve eaten at her restaurant in Bangkok many times and taken her cooking class. Incredible, authentic Thai food!)
2. *Cooking from the Spirit: Easy, Delicious, and Joyful Plant-Based Inspirations (A Feeding the Soul Book)* by Tabitha Brown
3. PlantYou: Scrappy Cooking by Carleigh Bodrug
4. *Vegan Soul Food Cookbook: Plant-Based, No-Fuss Southern Favorites by *Nadira Jenkins-El
5. *Provecho: 100 Vegan Recipes to Celebrate Culture and Community *by Edgar Castrejon
6. *Ever-Green Vietnamese: Super-Fresh Recipes, Starring Plants from Land and Sea [A Plant-Based Cookbook] by *Andrea Nguyen
7. *Minimalist Baker’s Everyday Cooking* by Dana Schultz
8. *Vegan Ramen Cookbook* by Wil Yeung
9. *Plantas: Modern Vegan Recipes for Traditional Mexican Cooking* by Alex Soto

Movies:

1. *Earthlings — *A 2005 documentary about how animals are exploited for food, clothing, entertainment, and scientific research. It’s narrated by Joaquin Phoenix.
2. *Dominion — *If you only watch one vegan movie, it should be this one. The filmmakers used drones and hidden cameras to document the horrific abuse of pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks, cows, fish, rabbits, goats, minks, foxes, dogs, horses, camels, mice, and other wild animals across various animal exploitation industries. It’s narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Sadie Sink, Sia, and Kat Von D. I don’t see how you can watch this movie and not go vegan. You can watch it for free on YouTube.
3. *Lucent — *An Australian documentary that uncovers the brutal day-to-day lives of pigs on a factory farm.
4. *Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret — *An eye-opening documentary about an aspiring environmentalist who discovers how animal agriculture negatively impacts the environment.
5. *Seaspiracy* — A lot of people think that eating fish is somehow more ethical than eating other animals but it’s not. Fish feel pain and this documentary shows just how much commercial fishing destroys the environment and harms sea life.
6. *Land of Hope and Glory — *Ed Winters’ documentary dispels the “happy farm” myth and exposes the UK animal farming industries using undercover footage.
7. *Milk* — A beautiful, but sad, short animated film by Ed Winters about the life of a mother cow who is forced to produce milk for humans.
8. *Cow — *A documentary about the life of a dairy cow from her perspective.
9. *The Cove — *This documentary exposes the horrific dolphin killings in Taijii, Japan, and also sheds light on the cruelty of keeping dolphins in captivity.
10. *Blackfish* — Following the sad life of a captive orca named Tilikum, this documentary discusses the ethics of keeping orcas in captivity.

For more movie recommendations, PETA has a comprehensive list of movies for kids and adults that will help teach empathy and also help you learn about animal rights issues and why becoming vegan is so important.

TikTok Channels

1. @plantyou — Same great recipes as her YouTube channel.
2. @onegreatvegan — Delicious, healthy, and comforting vegan recipes.
3. @dorastable — Vegan Mexican recipes.
4. @veganlokaa — Vegan Thai recipes.
5. @browngirlvegan — Easy and amazing vegan recipes that are Asian-inspired.
6. @itdoesnttastelikechicken — Comforting vegan recipes.
7. @jenniferwvegan — Jennifer works for PETA as a day job but she makes her own videos about animal rights issues and replies to news and common arguments against veganism.
8. @thegentlebarn — Cute and informative videos on the animals this sanctuary has rescued and why you should not eat them.
9. @mercyforanimals — An animal rights organization that posts short and engaging videos about animal rights, why you should go vegan, and vegan food recommendations.
10. @earthlinged — Similar to his YouTube channel, Ed Winters responds to common arguments against veganism and explains vegan ethics in an easy to understand way.

YouTube Channels:

These YouTube channels have excellent vegan content that is entertaining and clearly explains different aspects of veganism:

1. Earthling Ed — Ed Winters is my favorite vegan activist because he’s very calm and charming and explains animal rights clearly and logically. He also reacts to news, debates non-vegans respectfully, and responds to common misconceptions about veganism. I highly recommend starting with his TEDx talk, “Every Argument Against Veganism.”
2. Last Chance For Animals — An animal rights organization that does a lot of undercover investigations on factory farms, pet suppliers, and other industries that exploit animals.
3. Farm Sanctuary — Farm Sanctuary posts uplifting videos of the animals they have saved and will teach you how “farm animals” have unique personalities and feelings just like any other animal.
4. Captain Paul Watson Foundation — Captain Paul Watson helped start Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd but those organizations were taken over by corporate interest groups. He fights to save whales and other sea mammals by blocking ships with his own ship.
5. The Cranky Vegan — Focuses on vegan news, offers advice for effective animal rights activism, and reacts to veganism in pop culture.
6. Totally Forkable — A funny and quirky vegan news channel.

These channels focus on easy and delicious vegan recipes:

1. Yeung Man Cooking — Amazing Asian recipes that are easy to make.
2. Sweet Potato Soul — Healthy and comforting recipes.
3. Thee Burger Dude — Vegan junk food including veganizing your favorite fast food.
4. Cheap Lazy Vegan — Cheap and easy vegan dishes from Asia and America.
5. Mommy Tang — Mainly vegan Korean recipes including vegan lunchbox ideas for kids.
6. PlantYou — Healthy meals with a lot of 0 and low-waste recipes.
7. Vegan Black Metal Chef — Combines easy vegan junk food recipes with black metal. The music is awesome!

Misc. Links

1. Veganuary — The best site for new vegans or people interested in going vegan. You can take the one-month vegan challenge in January or any month. You can also find recipes, motivation, eating guides, and more!
2. Happy Cow — If you want to find the best vegan restaurants near you, download the Happy Cow app! You can rate restaurants, find recommendations, and see what non-vegan restaurants serve vegan options. I use this app every time I travel.
3. The Vegan Society — This society has been around since 1944 and has done so much for the vegan movement. You can find more information about veganism, learn about its history, catch up on vegan news, become an activist, and learn more about the vegan lifestyle.
4. Faunalytics — A great site where you can find the best and latest vegan statistics and research to help you better advocate for animals.
5. Animal Rights Map — Meet other vegans while helping animals by joining your local animal rights group. This handy map shows animal rights groups around the world.

When I became a vegan 20 years ago, it was a lot harder to find information about veganism and vegan options at markets and restaurants. Now, veganism is everywhere and continues to grow.

I hope these links will help you become vegan and stay vegan!

Subscribe to The Future is Vegan for more vegan stories and news!