Fix Your Diet: Go 'Semi-Vegan'

Hostess' demise is a good thing: Mark Bittman

(NEWSER) - Hostess' bankruptcy filing probably won't mean the death of the Twinkie—rather, a restructuring of the company—but even if it did, it would be a death we should celebrate, writes Mark Bittman in the New York Times . The food columnist admits he ate his fair share of Twinkies as a kid in the '60s, when no one questioned the "mysteriously moist" treat with its "'creamy'—not 'cream,' of course—filling" and 39 ingredients. Of course, those were also the days when doctors had only recently stopped endorsing cigarettes, and "few people could yet conceive of the government lying to us or allowing food manufacturers to do us any harm." More»

A butcher, hunter, and rancher discuss the ethics of eating animals

(NEWSER) - For long stretches of their lives, Nicolette Niman, Tovar Cerulli and Joshua Applestone were all vegetarians or vegans. Now, they’re a rancher, a hunter, and a butcher, respectively, who “firmly believe food from animals can be healthful, environmentally appropriate, and ethical,” they write in the Atlantic . Their stories:

• Nicolette: She became vegan “after hearing that beef was deforesting the Amazon,” but eventually “learned that animals were essential to sustainable farms.” They increase soil fertility and convert otherwise inedible vegetation and uncultivated land into food.
• Tovar: He became a vegan after listening to Buddhist teachings, but eventually “realized that all food has its costs. From habitat destruction to combines that inadvertently mince rabbits … crop production is far from harmless.” What matters, he decided, “wasn’t what we ate, but how that food came to our plates.”
• Joshua: He was a vegetarian until he met his wife and opened a meat company. “Once I saw how the meat we were selling had been raised, and met the farmers who were striving to raise animals sustainably … I realized I didn’t have a problem with meat. I had a problem with the inhumane practices of the commercial meat industry."

Couple's baby died after being fed only soy milk, apple juice

(NEWSER) - In April 2004, the 6-week-old son of Jade Sanders and Lamont Thomas starved to death, and Georgia’s top court today upheld the couple’s murder convictions and life sentences from 2007. A court initially found the first-time parents guilty of murder after investigators discovered they fed the boy mostly soy milk and apple juice in an attempt to adhere to a vegan lifestyle, the AP reports. More»

But another hall will serve fried chicken and BBQ

(NEWSER) - A sign of the times, and possibly the makings of an epic food fight: The University of North Texas is opening a cafeteria devoted exclusively to vegan fare—and it appears to be the first such college dining hall in the nation, reports Inside Higher Ed . This being Texas, the school also is opening a separate hall that will specialize in fried chicken and barbecue. More»

They aren't rich, obsessive sissies

(NEWSER) - Vegans are rich, obsessive sissies, right? Not exactly, writes Carol J. Adams for the Washington Post . She lays out five myths surrounding the 0.5% of Americans who abstain from everything animal.

1. Vegans have so many rules: It's the trickiness of avoiding all animal products that make this claim seem true—after all, Hostess fruit pies contain beef fat and toothpaste can contain bone meal. But look in the mirror, writes Adams. Vegans think meateaters have plenty of rules, too: Cows are OK here, but not in India. Dogs are OK here, but are served in Korea. Let's call this one a draw.