Sure, I'm Vegetarian. Just Not on Thanksgiving

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."

It's no metaphor, just his new 'personal challenge'

(NEWSER) - Mark Zuckerberg says he's almost a vegetarian these days—but he’ll eat meat if the animal died at his own hands, Fortune reports. It’s just his latest challenge: Every year, the Facebook boss takes on some new hurdle in his time away from the website. Last year, it was learning Chinese. “This year, my personal challenge is around being thankful for the food I have to eat,” he writes in an email to the magazine. As part of that: "The only meat I'm eating is from animals I've killed myself." More»

...the Tempeh District, of course!

(NEWSER) - When it's not busy tempting the nation's men with free vasectomies , PETA is hard at work trying to right the country's lexical injustices. It's currently pushing San Francisco's city leaders to change the name of the Tenderloin District to something a little less meaty: the Tempeh District. In a letter sent to Mayor Edwin M. Lee on Tuesday that argues for the soy-based meat substitute switch, PETA writes that "the city deserves a neighborhood named after a delicious cruelty-free food instead of the flesh of an abused animal." More»

PETA pick shows need for 'indulgent' vegans

(NEWSER) - Most people snickered when PETA named Bill Clinton its person of the year , but it was a genius pick, writes Mary Elizabeth Williams on Salon . Most people also know the benefits of veganism, but what it lacks is a guy who can make it "seem realistic, accessible and, frankly, pretty damn good-looking." That's what Clinton provides: In a Nixon-goes-to-China sort of way, only the guy who genuinely loves a Big Mac can recommend veganism to hardline carnivores. More»

...she becomes a vegan. Or $20K of rehab, at least

(NEWSER) - If Lindsay Lohan really wants her stint in rehab to be sponsored , all she has to do is give up her addiction ... to meat and cheese. Headline-grabbing PETA has reached out to the star, offering to pitch in $10,000 if she goes vegan for the rest of her stay—and another $10,000 if she remains vegan for a year afterward. "Lindsay Lohan is the most visible example of a real addict, and if she can conquer her addiction to meat and cheese, absolutely anyone can," the PETA prez tells the Los Angeles Times . More»