Vegans: To Bee or Not to Bee?

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."

Those who undertake diet to lose weight are at risk

(NEWSER) - For most vegans, their diet is a way to avoid animal products, but for some, it’s become a way to avoid food—period. Veganism is becoming more popular in America, where 5% of the population follows the no-animal-products diet. Most of those people are making a healthy choice, writes Danielle Friedman for the Daily Beast . But for those prone to eating disorders, veganism can quickly become dangerous, because it can mask or trigger anorexia or bulimia. More»

It's time we give them the same due we give animals

(NEWSER) - It's hip these days to banish meat from the diet, chow down instead on the plant world, and congratulate ourselves for our enlightened morals. But what about the poor plants? They "no more aspire to being stir-fried in a wok than a hog aspires to being peppercorn-studded in my Christmas clay pot," writes Natalie Angier. "This is not meant as a trite argument or a chuckled aside," she writes, noting that the more scientists study plants and their sophisticated ways, the more impressed they become. More»

Animal-free dieters find ways to bulk up competitively

(NEWSER) - A new trend is sprouting in the sport of bodybuilding: veganism. A burgeoning group of competitive weight-lifters are turning to an all animal-free diet, reports the New York Times . It's a challenge because the vegan diet can be dauntingly limited for bodybuilders, who need a sufficient amount of amino acids, found in meat, in order to bulk up. “Is it possible to be a good bodybuilder and be a vegan? Yes,” says the chief executive of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. “But is it ideal? No.” More»

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»