Monday, February 02, 2009

Mark Bittman's Anti-Vegan Stance

I'd posted about an interview with food writer Mark Bittman a short while back. In it, he wrote off veganism as a viable option. Since he's making the rounds to promote his book Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating, he's pretty much all over the place in recent days. In an article about him in New York's Metro, Bittman once again tries to promote his idea of ethical eating (with the added selling bonus of a weight loss plan thrown in for good measure) and takes a shot at veganism:

“Veganism makes sense to me, but I don’t want to go there, and it’s hard for me to recommend it to others,” says Bittman, who still appreciates a nice hunk of prosciutto. “Part of the problem is that vegans haven’t done themselves any favors with the fake meat stuff. Don’t make a big deal out of it. Eat rice and beans. Eat plants.”
Who says that vegans are all over fake meat? And don't make a big deal out of what? Animal slaughter? Sheesh. It's one thing for a writer like Bittman to hop on the post-Pollan "happy meat" train, but his insisting on taking cheap shots at veganism just makes his attempt to seem ethical all the more nonsensical.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd say he doesn't have a clue about veganism.

Fredrik said...

I'm sure a lot of the vegan fake meat I've eaten here in Asia would fool him any day.

chanel said...

To be honest, the fake meat stuff bothers me too. I know not all vegans are like this, but some spend a lot of money on soy-based meat substitutes with fifty ingredients when they could just eat some delicious chickpeas or veggies.

I'm not a vegan, but if I was (and I may be someday) I wouldn't spend my time in the kitchen trying to get the taste of meat in my food without actually using any. I'd eat good food and forget the over-processes tofurkey