Bits and Blurbs in the News

On Being Full of Beans About Veganism

"Hooray! Superstar So-and-So has gone vegan!"

Call me cynical, but each time I read something akin to this, my heart continues to beat its same old kathump and my attention is sooner-than-later diverted elsewhere. Most of the time, what is meant is that "Superstar So-and-So" decided to adopt a plant-based diet for a while to lose weight for a role or to cash in on some sort of PETA-related media attention. It's often temporary and sometimes partial and since the focus is merely on diet and is usually for self-concerned aesthetic or health reasons, at some point or another during a slow news week, someone in the media tries to dig up a gotcha moment and succeeds.

Such was the case with Houston Texans running back football player Arian Foster, who just a few months ago was featured on Ecorazzi for having adopted a "vegan diet" and Foster himself boasted of being "vegan" on Twitter.  Now what's splattered all over the news this week is that Foster's veganism includes eating meat.

“I’m not in a cult,” Foster said. “Nothing’s going to happen to me. I just wanted a piece of chicken. It wasn’t like temptation. I felt like I could use one.”

[...]

“I’ve been dabbling back and forth,” Foster said on his diet. “I just like to eat healthy. The whole vegan thing, a lot of people are really interested in my food. … I’ve had meat since I said I don’t eat meat anymore, but I like to stay with the plant-based foods, but every now and then, I’ll eat something.”

So there you have it, folks: Veganism is a diet and if you don't feel comfortable having the occasional piece of meat while on it, you're in a cult. Now if you'll excuse me, I think that I just saw something shiny out of the corner of my...