The title of this article is insulting and inaccurate. Compassionate vegans know that nothing can justify raising and slaughtering animals simply because people like the way they taste. This type of selfish argument is akin to arguements made by slaveholders who wanted slaves to be treated better, but didn't want to abolish slavery. If people raised their children or animal companions with love and care, are they justified in killing them in the end? Farmed animals feel pain and have emotions.... More

I am sick to death of the flesh pushers desperatly struggling to sell people on the idea that it's ok to purposely create other living beings only to take their lives from them in the end. What outright arrogance and transparent greed. The continued exploitation and abuse of animals for profit. And shame on a publication calling itself "Mother Nature Network" for promoting this stupid fad.

When land is used to raise animals instead of crops, precious water and soil are lost, trees are cut down to make land for grazing or factory-farm sheds, and untreated animal waste pollutes rivers and streams. In fact, it has such a devastating effect on all aspects of our environment that the Union of Concerned Scientists lists meat-eating as the second-biggest environmental hazard facing the Earth. (Number one is fossil-fuel vehicles). No wonder, when you consider facts like.... More

Jeffrey Davis seems to be confused or he was lied to. How can eating meat that was fed grains be more environmentally sound than the grain itself? Even if the grains come from Latin America, the energy cost associated with growing, shipping, packaging any grain is far superior than the production of animals, ESPECIALLY grain fed animals.

By using such a provocative title, he got more people to read his article but his misinformed statements makes him look biased, uneducated, etc..... More

the flippant comments that open this article are truly stupid. As a vegetarian I do not think that an animal should die just to fill my stomach. Meat is nothing more than a luxury for us, it is not a neccessity for our health, and in fact vegetarians who follow a balanced diet have consistently been shown to have a much healthier diet. To kill sentient animals for food can therefore not be justified, and to claim that vegetarians might want some of the flesh product of this farm is ludicrous. .... More

All this pointless talk of "humane" meat is a distraction from a simple truth: humans do not need to eat meat to be healthy. Raising animals for slaughter, not matter how it's done, is ecologically destructive and morally wrong.

As soon as a human eats meat, he isn't a vegetarian anymore.

I have never found a good reason to eat meat. And I don't think that I will find it at all. Meat is murder.

The modern "animal protection" movement and people like Jonathan S Foer think it's acceptable for humans to use animals as long as they are treated "humanely." The "animal protection" movement have been promoting this for some time and this is an example of the promotion of "happy" meat.

Veganism can solve many problems today. It's the recognition of the moral personhood of nonhuman animals. We must face the fact that where there is one kind of discrimination - speciesism - there will be.... More

The article states that the ranch is known for their "humanely raised meats." Meat is a euphemism, it's animal flesh that the ranch is known for. The Niman Ranch website outlines their Cattle Protocols which describes their "processing" procedures. This use of the word process is also euphemistic. The cows are not processed, they are slaughtered. In describing what the ranch does, we should use the words that best describe what actually happens there: the animals are exploited and then.... More

it seems to me that planting crops for animals to eat/grow, which human animals then eat, is less efficient than growing plants that provide the same nutrition. maybe i'm crazy.

Bill Niman, the founder of Niman Ranch, now does not eat the meat from Niman Ranch. He resigned as the CEO and later from the board because he did not agree with the direction the company was taking. They cut corners to produce cheaper beef. They feedlot finish cows so that the meat tastes a certain way, which in itself increases the methane emissions from the cows.

Read "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer -- both Bill and Nicolette are given the platform to speak about their ethics of.... More