Natalie Portman has been a vegetarian for twenty years, but was recently inspired to become a vegan by Jonathan Safran Foer's first nonfiction book, Eating Animals. Portman wrote an essay for the Huffington Post in which she compares the book favorably to Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma (previously on the blue), and makes this specific criticism of the latter book:

But he reminds us that being a man, and a human, takes more thought than just "This is tasty, and that's why I do it." He posits that consideration, as promoted by Michael Pollan in The Omnivore's Dilemma, which has more to do with being polite to your tablemates than sticking to your own ideals, would be absurd if applied to any other belief (e.g., I don't believe in rape, but if it's what it takes to please my dinner hosts, then so be it).

[more inside]
posted by Halloween Jack on Oct 28, 2009 - 283 comments

VeganMoFo 2009! Started as a riff on NaNoWriMo, Veganmofo challenges food blogs to go vegan for October. Kitteekake is hosting the index. If you've ever been curious about vegan cooking, it's a damn fine place to start. via. [more inside]
posted by klangklangston on Oct 2, 2009 - 246 comments

The top 10 fake-chicken sandwiches in the U.S. [more inside]
posted by mrgrimm on Aug 20, 2009 - 68 comments

Casey Kasem, the voice of Shaggy and Robin, and possibly the most prominent Lebanese American vegan in broadcast history, has called it quits from all manner of countdowns. Keep reaching for the stars, Casey, and we'll try not to piss you off.
posted by ericbop on Jul 7, 2009 - 58 comments

An expose of non-vegan ingredients in pancakes at LA Vegan Thai inspired the QuarryGirl.Com writers to conduct their own extremely thorough investigation of LA vegan restaurants, testing their meals for traces of casein, egg, and shellfish. Over $1000 and a chain of interviews up to Taiwan later, they find that half the restaurants aren't as vegan as they claim, with half registering Positive or High and one registering Overload. Some restaurants vowed to conduct their own tests or requested further assistance; one banned them from the establishment.
posted by divabat on Jul 5, 2009 - 260 comments

Chrissie Hynde: “[A] complete rock star in every sense of the word”? Nope: “I consider myself an animal activist first and my music as more of a hobby that gives me a platform to fight for animals.” [more inside]
posted by joeclark on Oct 5, 2008 - 136 comments

Hezbollah-Tofu Renegades systematically vegetarianize recipes from antiveganist chef Anthony Bourdain, who wrote (in Kitchen Confidential): “Vegetarians, and their Hezobollah-like splinter-faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn.” [more inside]
posted by joeclark on Mar 25, 2008 - 181 comments

Up here in the Northern Hemisphere, it's time to break out the sweaters. Wool too itchy for you? (It is for poor Simon Cowell.) Cashmere and alpaca are easier to wear; a surface comparison shows why. But you can also steer clear of animal fibers altogether and opt for fabric made from wheat. For that matter, while you're at the greengrocer, also pick up some bamboo (1, 2), soy (1, 2), bananas, corn (1, 2), pineapple, milk (1, 2, 3) and rice. (Vegan yarns previously in AskMe.)
posted by GrammarMoses on Nov 6, 2007 - 13 comments

Meet the vegansexuals. Another woman, also a vegan, declared: "I believe we are what we consume, so I really struggle with bodily fluids, especially sexually."

So far, they have few supporters. Even PETA disagrees: "Sex is a very effective form of outreach and activism," said Dan Shannon, a PETA spokesman, and 10-year veteran vegan, who thought meat eaters could be converted by their partners.
posted by iviken on Aug 2, 2007 - 311 comments

Death by Veganism. "I was once a vegan. But well before I became pregnant, I concluded that a vegan pregnancy was irresponsible. You cannot create and nourish a robust baby merely on foods from plants.

Indigenous cuisines offer clues about what humans, naturally omnivorous, need to survive, reproduce and grow: traditional vegetarian diets, as in India, invariably include dairy and eggs for complete protein, essential fats and vitamins. There are no vegan societies for a simple reason: a vegan diet is not adequate in the long run."
posted by four panels on May 21, 2007 - 312 comments

Vegetarian is the New Prius : following a report from the UN indicating that the billions of livestock raised for meat are wreaking more havoc on the environment than fossil fuels, environmental activists are linking vegetarianism with fighting global warming.
posted by grapefruitmoon on Jan 19, 2007 - 102 comments

Some folks really like it sweet. Some will start a six-year campaign to get it. Some blame Canada and France for not getting it, when it was perhaps better to blame the Swiss. Some want it healthy while others want the romance back. Some make it part of higher education, while others just want to get higher. Even vegans want in on the gooey action.
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Aug 30, 2006 - 20 comments

Now that we've got the fights out of our system, don't you all want to read some awesome vegan recipes? From amateur and pro chefs radical, domestic, sweets-craving, post-punk, healthy...and hey, even naked. (Naked vegans NSFW.) And not a cutesy-poo lunchbox in sight. (More inside.)
posted by Tomatillo on Mar 9, 2006 - 50 comments

vegan lunch box... In a meat eaters world, a stay at home mom's blog about packing school lunches for her vegan kid.
posted by trishthedish on Mar 8, 2006 - 255 comments

The message is clear - don't get busted eating anything but Lamb this Australia Day. (Possibly NSF vegans/vegetarians/etc. links are .wmv)
posted by fullysic on Jan 17, 2005 - 25 comments

Metafilter, meet meatfilter. An index to things vegetarian and vegan.
posted by clevershark on Jul 6, 2004 - 22 comments

Metafilter has a rich history of posts about vegetarianism, and veganism, and carnivorism, but have we ever delved into the world of fruitarians? Here's a guidebook on how to become one [Eat fruit! Whod've guessed?], a somewhat-puzzling Turkish fruitarian organization, a debunking of some fruitarian claims, and some words of caution for aspiring fruitarians: "...some commercial fruit, such as citrus, is very acidic and will dissolve the teeth out of aspiring fruitarians."
posted by mr_crash_davis on Apr 4, 2003 - 25 comments

The vegan diet can be a killer, at least that's what the State of New York thinks. Was a "strict vegan diet" the cause of a 15-month-old's demise or did New York health officials have a hand in the death?
posted by Bag Man on Mar 30, 2003 - 51 comments

If you're vegan, this link is what you need to figure out what the hell is really in your food. If you're not vegan, you might find it interesting as well. If you're a total metavore, no, we can't eat our clones yet... bummer.
posted by jcterminal on Jun 20, 2002 - 65 comments

A Vegan Radical Cookbook Project - Share your favorite recipes here! Eat well, and enjoy this spring's nighttime gardening.
posted by sheauga on May 12, 2002 - 26 comments

Veganism nearly kills baby? A New york couple is charged with reckless endangerment after there baby is taken to the hospital underdeveloped and near death. The article doesn't specifically say veganism was the reason for the baby's poor health but strongly impies it. [link via plastic]
posted by drezdn on Apr 30, 2002 - 55 comments

Notmilk.com hacked? A growing feud between the notmilk man Robert Cohen, who wrote Milk: The Deadly Poison and VegSource.com who hosted his site leads to VegSource removing all content from the notmilk.com site. Cohen sends out a newsletter saying that his site had been hacked, VegSource responds and calls Cohen a "big fat liar". Is this an abuse of VegSource's discretion? Is this just petty name calling? Whose extreme views will reign supreme here in Vegan Stadium!?
posted by jonah on Feb 6, 2002 - 8 comments

SF Chronicle article about a condition that I have seen but didn't know had a name. . . .Orthorexia Nervosa. . .The obsessive quest for healty food. . .I would suspect that your average computer-active person would NOT experience this condition but perhaps you know someone or perhaps live with someone who could be described in this way. . .
posted by Danf on Jan 7, 2002 - 11 comments

Lettuce ladies want to slim (clap) you up! I didn't know Elizabeth Berkley was the original lettuce lady. Heck, I didn't even know they existed at all. I noticed the site has some false advertising, though -- on the front page, it says "wearing nothing but strategically placed lettuce leaves..." but how in the world would those tops stay on with straps of lettuce? I guess "wearing nothing but lettuce and green colored underwear" doesn't have the same ring to it.
posted by jragon on Nov 29, 2000 - 11 comments

From the "You learn something new everyday" file: apparently, if you're a vegan, you can't drink most red wines. Luckily for them, there's people selling vegan friendly wines. I've been a vegetarian for about 10 years now, and I was a vegan for a few months until I heard that you're not supposed to eat honey. That was a bit much for me, but like most things, there's always someone willing to take it even further.
posted by mathowie on Feb 8, 2000 - 2 comments