Ethics

Does anyone besides me find it slightly hypocritical for Mark Bittman of the Times to share and give rave reviews on his favorite veal stew recipe one month, then call for Americans to fight global warming by giving up eating meat the next month? Bittman continues to refer to the years old UN report that stated eighteen percent of greenhouse gases were attributable to the raising of animals for food. That report has since been debunked by numerous researchers, and the Environmental Protection Agency itself, citing that animal agriculture accounts for less than four percent of American greenhouse gas emissions. Did Bittman just not get the memo, or does he just not care to acknowledge it? I also found it disturbing a couple of months back when the Times had an essay contest on “why it’s ethical to eat meat”, while referring to meat eaters as “rabid carnivores on a Cro-Magnon diet” and vegetarians as “dyed in the wool vegans who wouldn’t hurt a fly”. I eagerly await the day that the Times has a contest on the ethics of discussing whether to eat meat or strictly plant products, while millions around the world are suffering from starvation.