10 suggestions for female judges for NY Times’ “ethical meat” contest

Yesterday, I wrote about how the New York Times’ contest for meat eaters is great PR for the meat industry. Upon sending that missive to the Times, I had an email exchange with Ariel Kaminer, the paper’s Ethicist columnist, about various aspects of the contest. When I asked why all the judges were male, Kaminer replied that she couldn’t find one female expert in food ethics with a fraction of the name recognition of the men. She argued that the famous male judges would bring far more attention to the contest, and in turn get more people to consider the ethics of meat eating.

Really, not one? I can think of a few. I also asked a few colleagues, posted an inquiry to Twitter, and within minutes received several more suggestions.

So here are five pretty well-known worthy women:

1) Marion Nestle, New York University professor and book author, including the seminal Food Politics.

2) Ingrid Newkirk, long-time president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

3) Barbara Kingsolver, author of many books, including Animal, Vegetable, and Miracle.

4) Kathy Freston, of Oprah fame and author of Veganist.

5) Alicia Silverstone, celebrity author of The Kind Diet.

Plus, five less-famous names but still worthy:

6) Carol J. Adams, author of numerous books, including the Sexual Politics of Meat.

7) Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, author of numerous vegan cookbooks.

8) Naomi Starkman, editor-in-chief of Civil Eats.

9) Twilight Greenaway, food editor of Grist.

10) Mary Rothschild, managing editor, Food Safety News.

Now one can argue about whether any of these women are as famous as the judges chosen, but fame aside, doesn’t the New York Times have an ethical obligation to fix the problem of women not getting enough attention for their work? Bad enough to hold a one-sided contest to honor meat eating, but even worse is having the Times’ ethics column place famous names above diversity.

If you have additional suggestions, please add them.

And you can email Ariel Kaminer at: ethicist@nytimes.com.

P.S. Just saw Carol Adams’ excellent post in which she makes several additionally wonderful suggestions.

10 Responses to “10 suggestions for female judges for NY Times’ “ethical meat” contest”

  1. Martha Creedon says:

    Joan Gussow

  2. james says:

    Ruth Reichl
    Ann Cooper
    Alice Waters
    Molly Katzen

  3. Erik Marcus says:

    There are plenty of qualified people of both genders who could have been invited. And, Michele, you’d be right at the top of my list for people who would have been a great choice for this panel.

    But the split that matters most is the one that the Times got right: two of the judges are vegan, and two are conscientious omnivores. Replacing Singer and JSF with Kingsolver and Nestle would have made the panel vastly less relevant.

  4. Michele Hays says:

    Um, Dr. TEMPLE GRANDIN!!! Seriously, what about somebody who’s been engaged in the study of humane treatment of animals for years? http://www.grandin.com/

    • Joe says:

      Dr. Grandin would be a superb pick, but she is far too pro-meat industry for the purposes of the New York Times contest organizers. They are after a little different story line.

      • Mike Gebert says:

        In other words, the contest is to find someone whose argument already fits the self-importantly closed minds of those involved.

      • Melissa says:

        And is Peter Singer far too pro-anti-meat industry for the contest organizers? The lop-sided selection of judges makes me wonder if the Nytimes mainly wanted people who have already made up their minds. Marion Nestle seems like someone on the fence.

  5. Lorraine says:

    How about someone from the farming and ranching community? Someone who has devoted their lives to working with animals? Picks are all urbanites.
    Nicolette Hahn Niman
    Temple Grandin

  6. […] in the identification of meat eating with manliness.When Michele Simon, author of the blog Appetite for Profit, asked the paper’s Ethicist columnist Ariel Kaminer why the panel was all-male […]

  7. SHME says:

    dr. Melanie Joy. Carnism

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