You Not Only Can Eat New Veal, You Should

Some conscientious objectors to eating veal are not only reconsidering their stance, they are doing an about-face. The new hot product at top restaurants is “humanely raised” veal—calves no longer wrenched from their mothers and raised in cages, but brought to slaughter after an idyllic, if short, life at pasture. It's more ethical to eat it than not, the argument goes, since farmers can't afford to raise most male dairy calves. “It’s a resource that needs to be utilized,” one tells the Washington Post.

The new veal is called “rose” for the deeper color of grass-fed calves’ meat, and it’s leaner, too, but aficionados appreciate most the flavor—and the moral high ground. PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk says that's bull. “People who think ‘rose veal’ is ‘humane’ are seeing the cruel veal industry through rose-colored glasses.” Tut tut, says a chef. "There isn't a farm on the planet that has the money to keep all the male offspring." (More rose veal stories.)