x*******i
发帖数: 819 | 1 The Rise of the Power Vegan
By Joel Stein
It used to be easy for moguls to flaunt their power. All they had to do
was renovate the chalet in St. Moritz, buy the latest Gulfstream (GD)
jet, lay off 5,000 employees, or marry a much younger Asian woman. By
now, though, they've used up all the easy ways to distinguish themselves
from the rest of us—which may be why a growing number of America's most
powerful bosses have become vegan. Steve Wynn, Mort Zuckerman, Russell
Simmons, and Bill Clinton are now using tempeh to assert their
superiority. As are Ford Executive Chairman of the Board Bill Ford (F),
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, venture capitalist Joi Ito, Whole Foods
Market (WFMI) Chief Executive Officer John Mackey, and Mike Tyson. Yes,
Mike Tyson, a man who once chewed on human ear, is now vegan. His
dietary habit isn't nearly as impressive as that of Alec Baldwin,
though, who has found a way to be both vegan and fat at the same time.
It shouldn't be surprising that so many CEOs are shunning meat, dairy,
and eggs: It's an exclusive club. Only 1 percent of the U.S. population
is vegan, partly because veganism isn't cheap: The cost comes from the
value of specialty products made by speciality companies with cloying
names (tofurkey, anyone?). Vegans also have to be powerful enough to
even know what veganism is.
"CEOs are smart. There just hadn't been enough exposure for people to
glom onto this trend," says Ingrid E. Newkirk, president of People for
the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "The information is everywhere now.
Instead of 'Better buy this blue chip,' it's 'Better eat vegan.' " When
Newkirk learned Wynn had become a vegan, she didn't think the news was
crazy. "Having dolphins in a small tank outside a casino is crazy," she
says. "Ordering vegetables is not."
Wynn agrees. The self-described "animal nut," who included the Humane
Society of the U.S. in his will, sold the Mirage Hotel—and its dolphin
tank—in 2000, and gave up meat and dairy this June. Wynn was converted
when his friend—telecom mogul and recent vegan Gulu Lalvani—made him
watch Eating, a documentary in which director Mike Anderson explains his
strict meat- and oil-free diet. "I watched it, and I changed the next
morning," says Wynn. "Bang! Just like that." The transition was eased by
the fact that Wynn happened to be on a yacht with a personal chef. As
soon as he got home, he began spreading the gospel as only a mogul can—
like buying 10,000 copies of Eating, one for each of his employees. "I'm
providing the ass for the insurance. If they're sick, we're picking up
the tab," says Wynn. "If I can keep them healthier, I'm acting like a
smart businessman."
Though he swears it's not a condition of employment, Wynn has persuaded
most of his senior management to go vegan. And since the majority of
Wynn's lunch companions ask his assistant in advance what he likes to
eat, he's got the upper hand at lunch before even sitting down. He can
also suggest one of his own joints—Wynn now offers vegan menus at his
restaurants in Las Vegas and Macau, including the steakhouses. "Last
night I had dinner with Terry Semel, and we were eating at Wing Lei, the
Chinese restaurant," Wynn says. "They couldn't believe the stir fry
wasn't in oil. Everybody switched to my food."
Wynn's a convincing salesman, but a decade ago even he couldn't have
given away free seitan. Being a vegan then was so weird that pundits
listed it as a reason Dennis Kucinich couldn't be the Democratic
Presidential nominee. "People weren't sure if it was another political
party or an ethnic group they'd never heard of," Kucinich says. While
the Ohio representative failed to win the Democratic nomination in 2004—
and in 2008—Kucinich's diet has become so accepted that he was able to
persuade Representative Robert A. Brady (D-Pa.), the head of the
Committee on House Administration, to include vegan options in the
congressional cafeteria. When Bill Clinton announced his dietary
epiphany—"I got back to basically what I weighed in high school," he
told Wolf Blitzer this September—Kucinich decided to finally finish his
own diet book, whose working title, The Cleveland Diet, will probably be
changed by its publisher. Kucinich, however, did not go vegan for power,
but rather for love. Fifteen years ago, he says, "I met someone who was
vegan when I went to the state senate. This was someone I was very fond
of. This was kind of a courtship strategy."
This is how most guys go vegan. According to Bart Potenza, co-owner of
Manhattan power vegan restaurant Candle 79, the rise of the power vegan
coincides with the rise of the vegan second wife. As the Four Seasons of
seitan piccata, Candle 79 regularly hosts not only Zuckerman but also
News Corp. (NWSA) CEO Rupert Murdoch and former Viacom (VIA) CEO Tom
Freston, who both have pro-vegan wives. "I live in the shadow of a power
vegan," says Freston, whose wife, Kathy, got Oprah to convert for a
three-week trial. "I'm well on the way myself. It's pretty clear the
benefits are undeniable and many." In other words, as Potenza says, "I
think she has him pretty much handled."
For others, veganism is a moral imperative. In 2000, Twitter co-founder
Biz Stone went to visit Farm Sanctuary, an animal rescue organization
with a location in upstate New York, and returned a vegan. So far it
hasn't hurt business. "My meal companions are sometimes curious at
most," says Stone, "but never judgmental." Though that tends to happen
when you run a company with an estimated value of more than one billion
dollars.
Farm Sanctuary's board includes a number of powerful vegans, including
Tom Anderson, a former partner at McKinsey and CEO of college financing
company Upromise. As an associate at McKinsey, he kept his veganism
quiet for fear it would make him seem like a hippie. However, as he's
climbed the corporate ladder, he's become increasingly eager to share
the gospel of his eating ethics. In fact, he's bonded with a few
executives over their shared anti-meat-and-dairy proclivities. The only
times it hurts him, he claims, are when potential business partners tell
hunting stories. "I'll have to say, 'I don't want to hear about that.'
Then someone is on the defensive, and you don't want that in a business
context," he says. Though as one associate of Dick Cheney can tell you,
it's less uncomfortable than getting shot in the face.
Veganism's image, however, could still use some updating. While it
remains associated with indie rock stars, such as Moby, and people with
pixie haircuts, such as Ellen DeGeneres, it also counts among its newest
converts ex-NBA star John Salley, Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony
Gonzalez, former National Hockey League brawler Georges Laraque,
professional poker player Daniel Negreanu, and, less recently, pop star
and amateur bodybuilder Madonna. Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed
martial artist and vegan Luke Cummo says that he drinks his own urine.
And herein lies veganism's appeal to moguls: It affords them the
opportunity to control their own health with the same manic id with
which they control everything else. Wynn says his new diet has allowed
him to get off Lipitor (PFE). Clinton's diet made him a fashion darling
at his daughter's wedding this summer. "It's probably a good thing in a
CEO," says Freston about veganism. "At least they won't be toppling over
like those McDonald's (MCD) CEOs." This latest show of power, in other
words, gives them all the more time to enjoy the Swiss chalet and the
private jet. | x******i
发帖数: 14369 | | x*******i
发帖数: 819 | 3 太懒了吧：）说的是最近一些有钱有势的也加入了vegan的行列。
【在 x******i 的大作中提到】
: 说啥，求摘要
| x******i
发帖数: 14369 | 4 哎呀，他们那些人是人生享受了一大圈才发觉最简单最素的是最快乐的。
呵呵，吃素其实变成时尚了。明星们都趋之若鹜，有的时候好像显摆一样。
我们来比比看谁更素更时尚
【在 x*******i 的大作中提到】
: 太懒了吧：）说的是最近一些有钱有势的也加入了vegan的行列。
| x*******i
发帖数: 819 | 5 挺有趣的文章，读读吧：）
【在 x******i 的大作中提到】
: 说啥，求摘要
| p****y
发帖数: 23737 | 6 对啊，文章还说素食穷人吃不起，有钱人才吃得起，这是美国食品工业的问题啊，
蔬菜水果本来应该很便宜才对，这个世界一半的粮食都喂养动物生产肉类了，结
果蔬菜水果卖得那么贵，穷人吃不起，只得吃junk food。
【在 x*******i 的大作中提到】
: 太懒了吧：）说的是最近一些有钱有势的也加入了vegan的行列。
| x*******i
发帖数: 819 | 7 更深层一点，是美国的法律问题，社会结构问题，或者现阶段人类社会的内部结构没有
调整到最佳。商
业如果和消费者的best interest不一致或者对立，就会造成社会的内耗，也就是损害
消费者利益来
获取利益，这是很多行业目前的现状，想想医疗，金融业。这些super power加入vegan
的阵营，绝对
是一件大大利好，他们有资源，有影响力。其实只有大多数人都能看到问题了，改变才
会到来。现在的
关键是没有足够的力量get the word out. 这些家伙在这一点上无疑具有绝对优势。
【在 p****y 的大作中提到】
: 对啊，文章还说素食穷人吃不起，有钱人才吃得起，这是美国食品工业的问题啊，
: 蔬菜水果本来应该很便宜才对，这个世界一半的粮食都喂养动物生产肉类了，结
: 果蔬菜水果卖得那么贵，穷人吃不起，只得吃junk food。
| p****y
发帖数: 23737 | 8 对，这就是名人的效应。为什么中国没有这种vegan名人？
美国没有宗教信仰的vegan的人数不少，我就遇到好几个，蛮佩服他们的。
中国人吃素很多是因为宗教信仰吃，很少因为环保方面而吃素食，
近来提倡环保素的人越来越多，是件好事。
vegan
【在 x*******i 的大作中提到】
: 更深层一点，是美国的法律问题，社会结构问题，或者现阶段人类社会的内部结构没有
: 调整到最佳。商
: 业如果和消费者的best interest不一致或者对立，就会造成社会的内耗，也就是损害
: 消费者利益来
: 获取利益，这是很多行业目前的现状，想想医疗，金融业。这些super power加入vegan
: 的阵营，绝对
: 是一件大大利好，他们有资源，有影响力。其实只有大多数人都能看到问题了，改变才
: 会到来。现在的
: 关键是没有足够的力量get the word out. 这些家伙在这一点上无疑具有绝对优势。
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