The Beet is dedicated to helping people eat more plant-based for the sake of their health and the planet.
Mission Statement
The Beet is a trusted source for information and inspiration, to help consumers who are leaning into plant-based nutrition get further along on their journey, no matter where they enter. The editors of The Beet are veteran journalists and writers, experts and medical practitioners who provide an onramp to anyone who wants to eat a more plant-based approach, in order to lean into a healthy diet for the sake of achieving optimal health and the sake of the planet.
With news stories, product reviews, daily recipes, reporting on the latest health studies, expert advice and coverage of cultural topics such as plant-based athletes and artists, The Beet inspires consumers to embrace a more plant-based approach to nutrition and move toward a healthier lifestyle. The Beet sweeps consumers into the top of the funnel and helps give them the information and inspiration they need to get closer to a healthy plant-based diet.
Conflict of interest
With a small team of editors, journalists, experts such as RDs, MDs and health reporters, The Beet presents news stories, product reviews, daily recipes, and reporting on the latest health studies, without bias or omission. When a study comes out that says the Mediterranean Diet, made greener by adding more plant-based protein and ingredients, is the healthiest way to eat, we report this and cite the original source, including the publication date and original data that backs up the claim. We then ask our RDs or MDs to review the study and offer verification or corrections.
Perspective on Topics We Cover
As the mainstreaming of plant-based consumerism grows, we want to help people make informed choices about their food intake, and The Beet reviews and recommends products but always informs the consumer that the healthiest way to eat is a whole food plant-based approach, and processed or created-in-the-lab meat and dairy substitutes are good alternatives to meat and dairy, but not as healthy as whole foods that grow in nature. Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods are delicious, but not as nutritious as a veggie burger made with whole foods as the first ingredient on the label.
The Beet reports on the advancements in food science and technology that are creating new products such as eggs from mung beans (JUST Egg) and 3D printed meat (using cultured cells grown in a lab, without the cow) that allows people to give up meat and dairy and not feel compromised because of taste of the meatless or non-dairy versions, that is a healthy development and moving in the right direction. But while not every diet is right for everyone, the scientific consensus is that the more whole foods in the form of vegetables, fruit, nuts, berries, legumes and whole grains such as quinoa and rice you eat, the healthier it is for you and the environment.
Review & Editing
The Beet editors review every major study that comes out on the topic of health and nutrition and write it up in a way that is easy to understand and act on so that our readers can be healthier with the new information. We often will note when a story has been verified.
Reviewed By: We edit and review these stories to verify the original data and our interpretation of it. Readers can be assured that the facts are sound and that our write up of the information is accurate, helpful and useful.
Fact Checked By: When we notate a story that has been Fact-Checked, it means that a member of our team of advisors, either an RD and MD or other credentialed expert has confirmed the information in the article.
Evidence-Based: This article is based on scientific studies, peer-reviewed research, and includes links to the original research so readers can review it for themselves if they want to dig even deeper.
Social Media
The Beet's social media channels are equally vetted and only publish responsible information based on our reporting or news stories, medical studies, nutritional information along the lines of 10 foods that contain calcium. Each social post carries a link to the original story on The Beet where the consumers can read more about the topic and dive deeper into what makes one food healthier than another. We as editors maintain a high standard of taste, accuracy and relevance to make sure our readers know they can always trust our recommendations and posts.
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Verification and Fact-Checking Standards
The Beet's reporters and writers have primary responsibility for reporting, writing and fact-checking their stories. Every story is then subject to review by one of our experienced editors. We write two thirds of our content in-house by our own team and assign approximately one third of the story to well-known and respected health writers who have been covering health and nutrition stories for well over a decade each. After the initial review we show stories with third party data to an expert such as a Registered Dietician, who provides a verification that stipulates “fact checked” by this expert. We also use “reviewed by” for stories that require editing, such as our restaurant reviews, recipes and city guides, our interviews with athletes and others who are eating plant-based for the sake of their health, and we offer subjects a chance to make sure we did not misconstrue facts or quotes when telling their personal story of transformation.
Corrections Policy
If in the event of publication a subject alerts The Beet's editors that there is a factual error in a story we immediately and quickly review the facts and either change the story or send back a prompt reply with sourcing material that supports the writer’s version of events. When we run a correction we do so quickly and make sure all quoted materials (newsletter, FB or other social post) are also updated immediately. This is a rare event however since The Beet is extremely careful with factual information and proud of our record of getting things right.
Editor’s Notes
Occasionally we will run an editorial note to explain that the editors’ point of view needs to be interjected into a story, often when an expert suggests an extreme diet such as intermittent fasting and espouses a less healthy approach than we would recommend. In that case we carefully insert a note to explain: The Beet recommends checking with your healthcare provider before starting any new diet or exercise program. We also do not recommend intermittent fasting for longer periods of time than about 12 to 14 hours, which has been deemed reliably safe by more doctors and nutrition experts. In the case when we add an editorial note we also defer to the medical experts, not our opinion.
Attribution
The Beet is always careful to attribute a quote to a source, a study to a publication where it was first published, and any facts based on the reporting of others, to those journalists who broke the story or got the information. In every case we check the source by reading the study, reading the story where we are getting the information and checking with the expert to make sure we got it right. We are in the habit of linking to any outside source, adding quote marks to direct language, and naming the source whenever possible (some study authors are not named in the study, but usually we can find them and we always attribute the work to them).
Expert Sources
The Beet enjoys quoting a wide variety of health and nutrition experts, as well as recipe developers, chefs, and vegan athletes and others who are well versed in the art of eating plant-based and getting plenty of nutrients, protein, and essential vitamins and minerals without eating meat or dairy.
We rely more than ever on “experts” to lend credibility to the topics we cover, since most people are of the mindset that you need meat for protein, dairy for calcium and eggs for vitamin D. Not true, as it turns out, but rather than trust us, we quote the accredited experts.
Diversity Policy
The Beet believes in publishing a diverse array of voices, celebrating vegans of color, and giving space and air time to those in the world of plant-based eating who can help inspire large swaths of the population to “go plant-based” and we publish Black and brown and Asian chefs, founders, athletes, actors, recipe developers and restaurant owners as often as possible. The mainstreaming of the plant-based movement includes every identity, and our site reflects this in the photography, authors, experts and contributors that we publish.
Our hope is to embrace everyone who wants to eat more plant-based food, and feature different life experiences and a range of writers and voices to help make living the plant-based lifestyle accessible and available to all who want it.
Diet & Weight Loss Coverage is Part of a Bigger Goal of Being Healthy
At The Beet, we recognize that some people choose to follow a plant-based diet for the sake of losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight. While we want to serve those readers, we are not a weight loss centric site.
Our coverage of weight loss stories and personal transformation, such as when Adele used a plant-based approach to losing weight–or when a person goes plant-based and loses weight as part of a healthy journey to be their best version of themselves–is meant to inspire and inform others who have weight loss as a goal.
We do not advocate losing weight by restricting calories past a healthy amount, which RDs have generally suggested is a minimum of 1,500 calories a day for women or 1,850 calories a day for men, although these numbers depend on an individual’s activity level, size an age among other factors. If you’re active you may need much more than that just to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
As with every diet or weight loss program, The Beet urges readers to first check with their health care provider to make sure the approach is safe, healthy and appropriate given their life circumstances. At The Beet, weight loss is not the end goal of eating a plant-based diet. Health and wellbeing are the goals, along with disease prevention and optimal performance, and if weight loss is part of the bigger picture for an individual we want to support that effort, but always with a healthy outlook in mind.
Affiliate Sales & Marketing
The Beet does not sell or market any single product, powder or shake or anything of that nature and all mentions of such are purely editorial. When we link to Amazon or a vendor, there is a possibility that when a reader purchases an item that The Beet will be paid a small affiliate sales fee. When we have this situation, we disclose that to the readers. We do occasionally sell an e-book and paid diet program, and these are well marked and denoted, but other than that all the information is free.