I think this is actually good. 
You WON"T turn the whole world vegan, and frankly one shouldn't .  I agree with someone previously who for various reasons stepped up and said, it's just not appropriate for everyone. 
Since people aren't going to stop eating met,  this is a great step for changing people's attitudes towards the food they do eat.
Little steps. Little steps. :)

Mahatma Gandhi:
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

I agree with you yogaferret-- It seems like a step in the right direction  :)

Yoga--I think we should try to turn the whole world vegan.  I do think it's appropriate for everyone--especially the animals!

I do agree though, that it's better that Puck is concerned about the quality of the lives of the animals he's using than when he wasn't concerned.

I'm a bit cynical, though.  I hope he hasn't had this change of heart for selfish rather than altruistic reasons.  But I guess ultimately, his motivations don't really matter.

>:( I think this is a step in the wrong direction.  He's proclaiming it's still ok to exploit and murder animals--as long as you treat them fairly before hand.  And this sort of thinking it DANGEROUS!  Many people go vegan because animals are treated horribly.  Would you have been so inclined to go vegan if such animals lived happily?  Maybe so, but what about the generic public?  And there's been numerous threads here debating whether or not it's ok to eat eggs if they've been ethically raised.  (ya know, four little hens pecking around the yard, lovingly cared for by Grandma Sue) And the general consensus  has been: Sure, why not?

If our society gravitates towards Mr. Puck's thinking, it will be EVEN HARDER to convince people to go veg.  Animals will still die.  :-\ Resources will be wasted rearing them.  Poor diet will continue.  This sort of thinking is just as destructive as people who support factory farming

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  This isn't a new thing-- there's organic meats at Whole Foods and other places. I have more of a problem with people like Alice Waters that parade around and really misrepresent themselves and make themselves out to be so ethical and pseudo-vegetarian because they're 'Berkeley' and  serving organic grass-fed beef at their Chez Panisse and write books about it and do documentaries on it... Wolfgang Puck is pretty mainstream like an Emeril ...so it's sending a message out there to a larger audience of consumers  that focuses them to think about the plight of animals and that may further blossom into considering becoming vegetarian. I think the approach of  all-or-nothing harsh 'angry vegetarian' (like how PETA comes across sometimes when it's attacking, which can be good because they get attention) comes across as sometimes as more of a turn-off than turn-on to potential vegetarians and gives us a bad rep. Maybe there would be more vegetarians and vegans if there were less harsh judgments. You can't force people to do things.... 'You can lead a horse to the water, but you cannot make him drink. You can put a man to school, but you cannot make him think' - Ben Harper.
People have to do the thinking for themselves and internalize why they're going veg*n, whether it's for environment, animals, health concerns, religious reasons, etc..... Different motivators for different people...

  I know  Wolfgang Puck  sells canned soups at the store....maybe he'll have ' organic grass-fed beef stew' and the like?! Maybe it is just publicity for a new product of his? That's possible.
I agree with your point too-- ideally the whole world would be vegan, animals would not be artificially mass-bred for consumption, and the US wouldn't be waging wars with everyone it chooses. (I really hope we don't get a Republican prez again!  :-X)
It all starts with little steps such as this  ;)

  And there are many reasons to be vegan other than the plight of animals--  themselves (health), religious reasons, concerns for the environment/ecology, going 'green' etc....so I think if someone is truly looking to become vegetarian or vegan I don't think wild salmon or grass-fed beef will stand in their way. I know I'm certainly not tempted by free-range organic eggs or the like because there are many reasons why I stand by my veganism. Heart disease is the #1 killer in the US and obesity is #1 here as well, so perhaps health reasons will be a reason to go vegan while others may be swayed by their love for animals, then learn the nutritional health benefits of their decision.... Vegans and vegetarians are incredibly compassionate and understanding toward animals, so maybe we should allow a little compassion to people too. After all, most of us weren't born vegans, and the majority of us likely transitioned to ovo-lacto vegetarian before becoming vegan. Each of us has had a separate journey that brought us to our destination of veg*n, so think about that ;)

I think eventually a lot of people will go veg*n for health (selfish) reasons if not for other reasons as the standard American meat-and-animal-product-centered diet will kill you by about the age of 55 with heart disease being the #1 killer year after year. But the funny thing is doctors don't mention this to their heart patients.....  it's almost like they want you to just keep buying the expensive Rx drugs and die soon rather than get better and reverse heart disease by going vegan. Oh yeah, they won't get their greedy hands on enough money if you go veg*n and they don't  succeed in convincing you to take the Rx drugs with the many side effects and make you believe that's the only way.

People unfortunately trust their doctors too much. They need to do their own research and not believe everything their doctor says as gospel. Doctors unfortunately have ulterior motives a lot of the time-- they care about their paycheck not you. They'd rather give you a c-section than let you naturally birth (c-section surgery costs more than letting you pop the baby out yourself and it's also much faster). They'd rather have you consistently prescribe to meds than have you explore your natural options, etc...... it's the business of healthcare. 

I think the entire world should be vegan. 

I wish I could remember the series out of the BCC years ago.  They talked about in the future people will have to be pay heavy taxes to eat meat because it is such an environmental hazard and that having our yards full of trees, as in ALL of them will be the only thing that keeps oxygen in the atomsphere.  It was a lot of gloom and doom, but it made sense to me since I don't believe that mankind will change their ways.

I hate seeing China chasing the American Dream (which is largely a myth and what part of it isn't comes at a very high cost to the animal health (including humans) and the environment.  I hate to see it because it will speed up global warming.  I'd love to see Americans lower their standard of living and have more for the rest of the world.  It is the same things that make this country great, that also make it such an environmental disaster area.  No, it is not as bad as China, but it once was. The air in major American cities is actually much better than it was in the 1950s and early 1960s, even though Denver still lives under a dirty brown cloud, which is the one I know about.

As for animals having a happy life before they die cruel deaths at the hands of terrorists with bolt guns...that is just stupid.  What part of ending up on someone's plate makes for a good life?

I'm just pissed off and disgusted by fledging movement to "organic meat".  Consumers feel better about their purchase.  Heck, why should there be guilt?  As a peer of mine once put it: "Why are you a vegan if you could just eat organic meat and dairy?"

i think it is definitely a step in the right direction. i understand that happy animals are still slaughtered eventually, but the fact that people are even thinking about animal welfare means that minds are opening up to the idea. once people start to consider the well-being of animals and educate themselves about current factory farm conditions, the road is paved toward stricter regulations and more fair conditions. foix grois is already being banned in california, and veal may be next (AZ is already considering this).

though it would be ideal to completely eradicate the exploitation of animals, having celebrity chefs like puck draw attention to animal suffering is a necessary step. the meat and farming industry produces what people want. if people start favoring meat that is "organic" and eases their conscious, then this is what will be produced. if this kind of meat is more expensive than your generic variety ground chuck, perhaps meat will become more a delicacy and less the centerpiece of every meal. it's a stretch, but i do see this as a step in the right direction, regardless of puck's flippant disregard of veganism as an acceptable diet.

LadyDragonfly:
Are you saying you'd rather they suffer a miserable life before "they die cruel deaths at the hands of terrorists with bolt guns?" 
The part that makes for a happy life is all the part of their lives prior to dying those cruel deaths.
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We can be moral relativists when it comes to using/abusing animals, but is that really appropriate, especially when attempting to convert others to our side?  Most of the world does see a difference between these groups.  In no way do I condone the slaughter of animals for food, extravagance or amusement.  But I do see the difference between those who use animals, attempting to treat them humanely as they do so and those who show wanton disrespect and cruelty to the animals they use. 

Well put.  THere is a so much a difference.  And you can really see it when you live in Asia.  America is gifted with many...an extravangant amount of resources, and in those countries without, both humans and animals have a much lower quality of living. 

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Ferret Resources:  http://nippynihon.blogspot.com/
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Mahatma Gandhi:
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."