Nicolette Hahn Niman is a vegetarian who raises cattle. As a rancher, attorney, and writer, Niman spends much of her time speaking and writing about the problems of industrialized livestock production. This has led her to write books that explore the topic in-depth, such as Righteous Porkchop: Finding a Life and Good Food Beyond Factory Farms and Defending Beef. Previously, she was the senior attorney for the environmental organization Waterkeeper Alliance, where she was in charge of the organization's campaign to reform the concentrated livestock and poultry industry, and before that an attorney for National Wildlife Federation.

Niman received her Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from the University of Michigan and her B.A. in Biology and French from Kalamazoo College.