Vegetable matters

Letter writer Matthew Gosse ["Eating vegetarians for dinner," June 3], describes how he has had it with "vegetarian monsters." His views represent a significant segment of the population who seek to constantly put down vegetarianism and unfairly equate it with ethical snobbery.

I am a vegetarian, but not a vegan. Hence, I openly eat omelettes, ice cream and milk. I don't see myself as a hypocrite, and choose vegetarianism for its health benefits, ecological principles and also because I believe in animal rights. In no way is it a status symbol or fad for myself or other vegetarians I know.

Most of us do not realize that the benefits of vegetarianism outweigh the disadvantages. We know that a vegetarian diet usually reduces obesity, cholesterol levels and the probability of developing colon cancer and various other diseases.

Secondly, if we want more peace in the world, it makes sense to promote more kindness towards both human beings and animals. I am not placing a greater value on animals than humans, but am certain that we can treat both humans as well as other species better. Why do many people just fail to see the latter point? Human arrogance has led to overhunting and overfishing in the last few centuries and has been responsible for making various species extinct.

Whether one chooses to be a vegetarian or not is an individual choice. However, a few "hypocritical" vegetarians and some animal rights extremists should not succeed in giving vegetarianism a bad name.

The April issue of Sprint magazine stated that if North Americans ate only 10 per cent less meat, 18 million more hungry people around the world would be fed each year. Even if people do not want to go veggie, they may just want to think about that.

--Manish Patwari

Letter writer Matthew Gosse believes that hypocrisy--as exemplified by cheese-eating supposed vegans--is the root of today's social breakdown. Perhaps we've come too far from the natural world to call ourselves natural, too far into big, complex domination scenarios to call ourselves hunters. Perhaps our social ills don't start with young hipsters who sneak burgers.

Instead, why not look at the military industrialists who routinely manufacture weapons of destruction? Why not point a finger at the meat and agro-complex, which serves the bottom lines of Bay and Wall streets, while setting up a scary, cruelty-oriented agriculture, which still manages to malnourish and create scarcities in food in much of the world? Take a look at big oil, big auto, all the scary monsters of the industrial society, who wreak havoc on our roads, in our air, in our genes and advertise themselves as friends of nature. If people think vegetarians are the problem, perhaps there's some deficiency in awareness of greater issues.

One root of that deficiency is in youth-oriented media, where billions are spent to produce brand awareness. The façade for this merchandising scheme is arts and so-called alternative culture. What we end up with is a shadow of the lost world of underground media and columns full of decadence, nihilism, over-indulgence and general apathy. Forests fall to print ads for sex and jeans and beer and non-stop dancing, while millions perish from lack of food and water. Looking back on this civilization, historians will diagnose this condition as collective insanity.

--J.M. Wolowitz

That swaggering, blazing guns letter begs the question: what is "meat," after all? Isn't it a sanitized way of describing the parts we eat after the lives are snuffed out of millions of birds, mammals and fish for the purpose of creating "meat," as well as fur and leather? We're able to rationalize it, because "someone else" is doing the killing.

We tend to take our own life-support systems on earth for granted. Although global warming has become a reality, we live as though the earth and its creatures are simply here for the taking. We rarely bother to ask about the environmental consequences of our various everyday practices, as though the earth will provide us with infinite riches. If more people became aware of the importance of divorcing themselves from products which harm the earth, they could do their part in rescuing our planet.

Becoming a vegetarian, I submit, can contribute to helping the earth recover from centuries of disastrous exploitation--if enough people detach themselves from the meat industry and become "good monsters."

--Shloime Perel

If I decide to limit myself to only one cup of coffee a day, it is for health reasons and because drinking too much of it makes me feel terrible, not out of pity for Juan Valdez. Now, I don't go around the office bitching at everyone drinking expressos all day, telling them it's bad for their health and how much Colombian coffee pickers are underpaid.

I think vegetarians could take a hint from the analogy here.

--Norm