Virtues of vegetarianism
Thank you, Graham Stocks, for your letter "Eat low on the food chain" (Mailbox, October 13). I thought I as a lone voice.
A report by the UN stated that 40 million tonnes of grains would end world hunger. The amount of grain fed to animals in the West is 540 million tonnes.
The Vegan Organic Trust says 70 per cent of all agricultural land in Britain is used to feed animals.
Livestock grazing is not only causing deserts to spread, but also the felling of rainforests.
Almost the entire populations of India and China (two billion people) could be fed on the amount of vegetable protein used to feed the US beef herd.
The World Cancer Research Fund said plant foods should be the focal point of our dinner plate.
These are facts, not the ramblings of an "extremist" vegetarian.
I have found that many people seem "threatened" by the idea of a vegetarian diet and are unwilling to even consider a move from an animal-based diet.
It is hardly surprising. Go to most cafes and the only alternative to meat and fish are eggs and cheese.
Plenty of veggie alternatives and meat substitutes are available, but in most mainstream restaurants, vegetarian options are minimal and often uninspiring. TV cookery programmes are biased towards animal-based meals.
Where are the inventive vegetarian and vegan chefs? We are all brainwashed into thinking that the main constituent of any meal has to be meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
Vegan and vegetarian diets use up far less of the world's resources and help reduce greenhouse gases.
Greater emphasis on a plant-based diet is healthier, cost-effective, would help to alleviate world hunger and save millions of animals from a life of pain and misery.
Why not give it a try? You might even like it!
Elizabeth Allison, Aylestone.
2 Comments
by KPD, Harpenden
Wednesday, October 29 2008, 9:42AM
“Greetings
I would like to give a view that there is also a deeper meaning to being on a vegetarian diet and that is that human beings have intelligence and where with all not to perpetuate the eat and be eaten chain which could have made a great differnce on how societies have developed”
by K, Leicester
Monday, October 27 2008, 9:45AM
“Whatever diet a person wishes to follow is up to them, whether it be meat based, vegetarian or whatever.They should just be allowed to get on with it.
I am not a vegetarian (or a vegan) for that matter, but I know people who are, but one thing I do find is that when you go to a pub/restaurant the non meat choice is is very poor indeed, usually just one dish or if you are lucky two.”