FROM OUR INBOX…
STAR EMAIL
SUBJECT: No easy answer
FROM: Christine Wilkins
I agree with Neil Davey [Jun, p130]. I eat meat but I also care about cruelty to animals. I can’t help but think that this issue is uppermost in the minds of most vegetarians and vegans when they make the decision to give up meat and animal products. The price of meat has fallen but so have the quality and welfare. But many vegetarians haven’t researched the issue thoroughly enough to realise that meat-free diets are also made cheaper by the use of pesticides and chemicals that can damage the oceans and all that live in them. There’s no easy answer. Years ago chicken was an expensive and rare treat. Now it’s a cheap, everyday commodity. But at what cost? Like Neil, I too would rather eat a smaller amount of meat in the knowledge that the animal has had a good life and there’s no cruelty involved.