NY Times: Sorry, Vegans: Brussels Sprouts Like to Live, Too

[Guest guest]

NY Times: Sorry, Vegans: Brussels Sprouts Like to Live, Toohttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/22/science/22angi.html?_r=1 & emMy letter to ther editor (letters):While

it's true that plants are amazing and too often underestimated, they

are not animals and everyone knows the difference. Author Natalie

Angier, in "Sorry, Vegans: Brussel Sprouts Like to Live, Too" (12/21),

claims she's not trying to be trite or silly, but she ignores two

important points, one patently clear and the other just as vital: (1)

even if plants have skills to survive, they are not sentient, neither

have brains nor nervous systems, and do not feel pain, unlike animals,

and (2) livestock animals feed on plants - indeed, about three-quarters

of some major crops, including corn, wheat, and soy, are fed to animals

being raiseed for meat - so if one cares about saving plants, it's far

better to directly eat plants than to inefficiently eat animals that

eat way more plants. Additionally, scientific studies continue to

demonstrate that the production and consumption of meat is a personal,

public, and planetary health disaster. Sorry, carnivores: you can't

soothe your consciences that easily.

 

Dan Brook, Ph.D.

Eco-Eating: www.brook.com/veg