Why are only letters advocating vegetarianism getting the "Only Editor's Choice" golden stars?

Bias?

I've talked to both nutritionists and doctors in depth about vegetarianism, and they all have said a vegetarian/vegan diet can only be safe when supplemented with vitamins and such. On top of that, it's expensive. The very young and the very old and the sickly do not do well on strict vegetarian diets.

I also grow tired of the misleading factoid that "raising meat is a much less efficient use of farmland than growing vegetable foods." It would be quasi-true if we were talking about fertile farmland. The vast majority of land used to graze cattle isn't fertile enough to grow anything other than wild grasses, which only herbivores like cows and horses can eat and produce enough energy to live on. It's very efficient to have an animal who CAN live on that stuff convert it to a form of energy that we can ingest.

Especially when it's grilled till it's just pink in the middle and served with fresh corn on the cob and a frosty mug of beer.

For the record, Laura Miller has once again done a great job of reviewing a book and its topic.

Lots of non Jews buy kosher meat and other kosher products. One of the local Shoppers Food Warehouse stores in Northern Virginia has a huge kosher section, and lots of Hindus, Muslims, and non-religious types buy this stuff. I'm not big on hot dogs, but I will NEVER eat anything but a kosher hot dog - with one exception.

Cibola Farms is a farm in central Virginia that specializes in organic, sustainable farming. They sell free range chicken, bison, and beef. (I think we bought the last of the rabbits last year - most Americans won't eat them.) I adore their bison dogs. Lean and meaty. Not cheap but a perfect quick dinner - and certainly cheaper than a pizza.

Anyone living within 100 miles of farm country should look around for organic farms. There is good stuff out there, you just have to look for it.

I'm rather shocked that Ms. Miller is unaware that the first widely successful novels were epistolary - in the form of letters. Pamela by Samuel Richardson is one of the more noteworthy. I'm equally shocked that she is apparently likewise unaware of the common fact that Don Quixote de la Mancha was the first novel ever published, in 1604. She may have indeed stumbled upon the first "spy" novel(s), but that's it. Though I recall the above facts from memory, Ms. Miller could have quickly ascertained them through a couple of simple Google searches.

Their young flesh is so tender. It just melts off the bone.

(Thsi is addressed to the vegetarian who compared eating meat to eating babies. By far my favorate post of the day).

a vegetarian diet can be healthy, but it requires more discipline and knowledge than the average American possesses. Too many people are just lazy when it comes to what they will eat.

I am not a vegetarian, and I know some healthy vegetarians (although I do not know well any vegans), but they know what they are doing.

It must be sweeps month on the internets!

I think you missed the raw milk story--that combined food issues with the titty (or teaty) story. A double whammy.

Be more innovative, Salon. I didn't get past the first page because all this "ooh, is it like what we think? Or isn't it?" is so worn out. Didn't you run another article like this maybe a month ago? Who do you think you're amusing?

And you're boring and incapable of meaningful debate. Having seen several of your prior posts in other threads, you're also a plain, old-fashioned poseur. If you're the sort of person who likes to attempt to impose their will on others, or who enjoys hurling boulders from a glass enclosure, you would definitely not like me. That's cool, can't please everyone and there isn't much sense in trying. Just know that, for my part, I consider contempt from those such as yourself a compliment, having never made a habit of looking to smarmy, self-righteous tools for affirmation.

FWIW, I had a salad for lunch. Have a good day.

It's hard to keep up with the schedule, what with all the combo topics lately.

I don't believe in an after life. This earth is all we have. I just can't imagine spending my limited time on this earth worrying about other's hypocricy - especially when it comes to food. I am not a vegetarian. (I had venison for lunch.) Perhaps your original post was a joke??

Rob Anderson: I think the discussion was of the first English novel.

To my knowledge, the first novel written in the world was The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, an 11th century Japanese noble-woman. Some scholars disqualify it from contention because it doesn't conform to all of the attributes (unified plot, central conflict, character consistency/development, etc.) we expect in our novels since the 19th century.

As for the English novel, some argue that Sir Thomas More's "Utopia" (1509) is the first English novel because it was written by an Englishman, even if he wrote in Latin. Others, however, argue that it's really more of a dialogue with a narrative frame in the mode of Plato and not a novel.

Others still argue that Homer's The Odyssey is the first novel, but that's just silly since it's written in verse form and instead of prose. And you know those versifiers: Santimonious hypocrites always waving their damned poetry in our faces every time we sit down to sink my teeth into a good prose tale! To be fair, I've had good poems but I never walk away satisfied. I feel like I need to go out an get some Michael Chabon or something.

...then what am I supposed to feed my cats? (They aren't going to live very long on tofu.)

The examples you chose to use (slavery and rich men beating their servants) talk about human beings. This is vastly removed from people eating animals. You're in effect comparing slaves and peasants to animals.